10 ½ Tips To Finding A Better Trucking Job

If you’re looking for a career in the transportation field, specifically as a truck driver, then there are a number of things you should keep in mind. Truck drivers are in high demand with a lot of companies, but the trick to finding a better job with better pay starts before you interview. It starts before you apply. It starts before you make a phone call.

There are a lot of openings, but few companies that are willing to pay a driver the top dollar for their miles. However, if you’re careful, and follow these steps, you’ll be well on your way to making more money, being home more often, and getting better benefits for you and your family. These days, it’s not just about your driving experience that will lead you to a better truck driving opportunity, it’s a bigger professional picture that if you make sure to do some of these recommendations, you’ll get the job that you’ve been working for, for so many miles. Take a second, you deserve to know:

1. Make Sure You Have A Job Now. Imagine you’re the recruiter. Do you want to hire someone that doesn’t have a job? Potential hires are "hotter" prospects when they’re currently employed. This means the new company has to make a better offer to steal you away from your current employer. Plus, if you have a job now, you don’t have to worry about going without a paycheck.

2. Get Your Work History Together. Most employers will require all necessary info regarding your previous three (3) employers – minimum. Most of them also require your previous three (3) years worth of employers. If you’ve had several jobs, you’ll need to be able to provide the names of the employer and supervisors as well as the phone number and addresses for all the companies. Yes, it’s a chore to dig up, but it’s worth it. Also, type it up or get it typed up so you have something professional to present to a new employer. This is one of the most overlooked aspects of truck driver jobs hunting.

3. Check Your DAC History. Your DAC driver history is a transportation company’s way of checking your driving history before checking your MVR (motor vehicle report). It’s a good idea to know what the recruiters see when they’re looking up your info. Disputing your DAC can be a chore, just FYI, in the event something is incorrect. However, you knowing what’s on there also means you don’t go into a conversation or interview not knowing information, about yourself.

4. Check Your Personal Driving History. That’s right, your personal driving history. It might show something different – could be good or bad – than what your DAC history or MVR shows. The best way to find all the info, and find it for FREE, is call your insurance company. The company that insures your personal vehicle has access to all of your info and can quickly and freely tell you all the info that’s associated with you. Again, you knowing all the available info prepares you for any question you might be asked.

5. Make Sure Your CDL Is Current. Too many drivers try to find a job and realize that their CDL (commercial driver’s license) is expired. Just how in the world is a trucking company supposed to hire a driver that does NOT have a current CDL? That’s an impossible question that is asked but goes unanswered every day. This is something painfully obvious, but lots of to-be drivers don’t have a current CDL.