Companies that hire with No Experience

You don't have to have any OTR. You can get your CDL by "on-the-job-training."
@FlaSwampRat can give you guidance for the Tampa area.

 

Lemme know when you are in town. We can get you some info on a few places to call.

 

I also thought I would add that if you show up here without a CDL that's not a problem either. Plenty of places that do dock to driver and Tampa truck driving school and Roadmaster in East Tampa if you wanna go the CDL mill route so you have options.

 

I would not engage any kind of so called dock to driver fro-frou. If they have a truck and need a driver TODAY that's you. Otherwise string you along 6 months... not going to happen.

 

Several beverage companies will hire you for OJT to get a cdl. The work is hard, but the money is very good and you're home every day. Several of those jobs available in Tampa area.
If you get a cdl in California, it's easy to switch it over to Florida when you get there.

 

Find a job BEFORE you go to school. Half of companies have Tuition Reimbursement. A few companies have their own school. Pick a company like you will be joined at the hip for a year, not like you are looking for a "date" for a weekend. Know before you go.

Check out Craigslist & indeed.com research the company including talking to drivers that work there now. No exceptions.

 

Same goes for Maine. Seems California drivers license is considered its weight in gold (figuratively speaking). I brought my California license to Maine in 1985. Had me do a written and handed me the new license.

 

Since you wanna run local there is a good chance you will be working nights. Like @Chinatown said go beverage to work days. That's what I do (I work nights by choice) call Bernie Little Budweiser in Lakeland FL. They do dock to driver, dayshift, brand new Kenworth t680 trucks, and you will get a workout everyday moving 170lb kegs of beer lol. Do you know where you are moving to? Like an exact address? If so you can pm it to me and I can further help, because where you live is gonna dictate where you can work due to traffic. This is one of the most congested areas ever due to everyone moving here. My wife was working 21 miles from home for a while and it was a hour and fifteen minute drive just to put it into perspective.