Company paid training with contract

At Swift, if you go with the company training, they will deduct the cost from your pay over your first year.
If you stay with Swift for a second year they pay you back at the same rate.
After 2 years the net cost to you is zero.
(I went to a private school, but started my career at Swift.)

I don't know where you are located so I have no idea of which terminal you would be based out of.
That can make a difference in how much you like this company.
I have been with Swift for nearly 12 years, and have always had the best in driver managers because of the terminals I have worked out of.
Those would be the smaller terminals where we are more a name and not a number.

Terminal location, and your own work ethic and personality.
My ethic is to be as laid back (lazy?) as possible while always getting the job done safely and on time.
That has worked for me, and for them.

 

At the time I pulled flatbed, I liked all 3 points. Now some flatbed companies have a model where you run all 48 and you don't see the house but once a month or less, like Western Express, maybe Melton probably fits that bill. I liked the securing different loads. Western will put anything on a flatbed. Once I went to a different company, there was an increase in cpm, tarp pay, and better home time, but BTC had different freight lanes. They seldom ran me farther west than I-35. They prioritized getting drivers home each week. I started with Western in 2010 at a rate of 29 cpm running all 48. About 10 months in, I went to BTC making 38 cpm with home weekly, and not running as much of the country. I did well at both. There things I liked about both companies. Western got you home when they felt like it. That was the only draw back with them for me other than that, it was always steady freight and money. Also, it was a lot of fun and challenging securing different loads. I was in better shape then. Lol. The physical nature of flatbed and working with your hands is appealing. It's good exercise. If you do flatbed first, the biggest perk is that you'll learn to back a spread axle. That's a little more difficult than tandems like on a reefer or dry van. Once you master backing a spread, you'll be able to back any trailer.

 

Find the company that you can work for for multiple years and then decide how to get your license. The goal is a good career, like you hope to have a happy marriage. Focusing on the "free school" is like focusing on the wedding ceremony or the location of the wedding and not focusing on getting married to the right person. I would strongly recommend you avoid CR England, at all cost. Only if there was no other company willing to hire me would I even contact CR England. CRE and Werner go through newbies like nobody's business. Over half of all drivers at both companies have been with the company less than 90 days, or less than 6 months. I forget which it is. Either way, that is a horrible sign reflecting on the company's work atmosphere.

Your chances of staying in the industry and making it for multiple years comes from finding which company matches what you need to be successful. Trucking companies vary tremendously in working conditions. A company hiring/firing THOUSANDS of drivers every years will treat you like a Kleenex. There is no safety in working for an average company, getting average pay, and average working conditions. Currently 80-90% of new CDL drivers leave the industry before completing 12 months work. Imagine your financial situation now. Now imagine that same situation except now you owe the trucking company for CDL school because you didn't stay 12 months.

There are a few ways to enter the industry. There is no reason to limit your chopice to the trucking companies that have "free" CDL training. Many companies will reimburse you for CDL school. Look for a good driving job, and then decide about the best way to get CDL school. I had no money to my name when I went to CDL school. But I had a guarantee, if I passed CDL school, I would have a job with a company with tuition reimbursement. The CDL school set me up with a company that loaned me money for CDL school and my first employer gave me enough TR each week or month I could repay my CDL loan.
Money for CDL Training

 

Roehl Transport Truck Driving Jobs & CDL Training
Paid $616.00 a week while in Roehl cdl school.

 

You still haven't let us know which state & nearest city/town you're located in.
Might get some good leads from drivers if you post that.

 

All I can offer is that I went through Swift and left before the year was up. They ask you to pay the remainder of the loan off (was under 1k at that point) that they haven't deducted from your check weekly. You aren't obligated to work for them at all once you get out of the school but you do sign a note saying you'll pay off the loan if you leave early

 

Crickets chirping on this one China lol.....