Let me begin by saying that I truly was hoping to find a company that allowed pets, but I have somewhat come to terms with not keeping my girl. Please I do not need any sarcastic replies towards how pets are not made for this life.

Now as I have been calling companies all day I have come to only a few which truly fit my needs.

FFE/AE/Lm - They offer the paid training, but I have read some posts which state you will have to do alot of waiting for unloading, unloading yourself etc... They do have a pet policy so I am somewhat considering them, but I would love some input from their drivers, or people with experience from them.

Next in line is Swift - I have read that they do have company paid training to obtain your cdl, however everytime I call their recruiting number I sit on hold for 10-15 minutes, after which I get transferred to a voicemail that is full.

Third is Truck USA - I found that they also have company training to obtain your cdl.

Of these companies which is truly the best for a begining driver who has to obtain his cdl and the only way to affordably do so is through a company which does have first time driver training with help obtaining their cdl?

Thanks for all the help, I love reading through here and trying to learn more as I go.

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Some of that depends on where you live and what your personal needs and wants are. FFE/AE/LM pet policy is a penny a mile and I actually think Lisa has disallowed pets. Swift does not allow pets on company trucks. I believe by the end of 20 months of driving for Swift after attending their training or training with an independent school that you will have gotten your CDL for free. Swift offers 4 or 5 pay raises the first yer and uses a sliding scale pay system. I cannot tell you about USA. The only other one that comes to mind is Werner and they do allow pets onboard for a deposit.

as I said i have pretty much given up on bringing my dog with me. my question now is what companies will have me running the hardest while keeping it legal. Also, if anyone knows of other companies which have the paid training while you get your cdl I would be more than happy to check them out. Also which companies give you the highest comfort level, I have worked in enough areas for the last 8 years where it was nothing but heat in the summer and cold in the winter, its time to have some comfort without it costing me every dang dime I make.

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Is it possible for you to finance a school on your own so that you are not indebted to a company? Personally, I would look for a private school that finances the tuition and then moving to a company that offers tuition reimbursement as well as a pet program.

Some of the worst horror stories I've read here are in regards to a company having somebody in contract or basically by the balls until the tuition is paid. Most schools offer job placement and you can likely have multiple offers by graduation.

As for training with pets, I doubt that can happen. But as soon as your license is had and company training is complete, you and your girl should be good to go.

Good luck in your endevours.

unfortunately self financing for school is pretty much out of the question. I have others bills (primarily my pickup) that have to still be paid while I am doing my school. This is why I am having to go with the indebt method of looking for a job, however once i start driving I should be able to take the amount i have put back from retirement and pay the company back for my training if I so choose so I am not in debt to them, I just cant do it as an initial move.

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Bummer. Is it possible to put some savings aside to pay for some of the bills? I know it's hard, as I was unemployed for almost a year when I entered trucking school. I had alreay used surplus funds, savings, etc. My saving grace was my vehicle is paid for but I still had other expenditures. Luckily, the school doesn't collect payments until a onth past graduation. Unluckily, orientation/training pay barely pays the bills. Now my company and I are both putting money into paying off the loan.

I'm only suggesting this because it can be a bad place to be when you owe more than just money to a company. This can keep you from moving on to bigger and better things in some cases. No matter how bad you want out, they really have you. This is worse case scenario though. I hope if you do get into something, you are happy and things work out for you.

the saving grace for me is the patience I have learned in the last year and then some. After working with juvenile offenders for this long, having to deal with assaults, cussed at spit at and treated like a liberal at the rnc I can handle a year with a company that isnt as great while it means getting my experience. I am just wanting to get the best job I can out of those with the options of giving me training

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Be patient and keep doing your research. Also governments have grants and there are school loans. I dont believe however that working for a company for one year to pay off a school debt is so bad. You could strap down and pay off that debt in a couple months once you are up and running. Now get rid of the pickup, you wont need it. Sell everything you own and go get yourself in a truck. Sounds easy huh? Its not! But thats the trucking world. I will also try to explain this without breaking forum rules. There is a guy named Dave RAmsey on the radio, and you could probably find him in other places, but he has helped me and my family tremendously and I have heard other drivers on this site talk about him. Check him out(somehow). and dont give up!

Besides his Satellite and FM shows, he has a show on television as well as some good books. I can get more info upon request.


I"M DEBT FREE!

Not really, but I wish I was...

I'm very aware of dave, and I used to listen to his show daily. However, dave never worked in the place I am at now where stress related illness is costing me enough to keep me from making a decent living. It's why I am working hard to break out of corrections into trucking.

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