MS Trucking PT.2

Alright yall, so a year later and I'm back to the drawing board. First of all I want to say Thank You! to everyone to replied to my post a year ago. Last time nothing was set in stone. A year later and finally I'm making the move March 5th. Last official working day was yesterday.

Some basic info before I get to my dilemma...
CA CDL A, END. TPX.
No auto restriction but I can't drive a manual (Just ask, I'll explain)
Moving to Jackson, Mississippi from SoCal.
I most recently worked for Caltrans mainly driving dump trucks with attenuators for backup protection on the Highway. Prior to that I was in the Military from 13-16 mainly driving roll-off trucks with a pintle-hook trailer (its called a PLS or LHS) and I occasionally drove a flatbed. After the military I briefly (1 month) worked for Virginia Linen Service driving a dry van from VA to DL and back daily.

So here's my issue,
The endgame is to land a job with local company doing mostly drop and hook, IE, what Venture Express does with automotive freight out of Canton, MS. To get there I'm ready and willing to drive OTR/Regional for a year and I'm willing to drive for Food Service to get the exp. I need for a job like that. The problem is most local trucking is still manual while all the megas are pretty much all Auto. I did go to CDL school but it was back in 2017. So, I need to find a company that runs manuals and is willing to train a non-recent cdl grad.
I have talked to TMC, KLLM, and Total Transportation.
TMC is willing to take me but will not train me to drive a manual. They are going full atuo in 2-3 years. KLLM will take me on but they are not certified with the VA for OJT (most megas are). If I dont stay with them for a year I have to pay out of pocket and my GI Bill wont cover it and they dont have any regional out of Jackson. I would like to go Regional if I can. Total Transportation will only take new drivers if they are recent CDL grads. Its my understanding that I NEED to know how to drive a manual to land a local job so going with Schneider, Swift etc. doesnt help me. The local food service companies in Jackson are Sysco, US Foods and Mclane. Mclane is the only one with a training program. I applied for that but then got email saying they are no longer accepting apps for that position.

I know this is a lengthy post, for anyone still here Thank you! I've seem to hit a wall here and any info or advice on where to start given my situation would be greatly appreciated. I need any info on companies with manuals that train non-recent CDL grad w/ no experience or any info on local companies around MS that run all autos.

 

Also if anyone has any questions about Caltrans I'll be glad to help!

 

I was an Equipment Operator II. Pay was about 23.50 an hour. Its Salary based but we are paid hourly if that makes sense. I was it takes 4 years in each position to cap out on pay. I was in just over 2 years. I was Permanent Fulltime. Summer is 9/80s, winter is 5/40s. I had a few different jobs. Most recently I was on a maintenance crew so things like fence repair, Graffiti and weed abatement, crack sealing, potholes, delineation etc. What you do all depends on what crew you get on. There's road maintenance, landscape and special crews. Once you get fulltime transfering to other yards/crews is all through post and bid all based on seniority/time in service.

 

It's a great job. Only reason I quit is to move out of California.

 

Maybe I can find one out there that is strictly a refresher course. The one I went to was a standard school. I took it after I had my CDL for that purpose but the trainer didnt really give a #### about training me since I already had a CDL and thus wouldn't affect their pass/fail rate.

 

My wife is from GA. That's where I want to be. She had family is MS that we are moving in with until I can afford a house in GA. Although we're not opposed entirely to staying in MS. I've visited the family there a few times. It's not GA but I liked it enough.