Got a foot in the door - now what?

Hey Guys - I have some questions I'm hoping ya'll can help us out with.

My husband drives LTL for a package delivery company (like a mini-ups) Our kids will all be moving out and going to college in a few years and he/we would like to get more into the long haul but for now he does want to be closer to home. We are also wanting to move back down south (because Iowa is a freak show) so we are currently doing the long distance job search.

He has driven straight trucks for a number of years and got his CDL license 9 months ago and has been driving LTL for them since then. His company trained him and he is no longer obligated to them for the training. Would most companies still require him to go through their training school? There is no way we could make it even two weeks on what most of them pay during the training period.

Also in order to be home more often would he need to be looking at regional? dedicated? not sure what the difference is exactly

Is it hopeless to be looking for something before that 1 year mark or are there some companies who are willing to hire with less than a year?
We'd really rather make the change before school starts.

Basically any advice ya'll have would be apprecited!
Thanks

 

Ok so I did some searching and found quite a few intersting things about LOTS of truck stops! LOL The really frightening thing is that it sounds like Iowa is pretty close to what wanders around those truck stops! drugs, drunks, and skanky people with no teeth