In the US, you can fly commercially including a 747 with a CPL as a co-pilot all day long. The only time you need an ATPL is when you looking to get upgraded to Captain. No one's going to shaft you here (union). You do not need a type rating on your commercial license either as long as you have your initial training for the type of aircraft that you are flying.
We do have frozen ATPL but we don't call it that since it's just a written exam and it's only good for 2 years. Pass your practical ride within those two years or take the test over again (very easy compare to the euro or aussie stuff).
There are no ab-initio pilots in the US, i.e cadets etc. Everyone here paid their dues. By the time you have reached 1500 for ATPL (on your own, i.e. flight instructing, midnight package haulers etc.) you'd either love aviation and flying or you'd left the industry long ago (or die of hunger, which ever comes first). So every US pilots you see flying commercially came up the hard way (or in the process of) or through one of the armed forces branches, and that's no easy task either.
