Well, I am new to this forum and am currently looking into getting into the trucking industry. I have two schools lined up and both start around Septemeber 29th. Both cost about the same, $3200 & $3500 with cash up front.

So far it looks as if my employment options are going to be Werner, Stevens or Swift. Swift being the program that they pay for the schooling and you get into the contract with them. I tried Schneider but they stated that they were not looking for drivers from my area.

First off, I would like to know which of these three would be the best to start out with or if there is another company I should look into as well.

I am in Northern California in case that makes a difference.

Thank you in advance for any help that you can provide.

I hate to tell you this, but the 3 you listed I would scratch off the list...

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My childhood dream of becoming a truck driver turned into a nightmare!

Okay, then who else would you suggest? I have seen a lot of negative on those companies but some positive, probably mostly with Werner, but it seems that I there aren't a lot of options for inexperienced drivers out of school.

Have you considered May Trucking?

Schneider National is a great training company as well..

You may also want to look at this thread
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I will do some more resaerch on May Trucking, Thank you.


I looked into Schneider, but they appear to not be hiring any drivers in California at this time.

Im heading to werner.You will read alot of bad and good about them.It will be hard to find a good company as a newbies.Once you get at lease 6 months exp,doors will open more.I also don't care much about werner,but if I can stick it for at lease 4-6 months,im going somewhere else.Good luck who ever you go to. Drive safe.

Well, I have kept up on my research and as of right now I am definitely writing off Swift. So that basically settled me into which trucking school I am going to go to, of course a $3000 gift from relatives helped deter going the Swift route as well. Now I don't have to worry about being tied into one company for over a year.

So I have about a week until class starts and it is a four week class. As of right now I think I am leaning towards Werner, and yes, I am looking at it as a temporary position to get in some of that needed experience before I can find a better company to get on with. I figure I still have another four weeks in which I can still research a few other companies before totally committing myself to Werner.

Right now my list includes Werner, CR England, Stevens Transport, US Xpress & May Trucking. Although I haven't fully researched all of those as of yet and of course still looking for a few others as well. I guess I can figure Werner to be my backup plan if nothing else works out.

This has been a difficult issue to deal with for all aspects as it pertains to our lives.

Do you spend money get trained, have CDL and no job.

Do you get pre-hired, get CDL, still owe money for school and work for someone for a year or two.

Having a CDL does not guarantee a job.......( considering hiring aspects) spent money no job.....

Having a co. send you to school ..........keep money in hand......save for darker days. Work for someone for a year.........time passes fast get contract over have a solid good year experience with one company and have the money in the bank.

I started to get my CDL thru my local tech school, but only becuase of scheduling I did not. Ended up at this company......many issues and alot of other people complaining having problems......I have been fortunante not to have many........been over a year (contract was 8 months) and still here because it is working for me and my situation for now.

Think.......a year may not always be a bad thing........time flies b when you're having fun..........LOL

Alot of people do jump in 6 months or so, but some do have problems when doing this. Times are tighter than ever.........having a good job history helps over the next person.

Just a thought or consideration...........Good Luck.........

P.S. Just another note...........have spoken to quite a few people from Werner who are not happy, and have tried to leave and other companies not interested in hiring them. One person stated to me the other company did not feel Werner drivers knew how to complete a written log properly anymore since they were all electronic now........go figure......

Well I also took this into consideration myself.. Get trained by a truck training center or by a trucking company. I chose a trucking company. Why? well I was afraid that a trucking center may try to scam me by training me just to find out I don't have a job with any company. I found this forum a few years later after I started driving.. oddly it was during a job search.. Well when I found it I read that people was having problems with training centers doing exactly as I suspected.. Not all have this issue but it does happen.. Just something to think about..