Do not work for knight transportation!!!

I work for myself under my own authourity for over 35 years, I had the dis pleasure of hauling loads for knight, swift, schneider brokerage divisions. I know alot of drivers for knight and most of them quit within a year or less, I know some that just got a bus home and left the trucks sitting at terminals. Your a rareity to be happy with these people but more power to you.

 

Knighton why dont you tell us your truck number ? so we can all wave to you when we see you coming down I-5 ? If your from fairview or. its 122???. A big Red Volvo I bet. With a big red heart saying I love Knight.

 

I'm thinkin that I would go to a truck stop and ask a Knight driver if they're happy, they ALL can't be postin on here and I'm a student that needs information, hell I may wait til I get more certain on the lesser of the evils.

 

We need drivers like you here. Hell, I like you! Here are some pointers for people like you to be successful in today's age of trucking:

1). Sign up for per-diem.
2). You will be on e-logs. Commit to every load. Doesn't matter if it's late or not. Just say yes!
3). As soon as you get to a terminal, give up your empty to another driver.
4). No complaining or whining.
5). Maintain a positive attitude.
6). Haul as many local loads as you can. Be sure never to ask for a P.O. number.

Am I missing something? I will be looking forward to working with you in the future! Keep ya head up, homie!

On a side note, I'm very happy here. Hope that this helps out!

 

You forgot to never mention damage to the trailer your picking up when you send in the trailer exchange. Theyll tell you to drive to nearest shop, which could be 100 miles away to get it fixed, after you pick up your load of course. Im happy that your happy at Knight, they must love you to bits.

 

Dont complain when the scanning machine is down and you cant scan your paperwork in a timely manner, so that you can get paid for your trips. If you have to drive an additional 50 miles to get to a pilot or loves to scan your paperwork, without getting paid for those miles, even though an 0/0 is charged for miles and pays for the fuel, not to mention his own time wasted. If you deliver a load but you cant get to a place to scan it by the cutoff time, your out of luck, it will have to be on next weeks settlement. If they make a payroll mistake, which is often, you call them, they tell you its your fault not ours, when it is theirs , like you scan your paperwork 2 days before its due and its not on your settlement, your out of luck again, it will have to wait until the next pay period but Im sure Mr. K5 has never ever had these problems.

 

I have been reading these blogs for some time now and I have finally decided to respond. When I was starting out just a few years ago, I was actually looking for informative advice. Unfortunatley, I found a tons of attitudes and pointing fingers, and only a handful of responses were of any value.

I worked for a small mom and pop type company when I first began for a solid 2 years. Due to financial reasons things changed there and I left on wonderful terms and am always welcome back. I then made a big error and want to CR England for a whole 3 weeks. I left properly and professionally. I was then hired by Knight Transportation. I was there for about 4 months and had a very nice experience. I got along great with my DM and we helped eachother out. He did some big favors for me and I did some for him. It was a positive experience. He kept me running hard and I talked to many other drivers who had the same DM who had nothing but bad things to say. If I had no issues and others did, the variable was not my DM, right? So look at yourself if you are having problems. I decided to leave for some personal reasons that I needed to take care of at the time. My DM told me to stay and he offered me many different options so that I could stay on board. I decided I still had to leave for the time being. He said I would be welcome back anytime. So, I went my way and obtained and ran under my own authority for the next 7 months. (that is another story) It was positive as well and had a good time learning the business from a different perspective. I just sold the truck because I wanted a little less responsibility and I had an older truck and was afraid of any major repairs. I called and talked to my old DM over at Knight and I am upset he will no longer be my DM when I return in 2 weeks. But I like Knight. You will have a few negative things happen from time to time, but with any company the same size, in any industry, you will have minor issues too. I was treated well and with respect and I gave respect back. You help your DM and they will help you in return. In the end the only one you can blame is yourself. Be smart, communicate, do your best, and roll with the punches. I am headed back to Knight, I am excited and I am going to be making it a long term choice. Hope this helps the ones who are looking for sound practical advice.

 

The problem is when you do not have enough time on you CDL the bigger ones are the only ones that will take you. So do your time and move on to better places.

 

From your profile, it says youve been driving for 3 years. Thats interesting, Not to much trucking experience there,is there? I wish you luck, you sound just like the ones the swifts and knights are looking for and your relationship should be a long happy one. My practical advise to you, coming from someone in the business for 50 years is simply. Say No to them or anyone else just once, tell them you cant do it because its illegal or your out of hours, tell them you couldnt make your appt due to any reason and see if they dont write you up for a service failure. Refuse to drive a truck or a trailer that is not safe to drive. Refuse to waste 2-3 hours looking for an empty, wait for 16 hrs to get your delivered because they gave you the wrong appt time and not get paid for it. Have you DM tell you something that is wrong and when you do it the way he told you and the company comes down on you, he says I didnt say that to him. Or be told to drive a loaded trailer with 44K in the box on a flat tire to get it repaired 50 miles from where your at and then my young friend, tell me what a great place it is to work. Your still wet behind the ears. Thats my practical advise to you

 

I'm confused - he had a decent experience with Knight and simply related how it went. I'd say 3 years is enough experience to at least have an opinion on one carrier. Obviously he's not the guru of everything trucking but he's been around long enough to have had an experience worth sharing and listening to. How many years of experience does one have to have before they're no longer "wet behind the ears?"

The bottom line as has been reiterated in hundreds of threads about every company under the sun is that some people will enjoy their time with company X, others will hate every second of it. I think it would be impossible to find a company whose EVERY driver hates it. Everything is based on a huge set of variables - if you're looking for a new employer, you just have to decide if you've heard more bad stories or more good stories, and how good the odds are that you will have a good time too.