New Driver having trouble finding a job

Hi y'all I'm having a little trouble finding a company to hire me and was just looking to see if anyone has any leads. I graduated CDL school about a month ago and I've tried applying to every company in my area that seems to be hiring new drivers but have had no luck. A common issue I seem to be running into is that most mega companies are requiring that I have at least 120hrs of CDL school, yet my school only had me complete 70hrs.

Swift/Knight and Melton have both said I need a minimum of 120 CDL school hours. Prime has said that they're not hiring in my area at this time. Schneider is only hiring team drivers in my area and I'm not super interested in doing that. I've applied to Werner, DOT Foods, May Trucking Company, XPO, and a whole bunch of local jobs but have yet to hear back from them.

If anyone has any leads on any companies that I could apply to, please let me know I would really appreciate it!!. I am 21 and have no problems on my MVR, I'm located in Santa Rosa, CA, north the Bay Area. Thank You!!

 

denied-by-every-mega-carrier.2525391

 

Seems to becoming a common occurrence.

 

You will have serious issues getting with worthwhile starter carriers if your CDL school only did 70 hrs.



-- L

 

I can't see California being less stringent than Washington State, as we require 160 hours up here after the FMCSA EDLT rule went into effect in 2022.

• 40 hours - of classroom instruction.
• 18 hours - of street driving training.
• 16 hours - of training in backing maneuvers.
• 16 hours - of proficiency development.
• 70 hours - combined lab training, range training, and observation.

Does that school offer additional training to help you meet the requirement of your preferred carrier?

 

Pretty sure Western Express will hire you for flatbed OTR.
Submit an app from the website, then follow up with a phone call.
Company Driver Trucking Jobs | Western Express

 

How close are you to the major international airport?

 

I'm roughly 60 miles from the San Francisco airport and 100 miles from Sacramento airport

 

How close are you to Los Banos & Williams, CA

 

60 miles to the airport can be rough in heavy traffic.
120 miles round trip every day. Is that too much?