1 week left at truck school....

Have you looked at JB Hunt or Schneider for local or dedicated in Northern CA? You may have to run regional for 3-6 months or so before you could transfer to such a division but those 2 probably offer more variety of options than any of the others that might hire new drivers and operate heavily in the Bay Area. I assume Schneider trains somewhere there but not sure about JB Hunt.

 

Get the phone book out and start hitting the pavement visiting the local companies. Don't fool yourself that you must work for one of the big companies to get a job. It may turn out that way. But until you really put in the legwork, and I mean visiting them in person, you will never know.

 

jb hunt requires 1 yr in ca. both your choices suck, for otr central, pride, watkins and shepard all seem like decent starter Co. check out robertsons ready mix, local gig home daily and they take newbies, you need tanker and zero points.

 

Check out Craigslist, and if your driving and criminal history is clean, then you never know what company's insurance will take you on.
But - and this is a big but - you are new, and you DO need training on how not only to operate a truck safely, but learn the trucking lifestyle, if you will - includes how truckstops and fueling works, showers, taking loads, BACKING, how to deal with customers, how to deal with dispatchers, how to read roadsigns properly, how to learn to read a map well, etc etc etc. It's a whole new world out there, and yes it is exciting, but if you're not trained, then you will have a harder time adjusting.

Fortunately, when I got my CDL and went with PAM, I had a decent trainer who showered, helped feed me when my money ran short before I got my first training paycheck, who took at least some time to help me learn backing, and just had conversation with me in general about the industry.

It's hard to find a good trainer, and odds are your training won't be any better than mine, but you really need to find someone willing to train you first. If you go with the big corps, like Werner or PAM or Covenant, then you will have a trainer - but beware, your trainer might not even be much more experienced than you. My trainer was only in a truck 6 mos at the time he trained me. Looking back, I think that is just stupid - but its hard to find drivers willing to train.

I have been actually thinking about becoming a trainer for a smaller company if I could, if the pay was right, but I only have 3 years OTR experience, and sometimes I think that that may not even be enough, but at least I keep it safe on the road, don't speed, don't tailgate, don't pass when traffic is heavy and clog the road up for cars, etc. You're not going to get there any faster by passing someone NOW, rather than wait 15 - 20 minutes when the coast is clear.

Anyways, good luck.

P.S. I wouldn't go to Werner if I were you, I'd go with Covenant over them any day.

Just search for the thread on this forum entitled "Werner trainer craps himself".

HFGL!

 

System/TWT has yards in Stockton and Bloomington.

They offer an 8 week training period and start you at 32 cents per mile.

TWT (refer) mainly runs I5. System (flatbed) has regional and OTR fleets.

It would be worth your while to check them out before signing on with Werner.