So Schneider Or Raider Express?

First, there are plenty of options besides the two you've listed. Starting OTR is a lot like joining the Army - they send you a bus ticket and your old life is just a memory for a couple of months. You don't need to live near a terminal or a school. I live in Washington. The company I started with sent me to Colorado to train. Their closest terminal to my home is in Riverside, CA. You just drive your truck to a truck stop or other safe, legal place near your home for home time.

Raider Express does offer free, no obligation driver training IF you're a Texas resident. Residents of the other 48 states and California are outside of their hiring area. If you drive for them you will pay for training it's just structured differently. Your first month with a trainer pays 10 cpm and you'll start solo at 30 cpm. Some companies pay you then take the cost of training out of your pay. Raider Express just takes it out before they give it to you.

RE's biggest customers are meat packers so most of your freight will be going to grocery warehouses. You'll want a TV, a good data plan and a subscription to a streaming service. Drop and hook is NOT an option and there will be a lot of waiting. I've never made a grocery trip that was well organized or quick. There is a fuel bonus that is easy to get since their trucks are governed at 60 mph. The big downside is that they have limited reach - they don't go further west than Denver or further north than Cheyenne. You're only going to get the PG version of winter driving and could drive for them several years without having to throw chains. You'll never know the horror of winter driving over Donner Pass, Lake Effect in Michigan, I80 through Wyoming, Cabbage Hill or Snoqualmie. That may be an issue if you want to move someplace that does offer winter driving opportunities and get a new job. What, you've driven 10 years and never thrown a chain? A driver applied where I work with 10 years of driving experience - in Florida! Didn't get the job. In the PNW we get the Only Fans version of winter driving.

There are two benefits to having company terminals. If your truck needs service and you go to the dealership the clerk will tell you there are several trucks ahead of yours so come back in X days and we'll tell you what's wrong with it. You don't have those waits at a company shop. The other issue is parking. Most truck stops are FULL after dark and in some parts of the country an hour or two before that. A company terminal gives you a pretty much guaranteed parking space if you're caught out after dark.