New driver...best company for home time in Virginia (Richmond, Fredericksburg, etc.)?

I'm working towards getting my CDL-A (I'm halfway through a school and should get my license later this month). I have no tickets, no criminal record, and I'm a veteran with a stable work history. I have a few pre-hire letters at the moment (all are OTR companies). What would be my best option to make decent money, but be home often (perhaps every day)? The catch...I have no interest in driving exclusively at night. If it weren't for that last requirement, I'd go with McLane.

I've been doing research for a few weeks online and it keeps coming back to "pick a turd/company, stick around for a bit to get experience, and then move to a less offensive turd/company." I realize that there is no perfect trucking job, but I'd like to see if I could find a company that might be good enough that I'd be comfortable sticking around for a while (I don't want to have to job hop too early). Any thoughts? Thank you.

 

I'll have to check them out. I'm in Fredericksburg. Thank you.

I don't see much online about George's. Their website doesn't have much information at all.

Edit: Georges Food LLC.http://www.georgesinc.com/employment

I am over 23. I'll check them out. It would be a bit of a hike for me to get to Waynesboro though.

On the every weekend thing...that seems to be about the average for home time. The only difference comes down to whether or not you're getting a full weekend (48 hours) or just a 36 hour reset and they're calling it a weekend. Thank you.

 

I would prefer to do local. The thought of sleeping in a tin can for five of every seven evenings doesn't appeal to me. That links back to my main question though...which companies that have a lot of home time (i.e. local carriers) will hire a new driver? The answer to that question is "not many."

The vast majority of local carriers in my area want either 1+ year of experience or they want to pay you jack **** for doing a LOT of physical labor. I don't mind the physical labor thing. However, if I go that route (a local carrier)...I expect to be compensated fairly for the fact that: 1. I'll be taking on the liability of operating their commercial vehicle, and 2. I'll be expected to bust my *** carrying 50+ lb product (i.e. beverage flats) for 12+ hour shifts.

Yup. Driving a regional route for a major carrier is my fallback option, assuming I can't line up a local gig. As you said...better home time than OTR.

 

That's a good point. I didn't consider doing that. I'll float a few applications out to places like that and see what happens.