New CDL-A graduate, Can't find work ANYWHERE.

Well here's the final update for anyone interested:

I ended up taking a job offer from an undisclosed company with orange trucks of:

* 40cpm, 10/hr on duty pay
* Eastern US Regional, 5 days out 2 days home.
* Paid orientation, they are going to get me a rental car to get to the training facility.
* 2500 signing bonus paid across 12 months

From what I gather I guess I could have done worse? They said drivers on this regional usually average 980-1200 a week gross, but they also said they were averaging 1700-2200 miles a week gross and my math between those two numbers aren't adding up unless pay other than mileage is a considerable portion of that. My calculator says the low end of 1700 = 680 gross, and the high end 880 so take home per week give or take would be $702 assuming the high end, realistically I'm not going to hit the high end as a new driver so probably closer to 600 a week take home. Some more math later and I'm arriving at 42000 a year gross, 30~ take home.

The only other offers I got was from Western Express which was no paid orientation, greyhound bus to get there, and 30cpm out for 2 weeks at a time, and Prime which was $900 a week guaranteed but it was 3-4 weeks out at time. So there was potentially more money on the table but it would require more time away from home and the difference doesn't seem worth it. Also out of the companies willing to hire me, this one had, well, the least *negative* of all the reviews of megacarriers on this site and Glassdoor.

Honestly I'm already kind of jaded about the industry going into this. I'm sure if I did the math by hours worked I'd be at WAY less than the $14/hr I was making driving a Cargo Van non-CDL for 40 hours a week. So more work, more responsibility, less pay. I guess I am finding out the hard way there really is no driver shortage, there is just a shortage of companies willing to pay a member of the working proletariat more than a slave wage. I really have to wonder how many CDL holders end up leaving this supposedly high paying industry to work at McDonalds or some other non-skilled profession.

So I guess my advice to anyone reading this in the near future is don't switch to this career if you have other job prospects. NGL I'm kind of wishing I had gone to college or gotten some certs to save my I.T. career. As it stand I guess I'll tough it out at Orange Trucks R Us and see what doors that opens in a years time. Ill probably also get my Tanker, Doubles, and Hazmat during that time frame. One of my instructors at the driving school said to call him when I got 6 months experience and he could get me a job that pays $82k a year hauling fuel locally, but realistically as long as this job isn't downright terrible I'll stay at least a year before I look for better opportunities.