information on knight

Discussion in 'Knight' started by crst trucker 06, Jul 14, 2006.

  1. bigblue19

    bigblue19 Road Train Member

    2,421
    1,735
    Mar 30, 2007
    Midland WA
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    A friend of mine runs for Knight and she goes home every week for 2 days and runs to Phoenix from Seattle and back and does between 2870- to 3200 miles per week every time she has been out in the last 5 months working there. The longest she had to sit was in Phoenix (1/2 day) because her dispatcher had to get clearance to dh her to LA because Phoenix claimed there was no loads west to LA when she mty'd because like the other poster said, each terminal is run independently and they take care of there own, first.

    She said they are trying to cut down on dh miles, so if you take a load off of good frt lanes you might sit.

    No forced dispatch, good home time, drop and hook frt a plus .34 a mile not so good but she gets her miles each week and gets by the house.
     
    kjstrouble Thanks this.
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  3. gearjammers

    gearjammers Bobtail Member

    5
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    May 22, 2008
    Bellevue Washington
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    Looking at the above replys I have to wonder if were talking about the same company. I have worked for Knight for 18 months give or take a day. I've never sat for any length of time. I can think of twice I sat for 24 hrs. I avg 3000 miles plus a week. I've never heard of sitting for days on end. Understanding freight does get slow at times but I've never sat very long. I guess it hats off the guys up north.
     
  4. gearjammers

    gearjammers Bobtail Member

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    May 22, 2008
    Bellevue Washington
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    I drive for knight Transportation, what you are suggesting isn't anything like my experience with them. Worst of the worst I don't think so. I'm never kept from my home terminal. I'm sure you can go on and on, I hope you have found a better company. A company that fits your needs. I've drove for the worst and it didn't take long to move on. I also think Knight could do a whole better with alot things better but they are not the worst.
     
  5. conanj30

    conanj30 Bobtail Member

    34
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    Apr 20, 2008
    Maryland Heights, MO
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    I can relate to sitting with Knight. I don't think I was ever preplaned for a load with them. I only drove for them for 5months and I can honestly say there were only 2 seperate weeks that I got over 2000 miles with them. I sat on average 3 or 4 hours after each delivery waiting for a load. The per diem pay is a big scam. Every week I called to get taken off of it and never did. I worked 3 out of 4 weekends to maybe get an extra load in to get some kind of paycheck and every weekend the dispatch would forget I was out there. Call the weekend dispatch cell phone and I get oh yeah sorry man I knew you were available but I forgot about ya. Let me find ya something, and this was after the dispatch had gone home cause they left at noon on Saturdays. Never turned down a load, couldn't afford to. It was always the same story, there's no frieght in your area, we're looking. Hours later still waiting. God forbid I have to deadhead somewhere to get a load. Don't get me started on empty trailers. I lost my Harley because of Knight, #### near lost my car as well. $230 a week paychecks don't cut it. I was out of the Lemont terminal by the way. They preach about being preplanned and wanting 2500+ miles a week out of their trucks yet I average 1800? It's ridiculous. No advances were taken. I could be here all night. Red Swift is pretty much all they are.
     
  6. bigblue19

    bigblue19 Road Train Member

    2,421
    1,735
    Mar 30, 2007
    Midland WA
    0
    I'm sure you where prepln at least by the terminal you worked out of. They just don't send the load to you till you send your mty call. I used to send my mty call at Interstate as soon as I got to a receiver so I would not have to wait for it after I was already mty to get their so-called preplns.

    My knight insider informs me that once on their per diem, you can only get off of it by filling out the per diem opt out form. You can't verbally opt out, it has to be in writing. I will agree that per diem is a scam at Knight, if you have to pay them .02 per mile to be on it.
     
  7. gearjammers

    gearjammers Bobtail Member

    5
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    May 22, 2008
    Bellevue Washington
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    We use the per diem setup at Knight and thinking about getting off of it. I was told to do so I have to request it writing. I don't have a problem with that.
     
  8. conanj30

    conanj30 Bobtail Member

    34
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    Apr 20, 2008
    Maryland Heights, MO
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    If I was preplanned and they were just waiting for me to send my empty call, then why did I have to sit 3-4hrs waiting for them to send that preplanned load? Especially after I call 10 minutes after I send in the empty call? That would be because there was no preplan. The conversation on the phone was always "we're working on something for you right now." Almost every time thats what I heard or the other thing I heard was "there's no freight in your area," or "freight is slow in your area." Are you kidding me? The average lenght of haul out of the Lemont terminal was maybe 600 miles. A preplan would constitute knowing where I was going to be delivering and getting me something out of there or deadheading me somewhere to get a load. Like I said, I may have been preplanned maybe 3 times. And God forbid they deadhead me somewhere just so I wouldn't be sitting. Here's a fine example: I delivered in San Antonio on a Saturday morning. I didn't leave San Antonio until Monday afternoon cause there weren't any loads and the weekend dispatcher couldn't find anything. I had to call the guy at his house and remind him I was empty. Every two hours I'd call and see what was up and nothing was up, all the way to 6pm I think it was when I got pawned off to dispatch at the Katy terminal I believe it was and it was back and forth like that all weekend till my normal dispatcher came in on Monday. And even then it was still Monday afternoon before I deadheaded outta there. And I chose to be out that weekend so I could make extra money and every weekend was basically the same scenario. It got to the point where I wasn't getting any miles during the week, knew I was gonna get hung out to dry on the weekend so whats the point of even volunteering to be out? Paid on a sliding scale with per diem(scam), 1800 miles a week if I'm lucky and chasing down empty trailers that aren't where they said they would be burning up my h.o.s. Nice trucks don't do you any good unless you have a trailer to pull with a load inside it..My average weekley check with them was $300 and the lowest was $60 during the Thanksgiving holiday. I had a job interview that I had to reschedule 3 times because they couldn't get me a load home and they had at least 8 days notice of that interview. They were reminded of it as the day got closer. I ended up quitting Knight so I could make sure that I WOULD be home for the rescheduled interview. I did get that job. Welder at Caterpillar. Doesn't pay what a good truck company can pay but it's something. It sure beats the hell out of Knight and that big headache.
     
  9. phoenixsteve

    phoenixsteve Bobtail Member

    7
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    May 31, 2008
    phoenix,AZ
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    doesn't Knight pay .42 cpm on short hauls? so you are still making over 900 bucks.
     
  10. OverDrive

    OverDrive "A Watchman on the Walls"

    My buddy who works at Knight Indianapolis said that to get out of the 'Per Diem' scam (Knight makes .02 cents/mile!), he had to route a form around 3-levels of mgmt for signatures---they highly discouraged going that way!! Then 6 mos later, got letter saying 'he could have taken home this much more $). And at the end of the year, same letter showing concern for not taking more $ home, automatically put him on Per Diem..AGAIN! Happened every year!! Also touted making his Tax return easier---but with his Itemized Deductions w/o Per Diem, got back $2K every year. With Per Diem, he had to pay State & Federal Taxes!!



    Also, the .42/mile as for runs 100 miles or less--was stair stepped up to 400 miles/run (including Dhead). If starting base is .33/mile, then runs of 300-400 miles get the driver .35/mile---NOT .42/mile! He said biggest problem driving for Knight is "Lo Miles' and hunting for MT's (lack of trlrs with 2.1 trlr/tractor ratio).

    :biggrin_25521:
     
  11. phoenixsteve

    phoenixsteve Bobtail Member

    7
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    May 31, 2008
    phoenix,AZ
    0
    Wow, I'm pissed off at the recruting dept. I'm in the process of getting hired by Knight refrigerated and they specifically told me that you get .42 cpm flat out for those 300 mile runs.
     
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