We have an excellent group of articles that will give you the differences between different types of jobs - take a look at how to choose a truck driving job.

As far as getting home, it will make no difference at all where the company is located. As long as they hire from your region, they'll be able to get you home just fine. So don't pay any attention to where they're located - it makes no difference.

The felony conviction will disqualify you at quite a few companies, but certainly not all - especially since it's from so long ago. Your age won't be a problem.

What you'll want to do is start applying for pre-hires. The pre-hire process is where you apply for a job at a trucking company and they will tell you whether or not you will qualify to work there after graduating from a legitimate truck driving school and getting your CDL. Now this is not a guarantee of employment. It simply means that you would qualify to work there. Now I've seen these fall through due to policy changes or unreported problems with a person's background, so you want to get a minimum of two or three pre-hires. If you can do that, you know you'll be able to find work in the trucking industry after graduating from truck driving school. Now this process does not require any commitment on your part to attend truck driving school or work at a company you're applying to. It's a great way to find out if you will be able to land a job in the trucking industry without taking the risk of going to school and finding out the hard way. You can contact the recruiters at any of the major trucking companies to get this process started. Once you apply, make sure you call them back about every other day to see if they're working on your application. Otherwise, it might just be set aside in a pile of applications and forgotten.

Absolutely they will! Trucking is one of the few industries that prefers age to youth because they're counting on drivers to make safe, prudent decisions, which young people aren't exactly famous for! Go to any trucking school in the country and you'll find guys and gals in their 60's getting training and finding work. Your age is no concern in trucking - you're good to go in that regard.

Both Crete and TMC are excellent companies. The biggest decision is whether or not you'd like to pull a dry van or flatbed. But the pay, benefits, equipment, and overall quality of the two companies are very similar. But pulling flatbed is completely different than dry van so that's what you'll want to consider first and foremost. Read these articles on how to choose a truck driving job for a ton of insights into choosing the best company for yourself.

From what you've told me so far, I don't see any reason why not! Your age is of no concern in trucking. If you can pass the physical and you have a solid background (especially criminal and driving records) then it sounds like you could make a go of it. Check out our Guide To Becoming A Truck Driver for a ton of information on getting started in trucking.

But your husband is an owner-operator so he is treated like a company, not an employee. But I still agree with the fact that these statistics are going to stay with the driver and affect their career in one way or another.

Does your disability force you to eat more calories each day than your body needs? I don't care what the issue is, if you eat the proper number of calories based on the nutritional requirements for your body, you will not gain weight. If you eat a few less calories than your body needs, you'll lose weight. And if someone has a disability that is so severe that they can't control their own health, then they aren't safe enough to be driving an 80,000 pound truck at 65 mph surrounded by minivans full of children.

If you look around the truck stops it sure seems that might be the case! LoL! But indeed they're only targeting the ones that can be classified "morbidly obese" which is really, really big. You'd need a BMI of around 39 before anyone would be too concerned with your weight, which would put someone that's 5' 10" at about 280 pounds.

Hey Don.

I'd say the #1 reason for not letting people under 21 drive interstate is because of their horrendous safety statistics and the tendency for younger people to be more aggressive, less patient, and greater risk takers. In trucking, it's all about liability and trust. Trucking companies need people with a proven track record of smart decision making which is why they tend to rule out anyone who has ever had a felony, DUI, or severe driving infractions. They even look at your credit score and social networking pages to get all the information they can about you. Unfortunately, someone who is 18 has never been anywhere except high school and mommy's house - they usually have no track record of decision making at that point in their lives to show they can be trusted. At least at 21 you've been out in the world for a few years (hopefully) and have shown you can be trusted (or not) as an adult making your own decisions.

Naturally the military loves 18-21 year olds because most people at that age are a bundle of fearless adrenaline junkies - idealistic, looking to make their mark in the world, and easier to mold. That's not a complaint against the military at all - it's just a simple matter of finding the right person in the right circumstances for the job.

I don't know if I would say it's a "simple fact" that CSA 2010 is a blacklist - that's going a bit far. But I'm curious about your situation, especially the "fatigued driver" points. Did you have any logbook violations that could have applied to this? There had to be some form of ticket issued to give you points for fatigued driving. And you said in reference to lights that don't work on the trailer "The company has refused to repair the light or any of them that don't work". Really? I mean, you told them that you had trailer lights that weren't working properly and they flat-out said "We don't care. We're not fixing it. Get out there and drive".

And if CSA 2010 is a blacklist, then why are you on it? You're implying they're blacklisting you - and my question would be "Why would they do that to you specifically?"

There are also ways you can challenge any information you feel is erroneous on the report. Have you tried challenging any of it?