Newbie Entering CDL school seeking advice - Paid CDL or not? I'm in North FL

@Chinatown could use your advice as I see your very knowledgable on here...the wiseman!

I'm near Jacksonville, FL & will be looking at either going to a CDL school & finding the best carrier to work for as a company driver or possibly taking on a Paid CDL Company but would like to gain endorsements from them if possible (seeking: Hazmat, tanker, triple/double, twic, tsa, X&T ideally) - Want to learn various manual transmissions+air brakes. I have never been inside a semi!

I found a few schools around me that have good reviews (you can't always trust google/yelp reviews, but its some sort of gauge).

• North Florida Technical College - 320 program hours (8 weeks) - around $3k in costs (not bad at all). They don't offer any help with endorsements, classes start in mid August next - Need to have a Class A training/learning permit+DOT physical test pass before enrolling. I really would like to acquire the necessarily education to obtain the endorsements for better pay options & also to be versatile & be able to test different lanes to see what I enjoy (also hear Gov't, tanker, Hazmat freight pays real well)...

• There's Tampa Driving School+TDI - both school are only 15 days of training (which I'm very skeptical of) & costs over $4K-$5K. I haven't contacted them regarding help with endorsements yet but am not crazy about the short amount of time you spend learning to drive a very dangerous massive truck for the first time. I'm a firm believer of having a safety first mentality on the road, since there's children+family on the road as well you have to be respectful & not take road safety lightly. What are your thoughts on a 15 day (roughly 165 program hours vs 320 program hours - 8 weeks course)? I would assume the more training, the better? I do understand as a company driver you train for up to a 2 months after graduating with your CDL but still, experience is a good thing? Would appreciate your thoughts on this.

The paid CDL companies I have lined up to call serving (terminals or locations) nearby areas are: US XPRESS, Prime inc., Jim Palmer, CRST. If someone knows of better alternatives, it would be greatly appreciated. I plan on trying to gain 1 year OTR experience (dry van, flatbed, tanker if possible)...
I'd like to have over 2500 miles a week (1,500+would be ideal) - don't mind OTR or staying out 2 weeks if need be. Good for experience as well I feel & get a true feel for the industry.

Any and all feedback from seasoned professionals is appreciated. Thank you

 

This forum should give you a trophy or something! I see you helping people on here all over the place - once again, greatly appreciated!

 

Got nothing but respect for the military - I was born here in Florida but parents are Russian - a play on words is all!

 

They don't offer tanker endorsements, The trucker outfits would help post cdl graduates in tanker endorsement training?

 

You are the man! Very much appreciate all this info!