Question:
I have a felony on my record that I was convicted of in 1993. The great State of Louisiana gave me an eleven year sentence. I served five years in the pokey and got out (Aug 97) to do the rest on parole. I will be off parole as of this month. I have held the same job since two months after my release (a little over six years) and have been a "model citizen" since then. I wanted to get on with Schneider. Found out I have to get a Minister's Approval of Rehabilitation to enter Canada. This is REQUIRED at Schneider (at least that's what I was told). Also, you can't even APPLY for one until five years AFTER sentence completion. So, even though my conviction was over ten years ago, I'm still paying for it. Go figure. I went and picked up two 1/4 oz bags of pot for someone who turned out to be a cop. I was twenty years old at the time. Ain't that some s&*^t?

Answer:
Speaking from experience (alumni of Illinois dept of stupidity), you will have to finish your parole time unless you have a very understanding parole officer. Please don't cry about the "crime". It is illegal to have that stuff no matter what you were going to do, so accept your lumps and get over it. I sincerely doubt anyone put a gun to your head and made you transport the stuff.
Ok, nagging over. Try to find a small company. They will be more likely to give you the chance to drive than the biggies. The reality is that over 80% (maybe more) of the freight hauled in the country is done by carriers of 10 trucks or less.
You did the crime, you did the time, now get on with your life.
Oh yeah, you cannot go into Canada without jumping through a lot of hoops. Big deal, who want's to go there anyhow.
Daytripper
"We have met the enemy, and he is us." pogo

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nevermind

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Max. I don't mess with pot anymore. I do feel like I more than took my lumps. For what is a misdemeanor in some places, I slept in a cage for FIVE YEARS. No, no one held a gun to my head, but I didn't hold one to anyone elese's either. The ironic thing is, the charge that's keeping me out of Canada is LEGAL IN CANADA. Sheesh.

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Try contacting Swift. At one time at least they used to take drivers who were unable to enter Canada. They simply do not dispatch you into Canada.
I will always be a mutter trucker at heart.
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Hey wish,
If anyone has told you that life is fair - they lied!!! What you gotta do now is do the best with the hand you have been dealt. There is nothing that can change the past. If you find out how to change the past, please let me know. There is a matter of about 3 minutes I would like to have back.
Anyhoo, you have to go on from here. There is life after incarceration. There are just a few limits. Once you learn to cope with them, life can be very good.
I am O/O, leased on to a small company, with a very good income. This did not happen overnight. I paid a lot of dues and put up with a lot of aggravation. Sometimes you have to scoop a lot of horsesh#t to find the pony.
Daytripper
"We have met the enemy, and he is us." pogo

Answer:
....... that most people have a certain propensity. They "will do what they will do" unless something like age or physical handicap or injury or some other serious event causes a change. It is no accident that some people spend a lifetime building a criminal and/or serious traffic record ...
... others just add a piece here and there ...
... and yet others go a whole life without creating a record of misdeeds in either catagory. There is ample evidence that most people have charted a course by the age of 7 or 8 or even younger, and while it can be changed with proper influence, it is usually too late to make meeningful change by the time it is realised or aknowledged that such proper influence is needed.
People, in short, are creatures of habit. The only way to show that habits have indeed changed, is putting serious time between today and the last entry on those records. Companies / employers realize this, there are plenty of applicants without the record handicap.
Just the facts.
... and whatever you do, have a SAFE TRIP...

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are so arrogant and pompous it almost inclines me to expel the contents of my stomach all over my Rockports. Whatever CP, not everyone is as faultless as you seem to think you are.

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My trainer at Crst was a convicted drug dealer. Did eight years time.

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and some
Still refuse to see the facts of their predicament.
Mike
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OK, you did the crime, you served the time, don't expect to be forgiven by society anytime soon ... it just don't happen that easy ... so now what?
The insurance companies really run the show when it comes to trucking, and Canada rules their roads. Option, look for companies that don't enter Canada, or companies that hire ex-cons. Its best if you can talk one-on-one with recruters and finding out the company policy before making out that application and leaving info all over the place. Be up-front with them, and explain the crime without showing bitterness.
BTW: your 5 year Canada thingy starts after your release from parole, thats part of the sentence completion.
Good luck, I wish you well.


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is your new inability to get a haz mat endorsement. Now a drug conviction may not disqualify you, but it won't be easy.
You will have one hell of a time getting hired by the majors, which is pretty much where you need to start out unless you can get something local.
The companies don't really care about past convictions. They are concerned about what a lawyer is going to be able to dig up on you if you are ever in an accident. Companies like Swift and Schneider are all self insured.
If you got into an accident and the lawers found out you got a drug conviction the out of court settlement would be enormous. They won't even risk it going to trial.
You have a very long road ahead of you.

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you cannot get the hazmat if convicted in the last seven years. Mine was 10 years back, so I should be ok there. This sure does seem like a lot of crap to go through for a job that a lot of the people on these boards seem to dislike so much!

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I really don't believe that you got eleven years for picking up a bag of pot. You must have had quite a record before then. there's just no way if that was your first offense they put you in prison for five years over marijuana. Be honest. Say to yourself the problem is me. Don't be a victim. Then it will change and I believe in time if you keep a clean record that it will.

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I have no reason to just make up something like that. I couldn't believe it either, but I lived it. No, I didn't have a record before then. This is Louisiana, they don't play. I know in AZ, things are a little more liberal, not here. However, this isn't about me being bitter or admitting a personal problem. All that is behind me. Has been for years. I just wanna drive a truck, that's all. I have a job now making about 35K a year, but I'm *&%# sick of it. I don't have any friends and my family is scattered to the four winds. I will not miss hanging around here doing the same old thing day after day. I'd like to cover a little more ground than that. Then, if I discover its not for me, at least I had the experience to know if it was or not.