Looking for good company to "start" with, suggestions wanted

I'll try my best to explain my situation and question(s), not sure how long/short this will be, but thanks in advance for any advise/suggestions.

In May of last year (2014) I got my CDL through the driving school that Central Refrigerated (Swift) uses. After completing training and being upgraded to a solo driver I delivered two loads and then quit, partly because I didn't like being away from family for such long periods of time. I also didn't feel very confident with parts of my driving (backing in particular), however some of that is expected as a new driver.

Now after not driving a big rig for several months (I quit in July), I've decided I want to get back into truck driving. The family I have in the area I live (Near Boise, ID) is moving away, so there really isn't much holding me here anymore, I also feel like I should have given truck driving more of a chance before I quit. With such little experience there's seemingly no chance for me to get a "great" truck driving job, and because I haven't been driving for a little while, I expect I'll essentially need to start over and go through training of some sort again, and I'm fine with that; at least this time I already have my CDL so I won't need to worry about that again. After doing some research trying to figure out a company to go with, I discovered this website. It seems like there are lots of people here with good knowledge and information, so here's some more back story and what I'm hoping to find:

I'm trying to find a company that actually teaches their new/newer drivers properly. On thing I hated about the training with Central Refrigerated (Swift), is while I was out with my "trainer" we were essentially operating as a team. One of the results of this was that my trainer didn't allow me back the truck most of the time; he wanted things done quickly so we could finish the load and move onto the next one. Towards the end of my training I did get practice backing, but the first time I actually backed into a loading dock was when I was solo (I feel like I did a decent job of it, but it would have been much less stressful if I could have done it with an experienced driver there if I felt like I needed help). Now I don't think that's completely my trainers bad, though they need to be credited for part of the fault, the main problem is the way that system was operated. Pimp out the rookie so the trainer can make the big bucks, get the loads delivered and keep moving. From talking with my other classmates it sounds like most of them had similar experiences. You drive, trainer sleeps most of the time; Then you sleep while they drive. I know there are many other companies that do things similarly...I feel like that was part of my problem, I wasn't confident in the training I received, this added stress that I wanted to get rid of; the easiest way to do that (in my mind) was to quit driving. If I had known this is how the training was done there, I probably would have started somewhere else...I didn't do much research into many different companies before getting into truck driving, and that's a mistake I'll have to live with.

I'm hoping to "start" again with a company that does things differently (and better). Based on the research I've done, it looks like Roehl Transport is a company that might do training better (though I'm not sure of their hiring area, however I'm ok with relocating a little), but I'm having trouble finding information detailing the training process for most companies. Anybody have some tips on companies to look at where I can get my "start", have a better chance of making things work, and actually feel confident in the training I receive?

 

I've thought about Schneider. One of my classmates went to them right after he upgraded to a solo driver. His dad worked for them for years and had good things to say about them, so my classmate decided to work for them as well...though I'm not sure why he didn't start with them...doesn't matter I suppose.

Sounds like an option to move up on my list for sure. I'll have to do some more research, see what I can find. Based on my looking around though, there's good and bad remarks for any company, so I don't always worry about the negatives...it depends on exactly what is said, when it was said, and how trustworthy the story sounds to me. I'll bet there'd be somebody working for the best company in the world and still complain about something.

 

I could have done that, a different trainer might have been better; but for me it wasn't the amount of training that I didn't have confidence in, it was the quality of training. If I do run into problems getting a job at a different company I know that I'll at least be able to go back to Swift...though I don't really want to do that. They told me in a closing interview (or something like that, don't remember what they called it), that they did about a month after I quit, that if I changed my mind to let them know and they'd be happy to have me back.

I haven't really looked into something like that too much. However at this point I feel like that if I had given things a chance I could have adapted to being over the road. Also, the family I have in the area will be moving in a month or two so there won't be as much reason to come home anyways. I'm not married, so I don't have a family of my own to worry about.