CROSSROADS IN LIFE

For trucking company schools, Roehl or Millis are two good choices. If you want to run west coast runs, consider Jim Palmer Trucking.
In you're situation though, I'd probably put Millis first, then Roehl, followed by Jim Palmer.
Millis is easy money with lots of drop & hook loads of soft drinks and other beverages.

Abilene and Freymiller and Magnum Ltd. will be ok if they decide you only need their refresher course. I'd put Magnum Ltd. first.

 

You asked which megas were good to go with. That question always compels me to defend my job because I feel like a lot of guys miss out on a decent gig by listening to the echo chamber which is swift bashing. With Swift you can take off 3 days after 3 weeks and taking a week off after 2 months is not a problem. I don't have kids so not sure how much tax you would pay but you should take home about $4k per month before taxes as a company driver and about $5200 per month as a lease operator before taxes. I do a little better In my lease at about $6k per month but I've been here awhile and I'm on a really good otr account and with no kids I don't go home. I just takes home time in Vegas or LA or s wherever I am when I need a 34. I've worked for other companies. I'm constantly seeking better paying gigs. I haven't been able to find a place that prove they pay more than Swift. Swift has been good to me. I always get my miles. They're respectful to me and they don't bother me. Really I only speak to someone from swift once every few weeks. My loads just come to my Qualcomm and I run them. The worst part about working for swift is listening to ######## like Trooper to Trucker constantly shat on your job. Really really pisses me off but I guess I can understand. It's usually takes a special kind of arsehole to want to be a cop in the first place.

 

Try a career in short story writing based on this post you've got lots of potential in writing a biography or something most of us just don't have the patience to read someones entire family history unless we're taking a few weeks off and enjoying the sunshine on the Beach at the Goldcoast.

 

but warnings are yellow

 

You live in a big city. Go LTL or beverage. You can find a job locally. I'm younger than you with a family as well. I have only ever been a local driver. I can't imagine leaving them for that long. But, that's just me.

 

My man, the reason peoplet give Swift a hard time is because they deserve it. In a company the size of Swift there's bound to be a couple of decent drivers, but if the DOT pulled you guys (and CR England) off the roads then it would have a staggeringly large impact on the number of accidents.

 

Accidents would stay the same but would just come from other companies. All those drivers would just be hired up by other companies. But really I get where your coming from. Swift hires over 18,000 new drivers every year. There's going to be hiccups for every new driver. Swift loses more than 10 drivers every year to fatal accidents not all of them the drivers fault but more than a few are. It is what it is.
With all that said though that doesn't affect the man who wants a good job. Swift keeps records for everything and they know to the penny how much revenue a driver brings to the company. If a driver sticks around for 9 months to a year and is a driver not a complainer or truck stop sitter Swift will treat you like a golden goose. They do reward the guys who drive revenue.

All the time I hear "oh swift gets $10,000 from the federal government to train a new driver so they just train em and fire them". Swift doesn't get a single penny from the Feds to train drivers. That was a program from the late 70s early 80s shortly after deregulation. Swift wasn't even called Swift back then. The reason Swift and all the other companies train and hire all those new drivers is because nearly 100% of the folks they pull off the street decide that trucking was not the lifestyle they were looking for. I'd also surmise that a large percentage of the guys they send to school are unemployable in any field.

 

you would have been drilled if you didn't give sone detail. is there more?

 

Wow! It is refreshing to see someone that actually is taking the time to ask the people that do this for a living about the specifics instead of a babbling recruiter whose only purpose in life is to put a warm body in the seat no matter what lies or misleading statements they have to make to get it done. I haven't read this whole thread so please forgive me if what I type is redundant. And yes even truck drivers sometimes can use a 3 syllable word. Anyways, the concerns that you mentioned are valid so I would like to concentrate on them. More specifically the staying out a month or two and taking a week off. You typically can stay out as long as you want. Most companies would like their OTR drivers to stay out a minimum of 2 weeks but that is up to the company and what kind of freight they haul and their traffic lanes. I would strongly discourage you from staying out a month or two at a time. If you have to stay out that long with a company to make an adequate living something is seriously wrong with that company and their pay rate. Personally I find that 3 weeks out and 3 days home works for me, but as you get acclimated to your new career you can choose what works best for you. A good rule of thumb is 1 day off for every week out running away from home.
Mountain driving or steep grades and your concern about being forced to drive in bad weather go hand in hand. Something that they don't teach in truck driving schools ( and I know this because I use to be an instructor at one) is that your the captain of that ship. Don't be a hero in either of these. With today's technology it is nothing more then a mouse click away for a dispatcher to see weather or road conditions up to and including cameras set up along whatever stretch of highway so that they can see what the weather is doing in real time. If you don't feel comfortable driving , whether it be in your ability or whatever, just let your dispatcher know. Believe me, they would much rather have you get to where your going rather then have to peal you off the bottom of a mountain and have a cargo claim or complete loss. No one can make you do something that you don't feel is safe and if they try time to find another company that values you as a human rather then the almighty dollar.
Most companies have what's called a cash advance that you can get a week. That money is intended for tolls, and any other expenses that may be accrued during the typical work week. For example, if the company you go to work for gives a $150 a week cash advance that you can pull off your card and you get all of it. Out of that $150 you have receipts totaling $100 to turn in. Regardless of what you do with that remaining $50 they will deduct the 150 from your check, then add back the 100 that you have in receipts. Any amount of that money that you don't use for truck expenses you can either put in your pocket and keep since they already deducted it from your paycheck or put it away and just don't take as much the following week. Most companies have I pass or EZ pass for tolls. Repairs they typically pay with a com check or similar depending on how much the repair is.
I know this is a long response so forgive me for being long winded. The majority of the concerns you have should be addressed by your trainer. If not, request a new one. Yes your probably going to have to go with a trainer, no way around that. Gone are the days when an employer assumes you can drive and throws you the keys and says good luck. God bless and welcome to the looney bin called the trucking industry.