I Am A 58 Year Old Woman Who Wants To Be A Long Haul Trucker

Tammy, if you are pretty sure OTR is something that will fit into your life, following the advice above from very experienced drivers (and a trainer) to go with company paid training is an excellent way to go.

Our son did not go that route and I think the primary reason was for him to go to a local school and see if this is something he actually could do well at and enjoy. He had been going to college and had very little work experience so some of his options were limited. His instructor tried to line him up with a local company but he wanted to do OTR so he applied with a few companies and chose C.R. England, mostly because their recruiter was most responsive. That was not the best choice but he got experience and after 8 months switched to Marten and that has been working out very well for him.

As has been pointed out many times in various threads, with company paid driving the company has a big investment in you and they want you to succeed. Additionally, if you run into some troubles down the road and need some additional training, they will do that but that might not be offered (or available) at whoever your private school lines you up to find a job with.

Good luck!