What counts as experience?

Not sure why you posted this in the flatbed forum, but I will move it for you to http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/questions-from-new-drivers/

 

There is a good chance Paschall Truck Lines will hire you if you live in their hiring area. Post your city/state then some on this forum can help.

Edit : OK, Long Beach; not in Paschall hiring area.

 

Unfortunately experience in anything but an 18 wheeler wont satisfy insurance requirements.

Posting where you are from in your profiel would help us to help you. Local can be hard to find for a newbie. I would recommend going otr for 1 year (be sure to get home every week-end) and then try to get something local. Its difficult for small companies to hire you simply because they are not self insured.

 

Insurance is part of the issue, most of the time the insurance company will hand the carrier guidelines to tell them who or what they like to see in the driver's seat. That doesn't mean that you can't have someone working for you who can have little experience. A lot of times it is the company whose basing their policy on the insurance guidelines but policies don't mean they have to be written in stone.

However here is what I would think that matter as experience - working at a warehouse where they have switchers. These jobs open up a bit and can lead to local work.

 

Some companies will count large CDL vehicle driving as experience but not all. I've had a couple companies count my 40ft city bus driving. I don't think anyone will count non cdl driving as experience.

 

Generally 2 years seems to be the experience level most companies are looking for when transitioning to local. I do know Con-way Freight hires student drivers for local LTL loads. Maybe you can look into them if there is one near your residence. Only problem with that is your also doing a lot of dock work paying your dues. Finding a good local job can be very difficult even for drivers with experience. I've been struggling to transition to local and with most companies you'll start at the bottom of the totem pole and are expected to work night and weekend shifts. Good luck to you!

 

I don't think they will count your experience. It would be like me saying that I have a Class A CDL with every endorsement but I've only been driving my personal vehicle. Unless the vehicle you were driving is a class 8 combination vehicle with GVWR of 26k or better and has air brakes then I don't believe they will count your experience. Most companies are VERY picky when it comes to your driving experience. When you put down how much experience you have on an application and the name of the company, they will fax a sheet to your current/previous company and they will have to verify your driving time and then fax it back. If it can't be verified, they will not count it. The best you might be able to do is get to a company that gets you home on weekends and do a refresher course there. It will be a couple of weeks and will cost a little (and will be taken out of your check) but that sounds like it would be about the only thing you can do.