That's been my experience. Anytime over the last 10 years I've interviewed entry level types, general labor, helpers, that sort of thing, 2 out of 3 can't piss clean. What has been really surprising to me is that even when looking to hired skilled and experienced crafts, welders, millwrights, machinists and the like, at least 1 in 3 will come up dirty on the drug test, regardless of age. It's a very common problem throughout the manufacturing and industrial construction sectors.
You cant get hazmat endorsements unless you are 21, so no chance of him finding recent HS grads to fill that position. You also have to be over 21 to drive interstate. Alot of trucking companies will hire without experience, but they still want 2 years continuous employment in "SOMETHING". They dont care what it is, just continuous employment. Driving a truck takes over your life...thats all you do is just drive and sleep and you have no life. I think making $40k per year and getting to go home every night is better than making $100k per year driving and just living in that drivers seat for 12 hours per day.
In Tx (where I live) you can get an intrastate CDL at 18 and the jobs I was discussing with the trucking manager involved that type of driving. A lot of it was hauling sand or water for hydrofracking and equipment hauling in the Eagle Ford formation. The HAZMAT jobs were hauling crude and fracking liquids. The driving was fairly local involving runs of about 100-200 miles; so these guys got to go home after putting in their days work. I was amazed at how many failed the drug and/or background checks. Seneca
Yeah, intrastate at 18 for all states, but 21 for interstate. Many truck drivers are drug users (meth and whatever else keeps them awake) I've seen too many truck drivers rig their log books so they can drive 36 hours at a time or more. The other scary thing is that 95% of truck drivers carry guns in their trucks which if I remember right, its supposed to be illegal for them to do so (but not 100% sure)
i spent 18 years as an over the road trucking fleet owner and i have to say no way. you cant just jump into an 18 wheeler and drive it. it takes skill. most people off the street couldnt even figure out how to move it 100 feet. my employees had to meet qualifications dictated by the insurance company. in my case it was 2 years driving experience and no more than 2 tickets and past accidents were scrutinized plus a drug test. all names had to be submitted to the insurance company for investigation before you could hire them.
i got to call bs on this one too. there are no 100k a year trucking jobs going unfilled. most non union trucking jobs would top around 60k. if there were 100k jobs out there these 60k drivers would be beating down their doors.
"SAN ANTONIO -- Development of the Eagle Ford shale deposit in South Texas could bring close to 2,000 new jobs to the San Antonio area, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said. Over the past few weeks, Wolff has met with executives at two major oil companies, Marathon and Halliburton, and came away confident the companies had intentions to develop within Bexar County limits. "What makes us attractive (is) we're close, but we're also an urban area. We have the housing, the workforce, the amenities (and the) culture," Wolff said. Wolff said the companies will likely develop land south of Loop 1604, in between Interstates 35 and 37. The jobs they bring will be high-paying. A productive truck driver making as much as $100,000 per year, Wolff said. Wolff said executives at Marathon Oil told him they consider the Eagle Ford deposit the most productive and viable in the country." Seneca