How soon to start applying

IMO, You should have picked the 3 best-matched companies to work for BEFORE you started CDL school. Otherwise, it's like jumping out of a tall building and then googling about skydiving and hoping to find out how to do it before you reach the ground. CDL school is JUST to pass the state exam, nothing more. Your first employer will typically put you with a trainer and you will learn the 95% of the job that CDL school ignored.

You need to know how long you can stay away from home (home daily, home on weekends*, home every few weeks/months), where you want to mostly drive, what kind of freight (dry van, refrigerated, flatbed) to want to deal with, what companies that hire newbies and match what you want are in your area. What would you think if someone asked "what kind of food should I eat?" When you pick a company you are deciding all of the above and much more. Nobody can give a good answer to "where to work" unless they know your preferences and which preferences are more important than other preferences, etc.

NEVER work for any trucking company until you have spoke to current working drivers at the trucking company that are doing the type of trucking you want to do. Company websites and recruiter "promises" are not worth as much as words from a used car salesman. They have THEIR interest in mind, not yours. Some of them will tell you that you will get hot and cold running backrubs and be fed grapes by blonde maidens if you come to work for that company. None of their words mean much. Ask the current employees about the company, not "is this a good place to work?" Ask how much do new drivers on this account make per week? How often do you get home? How long to you stay home? Does the truck have an APU and heating/air conditioning when the truck is parked. Does te truck have a big power inverter if I want to put in a microwave and fridge? How new are the trucks? Are the trucks in good shape and how long does it take to get issues fixed? Ask the questions you need to know.

It makes big difference where you live, the city and state. You won't have as many options if you live 3 hours from a big city. You will have more options near a big city and don't forget to add your commuting time to/from work/home into your home-time. I would not recommend you work for someone with a truck yard more than 1 hour from home unless you only expect to get home every few weeks. If you want a home daily job, a 30-45 minute one-way commute is pretty far to drive.

Don't assume you can or should park your truck at your home or apartment. Maybe you can, maybe you cannot. Lots of places do not want commercial trucks parked in residential areas and truck parking is a headache and you may have to pay to park the truck near home. There are lots of answers you need, that's why I always recommend you find the job BEFORE you go to school. You will be busy in school.

Other people will recommend companies for you once they know what job you are wanting.
DO NOT PARK AT THE TRUCK STOP FUEL PUMPS.
It's a good way to get you tail section beat into the ground.

 

Every new CDL driver needs Tanker endorsement.
Passing your CLP/CDL Endorsement Tests - HowTo
Check Company Score - SAFER WEB

 

I started applying as soon as I started CDL school. I’d recommend that. Where are you located? Definitely apply to Gemini, if you’re interested. XPO is better than a lot of gigs but read the posts on here to know what you’re getting into.

 

I recently finished driving school and acquired my cdl B a couple weeks ago. I started applying once I acquired my temporary license. I have my airbrake and tanker endorsements.

My current dilemma is that not many companies want to hire newbies because of liability issues. I’ve had 3 companies reach out to me about jobs, but they’re jobs I’m not interested in and these are companies that are really desperate (ie. garbage companies). But, I’m willing to drive a non-cdl truck for less money to get experience. Despite the driver shortage, I think you have to be patient with jobs. I’m sure a lot of companies are being really selective about who they hire, and rightfully so, but drivers are also being selective about who they work for imo. I’m not worried about not finding a job, but I am keeping track of companies who are non-responsive or those that misrepresent job listings.

 

Most "starter" companies will "pre-hire" people before they even start school. I used to require my students to be pre-hired SOMEWHERE. If they didnt have a job waiting for them, then why even do the school?

 

Pre-hire letters aren't worth the stamp used to mail them

 

Yeah, we were required by the school to get pre-hire letters from 3 places I’d never work at.

 

Completely agree... But it DOES give the bank you try to get a loan from for the school a reason to lend them the dough.