Getting hired with a bad driving record/employment gaps

Hi,

I know this topic has been discussed, but I wanted to see if I could get some opinions on my situation personally.

I am strongly considering investing $3-5k in CDL school to get my Class A license, as I believe truck driving will be a great fit for me. The problem is my driving record as of recently, as described below:

1. At-fault accident from April 2015 (I rear ended a car that braked hard at a stop light), for which I was issued a careless driving ticket.

2. Speeding ticket for 10-24 mph over the limit in August 2016. I was actually clocked doing 86 in a 55 (pretty bad, I know), but hired a lawyer to drop it down to 10-24mph over.

I know most companies look back at your driving record 3 years, so my plan is to wait until April 2018 to start CDL school. That way, the accident and careless driving ticket from April 2015 will hopefully have fallen off of my record and not affect my chances of being hired.

My question is, do you think I will still have a chance of getting hired by a company with the 10-24mph ticket on my 3 year record? I realize that I don't have a clean driving record, and would be grateful to be hired by any company, even the so-called bottom feeders. I just want to know that my investment in trucking school won't be a complete waste of money.

My other problem is that if I wait until April 2018, I will have been unemployed for a year since leaving my previous job in accounting. I realize that trucking companies frown on employment gaps, so do you think there will be a company out there that will give me a shot with this year of unemployment and the speeding ticket?

I guess I could always go back to accounting, but it's always been my dream to become a truck driver as I am an introvert, and really enjoy driving.

Sorry for the long post. I just wanted to fully explain my predicament.

 

Thanks, I'm from NJ. Like I said, the careless driving ticket will be 3 years old when I go to apply, so hopefully it'll just be the 10-24 over that I will have to deal with.