Dot Transportation Hiring Up to 15 Drivers at University Park Facility, Offers Paid CDL Training (Chicago, IL ) — Dot Transportation is looking to hire up to 15 drivers at its University Park distribution center, offering opportunities for experienced commercial drivers as well as people looking to enter the trucking industry for the first time.
The company is recruiting drivers for several positions and schedules at its facility at 251 Central Ave. in University Park. The hiring effort includes a paid pathway for applicants who do not yet have a Class A commercial driver’s license.
Student drivers can earn $800 per week while attending an approved CDL training program, according to the company. Tuition assistance is also available to eligible participants. After completing the licensing program and company training, participants can move into driving positions with Dot Transportation.
Drivers with fewer than 200,000 miles of experience can earn up to $72,000 annually, depending on the position and schedule. Dot is also looking for experienced drivers for no-touch freight ble schedules include traditional routes, team driving and a four-days-on, four-days-off option. Drivers may also qualify for bonuses and performance incentives.
Benefits include medical and dental insurance, a 401(k), profit sharing, paid time off and holiday pay.
The hiring campaign comes as the trucking industry continues to need new drivers. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects approximately 214,500 openings for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers each year from 2025 through 2035.
Dot Transportation officials say applicants shouldn’t assume they need years of trucking experience or have to enter the industry at a young age.
“People sometimes assume they have to start driving trucks early in life to make it a career, but that is not the case,” said Mitchell Dormire, Dot Transportation’s director of transportation. “Some of our drivers come to us without a CDL, while others make the change after successful careers in entirely different fields.”
Two drivers currently working out of University Park illustrate just how different the path into trucking can look.
Harvey Yarbough spent much of his career driving buses for the Chicago Transit Authority.
Driving was already a family tradition. His mother drove a bus, while his father was a truck driver.
“Driving is in my blood,” Yarbough said.
After retiring from the CTA in 2020, Yarbough decided to pursue an interest he had held for years: driving trucks.
He joined Dot Transportation in April 2021 and now works as a no-touch freight driver. Since making the switch, Yarbough has logged more than 654,000 career miles and has been recognized for reaching 500,000 safe miles.
His experience with the company has now helped bring another member of his family into the industry. Yarbough’s nephew was recently hired at the University Park facility and is training to become a no-touch freight driver.
“Truck driving was something I had wanted to do for a long time,” Yarbough said. “The company has great equipment, and they treat you like family. I really enjoy working here, and I would recommend the company to someone in my own family.”
John Donham took an entirely different route to the driver’s seat.
Donham earned a college degree and an MBA and spent about 30 years working in marketing, data analytics and other business roles with companies including PepsiCo and Conagra Brands.
But despite building a lengthy corporate career, an interest in trucks that began during childhood never disappeared.
At age 53, Donham decided to make a major career change. He enrolled in truck-driving school, earned his commercial driver’s license and joined Dot Transportation in September 2021.
He has since logged more than 525,000 career miles, including 500,000 safe miles.
“I had a good business career, but driving a truck was still something I wanted to do,” Donham said. “Dot gave me the opportunity to make that change.”
Donham said he enjoys the independence that comes with driving and pointed to compensation, benefits and work-life balance as factors that have kept him in the profession.
The experiences of Donham and Yarbough are part of what Dot Transportation hopes prospective applicants will consider as the company attempts to fill its University Park openings.
While experienced CDL holders are being recruited, the paid training program provides another route into the industry for people who may be considering a career change but don’t currently have the required license.
“What they share is a commitment to safety, dependability, and learning,” Dormire said of drivers coming from different backgrounds. “We can help them build the skills they need to turn that commitment into a lasting career.”
Dot Transportation is the transportation affiliate of Dot Foods, a food industry distributor that carries approximately 130,000 products from 1,500 manufacturers. The company says Dot Transportation operates more than 1,800 trucks, maintained by its own team of mechanics.
Dot Foods operates 13 distribution centers across the United States, including its University Park location, and distributes products to customers in all 50 states and more than 55 countries.
Those interested in the University Park driving positions can review openings and application information through Dot Transportation’s careers website.
Dot Transportation Hiring Up to 15 Drivers at University Park Facility, Offers Paid CDL Training
