What is a good company to start out with? I am looking for good home time with a southwest run out of Phoenix, Arizona. Any help or recommendations will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your help.

By the way, I have no license (CDL) yet. I am looking for a company that pays for my training.

Come on guys, I need your help.

What companies are based in Phoenix or it's suburbs (Avondale, Tolleson, Glendale, Tempe, Meza, Peoria, Laveen, etc.)?

I think you are putting the "cart before the horse" so to speak.

The first thing before trying to find a company,would be getting the training.

Unless you are looking for a company payed training?

I think thats the reason you are not getting any response on this . JMO


Good Luck

Swift and Knight are both headquartered in Phoenix. Werner has a terminal there, as do quite a few other companies that take noobs.

Yes, I am looking for a company that pays for my training like Swift.

Sounds like you might want Werner. They have a big terminal near 43rd and lower buckeye rd. Pretty much all of the large companies have a terminal in PHX. Can't say much about what hometime you'd get though, probably not much. Really though, you might want to get your CDL training through a community college..better training, cheaper, and you won't be indentured to any company for a certain number of years.

Thanks for your reply. Believe it or not, it is very helpful!

I lived out there for a while. I went to Cactus Driving School in Casa Grande. i think they folded since then though. Look around in Tucson and AZ City by Casa Grande. There were a few back then...all about $2500 or less. The Swift shcool isn't bad but they will rape you day 3 of training in the fees...look closely in the contract and you'll see it jump from $2500 to $6500...no kidding !!!! I bailed on day three when I saw that...and didn't sign the contract. Then I took my permit, which I had by then and went to Casa Grande.

Most Newbies out there went with Knight. The owner is family of Swift (brothers or something) Didn't like what was going on at Swift, took his half of the company and made Knight. So the story goes around those shipping yards. People don't complain much at Knight. Also, I spoke with a recruiter once for them, at the office...Something you will earn about the industry...sometimes you get a load and they give it to you early, so you have excess time to drop it off. They do that with Newbies a lot so you have time to make mistakes and learn...Knight told me that as long as I had a safe place to park, which was my front yard in (near Florence)..I could stop at homeafter picking up/dropping a load...just get it there on time. Once I was interested in the industry I started looking at the trucks in town and seeing just how much they were gone...and the Knight trucks did that all the time. They would leave bobtail or empty in the morning and be back in the afternoon with a full trailer, hang out for the day then leave sometime at night. Now I know that they were logging their 10 hr off-duty at home instead of at a truck stop or something. They'd be back again after a couple days maybe up to 4. But they would pull in at home from going in and out of Phoenix all the time. See..technically they were not "at home" but resting instead. That's how they did it.

I ended up going back in the military after CDL school...never drove for a company...and so the story goes with not working for them....

Check them out...go to their office. It's near Buckeye and close to Swift...there are a few trucking companies down in that area, all off the same street. You could park your vehicle and walk up and down the street and talk to a lot of companies face to face.

And stay away from that Swift school !!!! There is a private one out there. Go to the Dept of Labor office and ask one of the job counselors where to go. They tell you about state funding to pay for it too....

Good luck and happy hunting...ohhh yeah that reminds me..Sept 1st is dove season...those cotton field in AZ are always a gold mine if you like dove hunting...

no find a co. that will hire you ,if you will go to a school who training is accepted by the co. .