Any Decent Jobs Near Savannah For A New CDL Holder?

It's been quite an interesting experience. I've been in the Savannah Tech CDL course for the last couple months and I'm about to test in the next week and a half. I have no concerns about this; I can handle the truck rather well thanks to my time in the military. I actually find driving the 10 speeds kind of fun.

I've already taken it upon myself to apply for TWIC and hazmat. My license currently has doubles/triples, tanker and bus on it. I'm eager to trade in my AP for the Class A and move on with things; it's been six months since the Army cut me loose and I haven't worked full time since. We've been making it work by my wife's job, my GI bill and Reservist's pay. I think we've pushed our luck as far as it's going to go though. I need to get back into it soon before we start sliding backwards financially.

I knew there was a big risk in what kind of opportunities I'd find starting out. I'm one of those guys who crossed my fingers hoping to find something local, and understood that wasn't exactly likely. The two companies I'm aware of that run local gigs( McKenzie Tank Lines and Modern Transportation) wont return my calls. Everything else I've found requires experience under my CDL; military time doesn't cut it.

Now I understand that I need to start somewhere and if I need to start regional to get that 6 months to a year's experience, so be it. I don't have time to waste. The thing I don't understand, however, is how, with the Port of Savannah so close by, and Jacksonville not too far away, is there not more opportunities for someone in my shoes. This port is FULL of freight and not enough driver's to move it all. I've heard of guys locally getting their CDL and hanging around half of the week and on the weekends, if not daily, but can't find anything personally.

Not being home doesn't scare me, but after spent 4 years of my life overseas, I'm not too eager to up and split if I don't have to either. Being here has a big benefit for me; not having to stress the wife too much with a daughter who is mildly autistic who responds to nobody but me. I promised her I'd try to find something local, but we both understand that there's a good chance that might not happen right off the bat.

I've so far spoken to Averitt, US Xpress and CT Transportation in case I don't find that golden nugget. So far nobody is giving me a hard time and I've gotten some decent offers, especially with CT. I kind of like the idea of pulling a flatbed, and I'm already used to tarping and strapping cargo so it should be fairly simple to pick up. 40 cpm and good miles is a bonus.

So I'm just wondering if anyone have any input they might want to send my way?

I'm going to Ogeechee tech and test Tuesday, I sent you a pm on a few companies I have found.

I got your PM. I appreciate the direction on that.

Schneider has a home weekly tanker position out of savannah open now.

I saw that. For some reason I'm kind of reluctant to go with Schneider. We had a recruiter come by but I can't shake the feeling that somehow I'm not going to get what I bargained for. I have a couple leads I'm going to check, but I'm keeping that in the back of my mind.