Looking for Advice: Getting into Trucking

You can go with trucking company cdl school & keep your money in the bank or attend private cdl school and spend the money. Some companies will reimburse the tuition back to you though, in monthly payments.
Many companies will hire you from a cheap, private cdl school if you want to go that route. Find a school, then before making an obligation, contact some trucking companies that hire 21 yr. old drivers and ask if they hire from that school. The companies will want to know how long the school is and most will want it to be 160 hours.
Kahn D' Kulia Trucking School in Los Angeles may still be cheap, I don't know for sure. Anyway, start there with a phone call and ask about prices and length of school. Then call some companies and ask if they will hire you from that school.
You can go down the list from there calling private schools.

 

To be clear, I only read about 2% of the OPs original post. However, if you're looking for a career that will force solitude, destroy your health, and kill many, if not all of your relationship hopes, I would look into an oil field service company. If you wash out there you can go driving then.

 

If you don't like people now wait til you've been on the road awhile.

 

Prime Inc. has their own cdl school in Salt Lake City,Utah. Transportation to Salt Lake City, meals, lodging is provided.
All trucking companies are required to drug test. Some do hair follicle and some do urine. I think Prime does urine.
Generally, urine looks back 90 days and hair follicle 12 months.
Think about that before applying anywhere.

 

Take a folding bicycle in the truck and use it during off time.

 

Yes. I am averaging about 1500 week and just getting started. I have to team and load my own truck, which is hard work, but yeah doing that I can pull that amount in. The mileage pay works out to be half, the rest comes from accessory pay like layover, pay for every stop, and drop off pay. This weekend I sat at a warehouse with my trailer. So two days at 150 layover plus 3 unloads works out to be about 500. Thats just accessory pay. So you see how it can add up.

If I ran solo sitting on my butt on the interstate all day, not as much. I'd just be looking at mileage pay most and nothing else.

After experience is earned should be more options open.

 

Call a company and say, "I'm going to be a student at XYZ cdl school, do you hire from that school?"
Here's a few companies that hire 21 yr. old drivers & new cdl graduates:
Schuster
Melton Truck Lines
Butler Transport
May Trucking Company
Eagle KMC Transportation
Jones Bros. Trucking
System Transport
Danny Herman Trucking
KLLM
FFE (Frozen Food Express)
Southern Refrigerated Transport
Some companies no longer hire drivers with California CDL due to California politicians getting involved in the companies pay system. They'll let you know when you call.
Many truckers and their families are moving from California to Texas and Nevada.