Knight Transportation

Discussion in 'Report A BAD Trucking Company Here' started by tacc, Jan 4, 2008.

  1. tacc

    tacc Bobtail Member

    I received an invitation to orientation.I decided to visit the Op Center and ask more questions.When I arrived, I was shuffled off rudely to a recruiter
    by someone I had spoken to before, and by the way was (nice when I had talked to him before) but now was rude and short with me.

    The recruiter talked to me at length and basically gave me the company doublespeak and dodged alot of pointed questions.

    What stuck with me was the so called sliding scale and how you will be sent on many short runs 200- 500 miles.It is not rocket science to realize
    you would be working your as* off running the short miles and dealing with all the warehouse bullsh** and delays.Needless to say the recruiter would not answer the hard questions I had.

    I do not want negative feedback from Knight employees slamming me for my opinion.If you are an employee and happy there so be it.

    But it will NOT work for me.
     
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  3. firstgear

    firstgear Light Load Member

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    Dec 19, 2007
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    Its too bad our industry is the way it is.
     
  4. Barney

    Barney Bobtail Member

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    Jul 16, 2007
    Northwest of nowhere
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    I work for Knight and your suspicions are true. It gets worse than that. But Volvo's are nice and they will get you home every week if that helps.
     
  5. tacc

    tacc Bobtail Member

    Thanks for the replies.I am not putting down Knight but just put down my experience with them.

    I found after checking into them further that it probably would not work for me.
     
  6. Harley1

    Harley1 Bobtail Member

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    Jan 3, 2008
    Somersworth New Hampshire
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    If you run out of Lakeland FL. dont plan on being home every weekend that is why i went to Knight and it did not Happen
     
  7. knighton5

    knighton5 Heavy Load Member

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    Nov 19, 2006
    Rose City
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    Knight was GREAT for me, but I know there not for everybody. Thats why when asked about Knight, I always say, what are you looking for? Hometime? Great equipment? Good Pay? etc.... most people will go with the flow and not realize that you need to ask yourself what you the driver needs, then find that carrier that fits those needs. I know a few Swift drivers that are happy driving for them, and been with them a few years. Good Luck on your search and always ask drivers at truck stops because you cant always believe recruiters! Drive Safe
     
    cherydip Thanks this.
  8. Hyperdrive312301

    Hyperdrive312301 Bobtail Member

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    Jul 24, 2011
    College Station, Tx
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    I am a driver for Knight Trans. I work out of the Katy, Tx terminal. I have been here, this time, for about 14 months. I am leaving them here soon. I have made it this long because I had a great dispatcher. They took him off of dispatching and back on planning. I have been with two more DMs since this happened. They also gave me a brand new truck this time. Well, the DM I have now is about worthless. She is new to the company. So, some issues may not be her fault.

    Truth about Knight: They don't pay breakdown, Layover is sometimes hard to get. All of their trucks do have bunk heaters in them. More often than not, the bunk heaters are broke. The miles are around 1800 to 2200 most weeks. Seems like Knight likes to run short mile loads. This works out great for Knight, but crap for drivers. I might get a long load out of Texas since I deal well with the planner. But, it's short miles from there on out.

    They care more about getting freight delivered than the driver at times. My AC went out on the 3rd of July. Could not get into a shop obviously till the 5th. The mechanic from the Carlisle, Pa told me it was fixed. I asked him where the leak was at. He said there was no leak. Then what was all this green fluid on the motor I asked him. I don't know he said. The shops suck. They wont pay much to get good mechanics. I took his word and left. Went to the Bronx, a load I was misled into taking, and the AC went out again. I tried to get back into another shop for three days. No AC.... three days. Was told 90 miles out of route to get into the Indy shop, had to run the load to Rochelle, Il.

    That put me in the Joliet/Chicago area. Not a good place to get shop work here at Knight. On a Friday. Sat in Motel till Monday and got Ac fixed at International. Two weeks later, no breakdown pay. I'm sitting in a motel again, since Friday night, once again waiting for International, and Monday, to get AC fixed again. Dispatch is pissed at me since I did not want to run without AC. Dispatch has called me three times since I have been here in the Hotel. Keep telling them that truck has no AC, but they still want me to run.

    I won't get breakdown pay for this either. Two weekends ago I sat in hotel and did not run. Last weekend I ran a 300 mile trip on Saturday. I ran 200 miles on Sunday, deadhead, for a load that was going to pick up on Monday. Ran two loads this week, a little over 2000 miles. No miles run since Thursday night, after I delivered, My AC went out again.

    Knight has been dropping loads, Picking up sometimes several days late, Forgetting about loads till the last minute and expecting you to run them non stop to deliver on time, no communication. We are on electronic logs. They expect you to run around on your log to find MT trailers, as they do not have enough to go around. Then they are mad when you spent the day looking for an mt and when you finally get one, they want you to go load and run the load 500 miles non stop after you have been up all day. If you refuse, then they hold it against you.

    Three years ago things here seemed to be in good shape. Here as of late, the company has been massively disorganized. They spend buckets of money on buying up other companies and never raise our CPM. They really need to get with the times. They have dropped the pay scale way down, not up like most other companies. Maintenance is sketchy at best. The miles usually suck.

    I have bookmarked this web site. I wish I had found this place a lot sooner than I had. This looks like a good resource for drivers. I will be checking back regularly. Any one with questions about Knight, feel free to ask.

    Hyperdrive
     
  9. bigblue19

    bigblue19 Road Train Member

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    Mar 30, 2007
    Midland WA
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    Each terminal is run like a separate fleet. So you could really only speak for the terminal you work out of.

    And if anyone looking at knight did their homework they would know that Knight specializes in loads between 200 and 1000 miles. With most in the 400 to 800 range, They will let you run 48 but the company is geared to running regional 7 to 14 days with either a restart or 2 days off at a time.

    As far as sliding scale? How dare they pay you more to do shorter runs.:biggrin_25523:

    Go work at May trucking or many other regional carriers where they pay the same for all miles and still have lots of short runs.:biggrin_25525:
     
  10. Sad_Panda

    Sad_Panda Road Train Member

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    Dec 2, 2006
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    The pay is still less than it was a couple of years ago. They raised the starting pay back up so it looks good, but then they start to split it right away.

    I'm really surprised that they don't do things like .3333333333333333 cents a mile to .33666666666666!

    Just you wait, soon they will split half pennies!
     
  11. Erick chapel

    Erick chapel Medium Load Member

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    Jan 30, 2011
    Fontana CA
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    Mr. Kevin Knight has all the right ideas and really is putting them all to work. He's a really good guy and knows his trucking, I respect mr. knight, I saw how the company can be good, but the market managers are parasites as Mr. Willis said at his hay ranch in Wyoming!
     
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