Looking for Conpany Sponsored CDL Training.

I’ve been hit hard by the covid pandemic as many of us have. Lost my job and directly afterwards had a very serious illness(stage 3 cancer) in the family that required my full time attention as a caregiver as they fought their battle.

I’m looking to get back on my feet. Jobs are scarce in my area of Indiana. I’ve been doing a lot of ‘cash under the table’ jobs to make ends meet. But no W2 so it doesn’t count as verifiable work experience to be put on an application. But times are tough and I gotta do what I can to put food on the table.

I’ve always wanted to drive truck and pay my way through school. But money hasn’t always been the best so saving money has been extremely hard.
So I’m looking into doing a company sponsored CDL training program.

I tried the WorkForce grant a year ago and was accepted but the grant wouldn’t pay for the full tuition of the school. I didnt then nor now have an extra 3-5 thousand extra dollars to cover it.
School was $7000, plus materials/food/room and board(hotel), tests, medical examiner costs, etc. The grant would only cover about $3500 and put me in an automatic transmission truck(which im okay with).

I know I don’t want to live on the road doing weeks and weeks of OTR for 2 or 3 days home but I also know I’ll have to ‘earn my chops’ as a greenhorn coming into the industry. I also know the pay is going to be very low for the first while as I gain experience to get a better job down the road.

I’ll look at all options. But regional/dedicated sound very good to me with weekends at home to recoup and spend time with my daughter.

So with that being said, what are some good companies you’d suggest training with?
Who did you go with? How was your experience?
If you could start over again, would you have gone with a different company?
Any other tips or suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

 

My apologies for posting in the wrong place. I thought I was doing it correctly. My apologies.

i know since my original post that things have changed a lot in the trucking industry. Companies shut down, been bought out, FMCSA rules for ELD training are changing or already have?
I also follow trucker talk on YouTube and TikTok and they have expounded on some of the issues I mentioned previously. So I figured it would hurt to ask again.

Thank you for the kind replies!

 

East Central Indiana. Between Richmond/Muncie/Anderson