I got my CDLs in March of 08 through a local steel company that I'm working for but there insurance sucks ($126/wk for the family) and the pay isn't that great($12.50/hr). What company would I have the best chance of getting hired on at with my short amount of experience? I'm looking to be home on weekends so a dedicated or regional would be nice.

There is NO Best Company.
ALL Companies will claim to be the best yet they're only as good as their Employees.
With the minor experience you have, most reputable Companies will put you through a Driver Training Program in that you'll be set up with a Trainer for anywhere from two to eight weeks AFTER Orientation.
Maybe a Local Company would not require this.

I agree, you can never know what the best company to work for is. You can get a good handle on good and bad by how many bad things you find on boards such as this. I say bad things, because let's face it, the people who feel they were wronged are the loudest voices and the ones that are content, for the most part, just go about their business.

When I was looking to get into trucking, I spent a lot of time looking over message boards and listed companies that I didn't hear much of the bad about and started looking more specifically for info about those companies.

I settled on Watkins & Shepard. and I think, so far, that I made a good choice for myself. It's been about a year now since I started looking into trucking and I still don't find any real complaints on the boards. I've been driving for them now for 9 months and I don't hear much negative from the other drivers I talk to either. They've been a little slow on the West coast lately, but here in the East I haven't had any trouble getting miles.

Now I was a complete Newbie, so I had to go to the 30 day school they have in Montana, but with you being in the East and already having a CDL, you'd go to a 10 day orientation in Sayreville, NJ. It's unpaid, but only 10 days and if you can demonstrate that you know what you're doing, you are assigned a truck and you're out of there.

Jon

WOW! You have to work 10 hours just to pay for your insurance! That doesn't leave much to pay your bills with, especially if you're only working 40 hours. I don't think most T/L carriers will be much better though. Keep out of trouble and you will qualify for a better job. With your time off requirements and if you don't mind a little work, being a city driver for one of the ltl companies will pay better and the insurance will be a lot cheaper or cost you nothing.

Just don't work for "crst" they are the worst of the trucking industry.

Union companies offer the best as far as pay scale and benefits. The equipment, in many cases, leaves much to be desired, but if you are patient and willing to work hard you can really do well there.

Other than the union outfits the private companies such as Frito Lay, Wal Mart, Sherwin Williams, Precision Motor Transport, Tri-State, New Century (ltl division) etc, are all very good companies with pay scales in the mid 60's to start.

There are some other companies out there with top notch equipment and pay but they do not advertise much. Those jobs are word of mouth with friends and relatives getting the first crack at any opening.

If you are looking for home every day then look at companies that service fast food restaraunts such as Sygma, Acme, Martin Brower, Pepsi co, etc. Just be advised you will handle evrerything on the trailer. In some cases 1 case at a time or using a hand truck to make inside store deliveries.

1 other option would be waste management. If you can tolerate the smell and the hard work you can make a decent paycheck there as well. Some Trash guys in New Jersey and New York City actually make over 100 grand per year. Of course they are union from what I understand so you may not have the same pay scale in West Virginia or even be union organized.