Waiting a couple months between finishing CDL school and signing on with a company?

Hey guys, I'm at the point where I'm starting to consider what starter companies I want to target and what CDL school to go to. I think I'm going to get my CDL privately so that I'm not tied to a specific company, but are there any drawbacks to finishing CDL school and waiting a couple of months to sign on with a company?

Currently I have an office job that I hate, but it makes sense financially to wait until early October to quit. So waiting would put me starting CDL school around mid-October and likely finishing in mid-November. At that point it's basically Thanksgiving and then Christmas isn't far off and it seems like lots of company training programs and OTR training would be slowing down for the holiday period (plus I would like to be home for the holidays anyways).

So wouldn't it make more sense to wait until January 2021 to start at a new company? Just not sure if graduating CDL school in November, but not starting with a company until January would hurt me and curious how you guys think most companies would view it.

Thanks!

 

Thanks! That's not a bad idea, most of the companies I'm targeting initially are flatbed, but maybe I should consider reefer a bit more.

My other thought was just waiting until January to start school, but from what I've heard some companies would have an issue with the employment gap between October-January (at least I think I heard that about TMC, who are one of the main companies I'm considering).

 

Texas - DFW area specifically

I've heard of TMC's pickiness and military-like approach to running the company, but their high-standards are also part of the appeal to me. Plus it seems like they pay well if you're willing to work hard and they take care of their drivers.

I'll create a separate post once I've narrowed down companies, but Maverick (glass or flatbed), Roehl, and Prime are others I've taken a look at.

 

Thanks! Ideally I'd be starting with a company right after school, but since it looks like I'll likely be graduating CDL school a week or two before Thanksgiving I was thinking most companys would have a training slowdown for the holiday period and I was just thinking that getting time with a trainer may be difficult at the time of year.

Really I just need to talk to recruiters from the companies I'm looking at and see what their training programs look like during the holidays, they may not be any different than any other time of year.