Thinking about getting my CDL ...

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Recent CDL-A Graduate? No Experience Required!
Call recruiter to ask about approved cdl schools.
No experience, No problem! J&R Schugel helps CDL-A truck driver school graduates get a head start. We’re 100% employee-owned and offer more home time, full training, and great rewards. And with new pay and new trucks for the new year, we can make sure you start your driving career on the right path -- No contract necessary!

 

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• Up to $5,000 in cdl school tuition reimbursement
• Call recruiter and ask about Florida drivers.

 

Might as well look into Swift also. I think they have a terminal near Ocala.

 

Swift does hair follicle test.
Best money with Swift is refrigerated division.

 

I think Stevens Transport, May Trucking Company, Prime Inc. all do urine test.
Maybe someone will chime in and verify if that's the case.

 

@FL Patriot --

Schneider veteran here.

Mainly because of the info given in posts #6 & #7 above--BE CAREFUL of which CDL school you finally choose.

It's probably a better strategy to figure out which carrier you want to drive for, first--THEN figure out from which schools they like to hire.

Because of your location, here's another carrier that you (at the very least) should know about:

AMX Academy - Alabama Motor Express (amxtrucking.com)

This company has recently started a CDL school program, and thus hires new CDL grads.

Also, a lot of drivers seem happy there, and....as you might expect...I see a lot of their rigs up in this area.

Clearly--they are doing something right.

Per posts #13 and #16 above (and still other info)--if I had it to do all over again--personally, I probably would start out with Swift.

Whomever you start driving with--plan on staying with them for AT LEAST A YEAR.

Longer than that....is of course even better.

Thus--choose your first carrier very carefully, as well.

--Lual

 

You are smart to avoid a hair follicle test. Any risk you would fail is too much risk. Hair follicle test is not recognized by FMCSA. Most companies do not use it.

Lots of new drivers THINK they have a place to park their truck on home-time only to find out once they use it that the HOA, city regs, neighbors, etc cause them problems. Before you sign on to a company "that lets you bring the truck home" make 100% sure you can. IMO, it is always better to leave the truck at the company terminal for home-time. This allows the shop to do the regular routine maintenance while you are off-work rather than wasting time on the road at some crowded truck stop hoping their inexperienced mechanics fix or maintain your truck correctly while you make zero money. For that reason I always worked for companies with a yard less than 1 hour driving time from my home. One of the benefits of living where there are a lot of trucking companies is there are a lot of companies within 1 hour of home, not just one or two.