The short answer is "yes companies can hire you with an automatic restriction on your CDL." What I've come to find out though is depending on where you live, what you're looking to do like (dedicated, regional, intermodal, local) the type of cargo you'll want to be hauling, and the company size an automatic restriction can limit the amount of great jobs within the first 3-6 months of getting your CDL. After about 3 mo-1yr at that point it doesn't matter as much because experience will carry you over.
I had auto restriction for 4 years before it was removed. I’ve worked at 4 different food service CDL jobs. They all had mixed fleet. And all hired me quickly. Most of them don’t care or they’ll train you to get it removed.
My mistake it was 3 food service companies. US Foods, Goya Foods of Texas and Performance Food Group. They do prefer no restrictions but they’ll still hire auto restricted drivers quick because these food service jobs have the fastest turnover rates in the trucking industry. Shamrock where I’m at now is all automatic.
@@alishabazz7431 Wow, I'm gonna go through Amazon to get my CDL. I may have a automatic restriction but willing to get it off if they train to get it removed!
Companies that pull regular to light freight are really going automatic. The companies that pull heavy duty loads need manual. Right now I work in ltl and I’m driving automatic. To be honest I rather auto than manual any day.
I’m in week 3 of school and Manual is getting the best of me . Bruh this shit so weird if I don’t get comfortable but skool end I’m testing out automatic eff it . 😒
That’s where I’m at now. Week 3 of cdl school and learning on manual. I shift pretty well, but my starting and stopping (with clutch) forward and reverse is not good. Feel like I’m spending my whole time training how to drive manually, but not nearly enough time learning how to properly control and maneuver the truck. Only a week left until I test and I am switching to auto. I don’t want to drive a manual anyways.
I've recently missed out on two jobs because of this automatic restriction. One of which I really wanted with Southeastern Freight. It was kind of discouraging but I'm still on the search.
Yep, most if not all companies have a mixed fleet so your chances of getting hired on with a company having a restriction will vary based on the company’s needs & their fleet mix.
@@imanthonytv crazy thing is I work for Pepsi in the warehouse and they rather hire guys straight out of school than promote within. I got my CDL through Pepsi to advance my career with Pepsi. Our entire fleet is automatic so they can’t use that excuse.
Estes hired me with a restriction but told me to work on getting it removed. In Southern California couldn’t find a place to rent a manual truck. Had to pay $1200 to get a few hours training and use of their truck for the DMV test.
I got hired with ODFl here in Greensboro, NC. I have to go out with local driver trainer for month to learn how to shift, Most of their fleet is manual.
