Best trucking company to start a driving career?

by getting your CDL on your own, you will still have to pay back that student loan, but you won't have any contract to stay with an employer for x amount of time, that trained you.

 

If you pay your own way; pass the test and get all your endorsements; you will stand a much better chance of getting something decent to start with instead of being locked into a mega company that you HAVE to stay with until the contract is done. Because you will be able to shop around and choose a company.
As for pay, your starting off, so unless you find something of a niche, or just luck out and find something fantastic, your going to start at the bottom and have to work your way up.
Most companies will also offer the relatively same bennies, so that will depend on what your needs are.

@Chinatown can help you with some places to start with...

 

Those considerations are less important than the working conditions that determine whether you will be happy, and stay in the business, or leave within your first year.

If you are going to stay in the business you REALLY need to get 1-2 years ASAP. After 2 years of experience, and assuming a clean record, you can work almost anywhere. However the vast majority of newbies don't last even 1 year.

IMO, MOST newbies conveniently decide researching companies is too much work or too confusing. They then decide any company is about the same as any other company and then choose poorly. No matter how many bad reviews they read or hear, they say "you have to start somewhere" or "you gotta pay your dues" and VOLUNTEER to get screwed.

I recommend you first look at trucking companies near your city. Most newbies, like me severely underestimate the value of getting home their first year. Multiply by 100 if you are married or in a relationship. If you are single you may not have to get home to keep from getting divorced, but you should get home to keep from going insane. ONLY YOU can decide if it's more important to be home for days at a time when you get home or if you can tolerate being home just over 1 day every week. Working for a company close to your home means a much better chance of getting home, plus you have a place to park the truck and people that can service your truck while you are home. It's no fun to be on the road and kicked out of your truck while mechanics work on it. You also don't get paid for that.

If you know drivers working for a trucking company, you should probably work for that company even if it's not very close to home. It's more important to have accurate info about a trucking company than to have only a web site or Craigslist ad about another company. You NEED to know how are current drivers treated? What is their pay and work like? That's how you will be treated, no matter what any ad, website or recruiter tells you. Ignore claims that ABC Trucking pays UP TO $ per mile/year. or ABC Trucking drivers AVERAGE X miles per week. This is advertising or salesman language. You can't enforce it, and you will get what they give you. What are they giving current drivers you have talked to. Go to truck stops and ask drivers about the company. Ask the company to give your phone number to a veteran and a 1 year driver so you can talk to them. Go to the company specific forums on this web site and discuss particular companies. Companies can pay more per mile and screw you with a lot fewer miles per week. I haven't seen a trucking company that doesn't claim their trucks average 2500 miles per week. There are a lot of drivers working for them that might see half of those miles. Talk to current drivers with them.

There are driving jobs where you can be home nightly, every few days, or only every couple of months. You can't make assumptions about the pay based only on amount of hometime.

I used to warn people away from trucking companies with their own "free training". Some of those companies and their training are good and some are scams. I will say any company that suggests you lease a truck when you talk to them about getting your license is a place to avoid, no matter what else they say. They want you locked into a bad financial contract so they will have an employee until you figure out how to quit. Leasing is not in your interest. It's a guarantee to the company someone else will be paying for the truck, not them.

Every CDL school in the country will find a loan for you. Your state, because of the Feds, have grant money to pay for your CDL school if certain cases. Half of trucking companies have tuition reimbursement payments that can repay a CDL school loan if you stay with them.

There is no 1 answer for your question. I always say picking a good company is like picking good shoes. If it fits you, it's good. If the shoes fit someone else, but not you, they are not good. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE DRIVE FOR *ANY* DOLLAR STORE CUSTOMERS as a rookie. You have signed up for the worst customers, at the worst locations, when you have the least skill. You will hit things and you will quit or get fired. That's why those accounts are never filled. Companies will even claim their Over The Road (OTR) diviion is full. Why don't you try our dedicated Dollar type store account which pays more per mile than OTR. They are lying. OTR is never full.

This topic is asked 3 times per week. There is a LOT of answers from many other people. You NEED TO RESEARCH and READ A LOT before you decide. If you throw the dice you will get poor results. If your REALLY want this type of work you should REALLY do your research. It's not like YouTube shows days filled with empty and scenic drives across the midwest and pretty rainbows. You will mostly be in big cities, bad traffic, crowded truck stops, and have customers assume you are a dirty bum.

 

In a year you are going to learn so much more than you know now your head will hurt. Dont get too caught up in the perfect job.

 

Go to the local LTL company.

A lot of them will teach you how to drive if you work on the dock for a while. I think ABF does their own training almost like a training school.

And I think they are a union job.