Is there one State or region that is best to start your OTR trucking career in?

Texas woud be a good place to start.

 

You've been in the Orient, used to warm/hot weather, keep that in mind. My wife wants to move back to the states & we've decided on Las Vegas, Southwest Las Vegas(I'm content in Orient though).
South Florida is good for reefer freight outbound & not much inbound. South & mid-Texas is good for most any freight, including auto parts coming out of Mexico & tons of tanker work out of the Gulf area of Texas. Companies based in New Mexico, Arizona, Southern California, can keep you busy. If you're OTR, can live in the warmer climate, and you will still be trucking in all weather, because the company will dispatch you to where the freight is. If you choose to run regional, many companies have the USA divided into areas, called regional areas. When you check a companys website, there will be a page for "Regional Drivers." Also, you will stay busier with a reefer than with dry van; the reason is a dry van can only haul dry(non-refrigerated freight), but a reefer can haul dry or refrigerated freight. From my experience, made the most money in tanker/hazmat. Hopefully, some more drivers with experience can add to this and help you make a wise decision.

 

Agree, Texas or Southwest USA or Western 11.

 

There are probably several good reefer companies to choose from. Here are two you can use to familiarize yourself a little with "Regional" & "48 States." I've worked for reefer companies, but not these two.
Navajo.com (has a terminal in Chino, CA) put arrow on "Contacts" and then click on "Terminal Map."

drive4marten.com (has a regional map on website) click on "Company Drivers" and then when page opens click on "Regional Fleet Maps."

The regions vary by trucking company.

Every company in America will have some drivers complain. I don't have to tell you to keep everything in perspective, you've already learned that by being a world traveller. The questions you ask, show you are perfectly capable of forming your own opinion and not a follower.

 

About pay :
Milage pay is only part of the equation.
There are other pays that vary by company. Some pays may not be listed on the website; so you can ask or learn about them during orientation.
Other pays may include :
Safety bonus
Per diem (meals)
Detention
Stop pay (paid for mulitiple deliveries or pickups during a trip, ie, so much money per stop)
Layover pay
Etc.

Are you familiar with WIA, (Workers Invesment Act)? It's a government program that pays for driving school, if funds are available. Ask about it at unemployment office or Dept. of Labor in California or the state you decide to settle in. Google also.
If you see a company you're interested in, give them a call and ask which schools they recognize or recruit from.

 

You're putting the tractor after the trailer friend.
Before doing ANYTHING ELSE you need to make sure you're employable with no recent driving record in the USA.
You let your US license expire years ago - that's gonna be a problem.
THEN start considering where to live, etc.
Living abroad, losing residency, not being able to prove employment is going to a be a barrier to entry you need to overcome.

 

He's employable. I'll address what you listed.
He will renew his drivers liscense & will have a clean MVR.
Living broad, as I also do, you don't lose residency.
Proving employment or income is done by copies of tax records. Even living abroad, we file USA federal income tax each year as required by law for every US citizen, regardless of where we live in the world.
Also, he can prepare to provide some type of paperwork to show he worked, such as visa, bank records or, some record of teaching English; but, probably won't need more than IRS filing tax record.
Example : I use my sisters address in USA, which is legal. I have direct deposit to bank in USA and use ATM card overseas to access my money. So, he has a paper trail to cover any concerns a company may have.
Trucking companies hire 21 yr. olds with little to no work history & driving history. They also hire many recent immigrants from many countries.