Massachusetts Newbie

If you can afford it why not go to NETTS in N. Andover, there's local work in this area where you'll probably make more than otr

 

Doesn't NETTS do financial aid?

 

Prime has an NE Regional which may suit you, being so close to I95 and all. My husband was there for training this past week. He thought the experience was great.

You won't get paid for the CDL training part, but during the TNT phase, you'll get $600/wk or $.12/mi, whichever is larger, so long as you are on the truck and available for dispatch. Once you're on your own, you'll start at .33/mi, with additional per mile cents ($.05) for regional (if you choose that) and lightweight trucks ($.05) (if you choose that). After 80K miles, you go to starting pay of $.34/mi for basic OTR. This all assumes you will go company after. Can't speak to leasing.

Assuming you have your act together, are available for miles, do the miles and don't take a lot home time, you'll likely do ok.

Look in the Prime topic for recent accounts of 1st hand experiences of trainees going through the program.

On the other hand, if you regard large companies and/or governed trucks as a show stopper, probably not for you.

As far as we could tell, Swift and Prime were very similar. We approached Swift first, but they were not taking trainees from up here (not sure if MA is different). Prime is and we know they have accounts in Maine.

If you find a way to swing training yourself, you could try Schneider; their site claims they reimburse training costs from approved training facilities. They seem fairly well-regarded and "newbie friendly".