No experience OTR

Sure. But it would probably be a Swift or Werner type of company, and
even though you already have your CDL (congrats, by the way), most companies will still require you to go thru a school and spend some weeks w/a trainer.

This is a insane catch-22:

As you have discovered, anyone that can pay the fees and pass the tests can earn a CDL, but most companies' insurance require some formal training to be hired.

Labor laws say that any job requiring a certain amount of formal training must be qualified as "skilled labor" and thus paid an hourly wage. Well, believe me, most OTR companies DO NOT want to pay a driver by the hour.

So in practice, no formal training is required to get a CDL, since it is technically "unskilled labor."

It probably would be easier to find work driving for an owner operator, or any other small, specialized unique driving job, because most general OTR companies have to follow the rules set by their insurance provider.

 

If you can't find a job with a big training oufit, try the unemployment website for your state. Sometimes the local companies list openings there. or try getting hired by a local company washing truck on weekends and learning to drive their rigs their way.