r/CDL

I’ve been with Swift since March and honestly wanna leave OTR badly around August/September once I hit 6 months.

I couldn’t find a local CDL-A job in San Diego before this, so I came here just to build experience.

When local companies ask for “6 months experience,” do they usually mean:
- 6 months SOLO
or
- 6 months total with a carrier?

Trying to understand how local companies/insurance actually look at it.

I just got my Cdl unrestricted tested in manual truck. What are some good companies for new drivers with no experience? And how long does it take to land a job?

(Just a little rant — please excuse my grammar and punctuation.)

I’m currently 21 and living in the Inland Empire in Southern California. I got my CDL in February and was lucky enough to land a local job right out of school with an Amazon AFP, or at least that’s what my employer told me. I ended up leaving at the end of April because the scheduling was terrible. My start times changed almost every day, and I could never get on a consistent sleep schedule. It got to the point where I was feeling extremely tired on the road, and even though the job itself was easy, it just wasn’t worth the risk to me.

Right now, I’ve been mass applying to local food service and beverage jobs, but I keep getting turned down. I know I can handle the work I’m in the gym 3–4 times a week and I’m fairly fit but I can’t even seem to land an interview. What’s frustrating is always hearing people say food service jobs will “take anyone with a pulse.”

At this point, I’m even considering becoming a merchandiser for a beer or soda company just to get my foot in the door and eventually move into a driving position. But even with those jobs, I’ve been applying and still can’t get hired. I have about 3 years of warehouse experience, some stocking and merchandising experience, and around 2 months of trucking experience.

If anyone has any tips or advice, or can help me out in any way, I’d really appreciate it. Thanks.

Wondering where to get my class a CDL from in Northern Utah. I am a 24-year-old male. I have a perfect driving record squeaky clean no criminal history. I also have a good amount of experience with trucks and trailers. My options seem few because I'm in $20,000 of debt. I know there is Swift and Schneider but I have heard a lot of horror stories and was wondering if there were any other companies around that paid for schooling.

Halfway through a CDL program, my friend popped positive on a random urine drug test for weed. Per the director, he had to stop the program for at least 30 days and was instructed that he take a drug test after and if negative, he can restart the classes from where he left off from. When my friend asked if they’ll even let him finish the program and test for his CDL upon return, the school said yes.

My friend did get a letter from the DMV that Clearinghouse notified them that his CDL permit is restricted until the prohibition is lifted. He has not contacted Clearinghouse yet for further info. Needless to say, I think he should do that as it’s unclear if he has to complete an SAP prior to even applying for a CDL job or complete a RTD process as the positive drug test was during school with a CDL permit and not with an employer/actual CDL. Does it even matter if he holds just a permit or are violations treated the same as with an official license?

The school isn’t requiring him to do anything else and when probed for more info regarding how this may affect future employment, the director of the program basically did not have any insight.

Has anyone went through something similar, know of anyone with this situation, or have any insight on how employers may view this? Can he still get a job, even for smaller trucking companies? Will he have to complete SAP/RTD prior to applying for a CDL job?

For background, he was a chronic smoker and stopped 2 months before getting into the program. For the initial drug test, he did a detox just in case it hadn’t left his system yet, and the results were negative. I have every reason to believe he didn’t smoke during the program. Whether it was slow metabolism or just the chronic smoking prior, he tested positive for the random drug test one month into the program. I wish he just waited before enrolling and did testing at home until he reached a negative, but it is what it is and I know he is beating himself up for it.

Any info helps!

TLDR:
Friend in CDL school tested positive for weed on a random drug test while holding a CDL permit. School says he can return after 30 days if he tests negative, but Clearinghouse restricted his permit. Unsure if he now needs SAP/RTD before getting a CDL job since it happened during training, not employment, or if it’s not worth it to pursue anymore. Looking for advice from anyone who had a similar experience or has any info.

Back in February I lost my job of 4 years as an Operations manager making $55k a year due to budget cuts caused by "the economy".

They at least had the courtesy of giving me a 3 weeks notice to look for other work. In that time I looked at my work experience and realized I definitely have a strong history of driving for companies and doing excellent delivery service using many different large vehicles. My background and love of driving led me to see how much earnings potential is in the CDL workforce.

Before the end of that month I found Roadmasters Drivers School in Orlando, FL and decided to stop by and speak with them about it. While in the office talking to a recruiter they went over the program and let me know they have career placement programs as well.

Now here's what you were waiting for if you're a salted CLD driver... They told me that TYPICALLY you would have a 3 to 4 week training once I start a job after graduation and MAJORITY of the time I would need to go into OTR for 3-6 months before looking elsewhere. I LET THEM KNOW it would be tough but DOABLE for me to do the training but I need to get a local job due to my personal family situation. Being gone most weekends for 3-6 months was not an option for me. They assured me that it's very possible to find local routes or jobs out there I could find especially if I had endorsements and a TWIC card. I agreed and decided to finance the program myself.

GREAT NEWS, as strict as the instructors were I confidently passed every one of my evaluations and even the states exam first shot on schedule. My experiences already outside of the CDL world definitely helped. I immediately went and got my double/triples, tanker and hazmat endorsements as well as a TWIC card. During the program I had heard of other students getting local routes and I saw the no experience needed local routes online and started applying... Then I graduated and kept applying... And now it's been over a month and I'm still applying...

Jobs listed as NO EXPERIENCE NEEDED HIRING URGENTLY!... "Oh, sorry we actually need experience." Home DAILY but only OFFERING $19 A effing HOUR! That won't even cover rent. Decent jobs that have everything I need but haven't heard anything back from them. Even class B jobs are turning up their nose at me...

I really am flexible Tuesday though Friday but how screwed am I? Should I just give up at this point and look at other work or something ACTUALLY out there relatively near the Orlando area?

Edit: massive thank you to everyone responding with honest responses, tips and experiences. It definitely helped give me motivation to keep my head up and keep looking. Y'all are a great testament to how awesome the Trucking community can be.

Or will you have to go through the process all over again? New York. Thanks in advance.

Hey everyone! I've been doing a lot of research and am really interested in getting my CDL-A. I currently drive and clean 30 ft RV's outside in the FL heat, but barely make a living doing so. I have a high interest in traveling and am comfortable driving large vehicles and working independently, I have a lot of questions and I'm hoping to hear from experienced drivers!

1. What programs can I go through to obtain my CDL

2. What company you recommend starting at

3. Can you get early retirement by doing this career

4. Is it better to do weekly driving or choose a company where I would get home every night

5. What's something you wish you knew before you started

Thank you in advance! :)

Regular guy here living in Oklahoma. Annually we take a trip to British Columbia in Canada. We typically fly into either Seattle or Spokane and rent a car to drive the rest of the way. We're doing this trip again with 8 people but renting a passenger van. We tried it last year but with the van sitting up to 15, the rental counter told us we'd have an issue crossing the border without a proper CDL.

I'm coming to this subreddit to ask the following questions.

What type of CDL do I need? Is it a C or can I get a chauffeur license?

If I do go the CDL route, what's the cheap and easy way to do it? Needing to have this done by September if possible. I really just need whatever license, do not expect to have a use for it outside this trip.

I’m 21 and looking into applying for Sysco in the Inland Empire/Ontario CA area for a CDL delivery driver position.

Trying to find out from current drivers if Sysco there is still doing DOT urine-only testing or if they’ve started doing hair follicle tests in 2026.

Would also appreciate any honest input about:

rookie hiring

workload

pay

schedules

whether it’s worth it for a new driver

Thanks.

Looking for a trucking company that will hire a new class A CDL driver with little experience. Am willing to go OVR.

Is concrete mixer truck driver a good first job ? they offered me $28.00hr and it’s Monday through Saturday I got my CDL A a couple weeks ago and I start Monday

C.R England, swift, knight transport or premier?

Here recently, my husband has been trying to get in contact with Texas Workforce to speak to a WIOA Specialist to get a training solar trip for CDL school to get his CDL. Record the basic Texas Workforce line and ask if they provide financial assistance in getting a CDL but the caller that they no longer do that. But I hearing from others that they went through the Texas Workforce in order to get their CDL. So I’m always confused as to why when we call and ask about financial assistance they always tell us they no longer do it. So I decided to look it up on Google and it stated that the main line may not know information and to personally speak to a WIOA career specialist because they have that information. So my husband went in person and they gave him an external number to call and ask about training scholarships. Now the thing is they’re not answering the phone. I’m wondering, has anyone experience these setback when trying to get financial assistance towards getting their CDL out here in Houston/Cypress Texas?

What’s up gang? Quick question for you experienced drivers: I recently got hired to drive school buses, the company is paying for my CDL B. Next year, I’m going to school to get my CDL A. My question: does my experience driving a school bus count as relevant experience for CDL A-related vehicles later?