What are some good companies to work for

Do you have any endorsements?
How old are you? Some companies have minimum age requirements.
What do you mean about 3K? Do you mean 3K dollars a month?

 

Shouldn't have any problem making over $3K a month.
First, ignore "experience required" on any trucking companies websites, otherwise you may miss a good opportunity. Many companies are bending their own hiring rules these days.
Check these:
Mountain Valley Express - line haul
Wildwood Express - line haul
Oak Harbor Freight Lines - line haul
Old Dominion Freight Lines - line haul
Dynamic Transit - long haul refrigerated
Gardner Trucking - runs lots of day cabs
Northern Refrigerated Transportation - runs CA,OR,WA,AZ,NV,ID
@moloko may have some suggestions on local jobs.

 

Some of those line haul companies do short runs, such as to Las Vegas, Reno,Phoenix and return home.

 

@Chinatown i know you like to mention mountain valley express a lot but when I worked for dot foods we shared their yard in paramount (los angeles). The drivers there told me they only start at 17 an hr which i think is peanuts especially for ltl. They would always ask us when we were hiring

 

Their website has $18.50 an hour. I don't know; it's somewhere to start anyway. I think they have some team runs to Texas and back.
$3K or $4K a month is easy with some of the long haul companies
Some of those foodservice companies like where you worked at DOT foods pay really well and sometimes hire new cdl grads as drivers helpers to get started. Sysco sometimes does that and DOT Foods may still do that.

 

I drove for Andrus out of St. Geo, UT in 2011. I spent a great deal of time in Cali particularly on 5 and 99. And a great deal of time in the L.A. area.
I am not sure if that is what you are looking for, but it would not hurt to give them a call.
I got allot of miles and actually took home more per week with them than I did when I drove for Crete.
They are not LTL, and it sounds like you are wanting local, but, if it is some interest, give them a call or go onto their web page.

 

Any local Pepsi distributor should pay you a minimum $35-38,000. 3k a month is cake walk to find my friend.

 

What you should do, is go haul tomatoes for Antonini Fruit Express all season. This can easily transition into a permanent job with a set schedule at Antonini Freight. Where in Central California are you looking? They're hauling tomatoes from Bakersfield to the Modesto canneries right now. you could make easily $1k per week doing this but it's a 7 day a week gig.

You're gonna pay your dues one way or another, but do consider taking advantage of the agriculture season that is in full swing right now. Most companies will recognize an entire tomato season as 1 year of service. After you get a year of driving experience, you could go haul gas and deliver to gas stations. That is a good gig for sure. Let me know if you want any other suggestions.

Northern Refrigerated is pretty good for central california. There's a terminal in turlock, about 25 minutes south of Modesto. And a terminal in Fresno. They take new drivers and offer excellent benefits. They also have a hybrid pay structure between hourly pay and stop pay, and you'd definitely be making $750 a week there. You could also be home fairly regularly but they'd make you run regional for a while. You'd be home a couple times a week starting out.