Women truck driver with a felony

by Lisa Carroll
(Flagstaff, Arizona)

Recently I went to truck driving school and got my class A CDL. I went on to get all my endorsements. I have had a difficult time getting any of the "big" companies to hire me because I have a felony record. So I started looking into local companies and have had a lot of sucess.

Right now I'm driving a dump truck for a small company in my town and just applied for a job with a bigger company hauling fuel.( My felony did not disqualify me from getting my hazmat). There is a good chance I'll get the job driving a fuel truck and I'll be driving the dump truck on the side when the owner of the company is outta town.

I just want people to know not to give up no matter what. If driving a truck is what you want to do and you have a felony just keep trying someone will hire you. It may take a little more time than other drivers but if you don't give up a job will come through for you.

I also have a bachelors degree in nursing and am a registered Massage Therapist but lost my nursing license and can't get it back for a year. I just got plum burnt out on Massage Therapy so I ended up wanting to drive a truck. My family is supportive but ... in awe lol. Also I would like to say that felons should write their local congressman and let them know how difficult it is for us felons to get jobs. The more letters they get the more of a chance things will change for us.

I met with a women from the Inspector Attorney Generals office in D.C and she said they are working on taking the question, asking if one has a felony, off of initial job applications. This would be a step in the right direction for felons cuz we could at least then have an opportunity for an interview which would give us a chance to show them what were really made of which is hard working, dependable, honest people who just got caught making a big mistake at some point in time.