Which companies will count Military as experience?

You are in same predicament as I was when I got out of the Marines. Got my Class A license in 1982 in service and when I got out I was having a hard time finding a company that would give me a chance. Alot of drivers may disagree with me but JB Hunt is very Veteran friendly. I had to go with a trainer for 2 weeks but they turned me loose after 14 days in my own truck, this was in 1988 and it was OTR. Most companies will require you to go with a trainer for a certain amount of time before they will give you your own truck because of the experience situation it just depends on how long of a training period you can put up with. Driving local I have a friend who went with Averitt Express (they are nation wide) they had a refresher course for drivers who haven't driven in a while that was something like two weeks I don't know if military driving time would apply though. More than likely you will have to do some OTR time to get your experience usually at least one year then you get that you should be good to go at most any carrier of your choice.

 

I myself am a Veteran. I served active duty Army from 98-02 as an 88M. From everyone I talked to at various companies, nobody accepts military as "current/recent driving experience". All they look at is civilian driving experience and how recent it was. Since you already have a cdl, they'll either put you in a refresher course or straight to a trainer. I never got my cdl so I have to go through a whole school and trainer situation.

Best advice I can give you is get on with a company that offers the use of your GI Bill for OJT. A lot of companies do now. Good luck to you, and thank you for your service! That goes for you as well RiskyBusiness, even though you're a Marine lol

 

I can tell you from the fuel side. The companies like the fact that you were handling fuels. They know you have regulations to follow and you might have a foot up one someone that has not been around fuel. They also like the fact that you are maneuvering that fuel truck in close quarters like a gas station. As far as over the road, some may take it and some may not. My experience is they will not consider military driving as the same because they think that most of the driving is done on base. Plus the trucks are much smaller. So keep your verifiable record of OTR driving uo to date. You can run a log book for yourself if it helps and you might want to get your boss to sign off on it. I'd even go so far as when you get ready to transfer and they write an evaluation of you be sure to add all the miles and what you drove and with what was loaded. You might want to keep the log book to yourself because I'm sure others will give you grief for it and make a scene when it's not needed. I've seen it and then the guy went out and drove for a Big LTL company while on active duty. Him and I both laughed at those idiots. Good luck and I hope it helps. You can send me a PM but I know mostly west coast operations.

 

It is possible to get on with a company...just have to be given a break. As I said I drove lowboy in Marines transporting tanks and other heavy equipment long distance and to loading areas for deployments in Morehead City, NC. I was given an opportunity to drive for JB Hunt when I got out. Things have changed alot since 1988...lol. I worked for JB Hunt for 6 months OTR quit and was given a chance by a terminal manager in Baltimore, MD with Old Dominion Freight Line made it thru the 90 day probation period he set for me and stayed for a bit till I got involved with the lease purchase program at Prime. Stayed there almost 9 years completed 3 leases.

 

That would be a good deal for you.....best of luck to you with that.

 

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but none of the military driving is DOT regulated. And that is what companies consider driving experience, from a legal standpoint. So a company has to do the whole Cover Their Butt thing and have you trained in order to make their lawyers and insurance company happy.
Now, if I ran a company and I saw a fresh discharged guy with all of your driving experience, on different equipment, and with fuel exp, you are head and shoulders above the next guy. You will have no problem finding potential employers.

 

You are correct in some circumstances as far as DOT is concerned. I ran HET's for a while out of Ft. Riley, KS and whenever we went off post we fell under the DOT weight restrictions and the necessity to get permits for overweight vehicles (the Super HET hauling the M1A1 w/prowler-mine clearing head weighed in at roughly 96 tons). Any time a military vehicle goes off post, they have to obey the DOT regulations. However, 9 times out of 10 they usually don't go off post unless it's on a civilian flatbed or they're heading to training somewhere and that pre-authorization has already been set up by the HQ's company (not sure how the other branches do it, but that's mainly how it went in the Army).

I can tell you, one time we line hauled PLS's from Riley to Ft. Irwin, CA for NTC. Took all the major highways, drove our appropriate hours for the day and such, but the best thing was: somewhere out west, I think Colorado, the snow had shut down the highways. Our convoy commander called the DOT and State Police there in that state and they cleared us for travelling in the median (only because our vehicles could). It was funny watching the snowman we built on the back of the PLS rack try to "stay put" while bouncing around in the median. Needless to say we lost him a few miles up the road and the truck behind us ran him over.

Most of us prior service guys aren't looking for hand outs or anything of the sort. We just want our time/miles/experience to count for something. I'm like you though, if I know someone has been to combat driving a "big rig", I'd hire them in a heartbeat over someone that has been only in the states. There's something to be said about a person that can continue on the mission while being shot at, over someone that eats too many doughnuts at the truck stops and the worst thing he sees is the trucker that he was arguing with on the cb coming up to his truck. Just my .02!

 

Hi... Try contacting JB Hunt - back in 2000-2004, they used to advertise in Stars & Stripes in Europe. Kellogg Brown & Root did also. aimhigh