Where can a convicted felon drive with a cdl in Texas?

Answer 1

Unless you've been exonerated of those charges, you're still a felon. Once you've been released, you're an ex-con, but you remain a felon. This isn't posted in order to be condescending - there's a reason I put this in here, and you'll see why as you read on. I just want to make sure you're not under any false impressions.

Now, getting a CDL - you can do that easily enough. You just go to a truck driver training school. The difficulty is going to be in finding employment, especially if your felony conviction occurred in the last 10 years.

Before you go spending $3000 - $5000 at a truck driver training school, here's what I suggest: Shop around. Contact various companies, see who'll hire inexperienced drivers, and be up front with them about your felony conviction - you need to find out who'll hire a convicted felon.

Now, this is where the felony conviction is going to hurt you. Most entry level companies require their drivers to obtain a hazmat endorsement. To obtain that, you will be subjected to a TSA background check - a felony conviction on your record automatically disqualifies you. I know Swift requires a hazmat endorsement, and I believe most of your major entry level companies (Schneider, Werner, Knight's, Central, Covenant, etc.) do, as well. You might want to try TMC - they're exclusively a flatbed company, and I think it's possible that they don't require a hazmat endorsement.

If not, you may want to see if a major construction company which has an entry level training programme would consider you as a dump truck driver. In Texas, they normally pull asphalt year-round, so you could find consistent work there.