My experience with Knight Refrigerated

i know the pay scale is from .31-.41 and it's sliding.. i like the sliding scale because when i'm doing my two weeks of short runs my pay check is still around the same amount as if i were doing the long runs. I dont know what the other large companies pay but i know if you are giving the miles and you run them then you can step through the door and make good money.. i'm averaging $800 through out the month..

the one thing i dont like is the policy about trucks not being parked no longer then 3days before they go slip seat, and no APU's. Well not having an APU wouldn't be so bad if we didn't get our speed cut back for idling. I was so happy when fall brought it's behind to north america. trucks are fleep spec, but for some reason i can still out pull most other fleet trucks up grades.

All in all if i had the chance to choose another company i'd still choose Knight. My terminal isn't robotic and the only time i have to give a truck number is when they're training someone else in the office.. since i've been there they've gotten like 8 more office personal..

could it be betta, 'ell yeah!!!! are the things that bother me worth quitting over, not in my opinion, and because of that i stay.

 

thanks mitch..... is that average 800 a week?? or what. if you have no apu's how can you sleep when its over 100 degrees or when its freezing? I think i've seen you answer this already but do you run on the dry van side? also what terminal you run out of. thanks for any info..hate to ask so make questions

 

first week back from home time i make about $600, then for the next three weeks i can see it jump from as high as $1000 to as low as $500 depending on how many hours i have on my clock, and the runs i get. shorter runs pay more, but you burn more time sitting at docks and dropping and hooking versus burning 660mi a day for three days straight trying to drive from Cali to Ga. And when you go to take your truck in for a service you might as well count a day lost right there.. if you're under dispatch you wont get lay over pay, but if you're under dispatch you'll get lay over.. i've only gotten it once because they always send me in for my services while i'm under load.. and when you come in for home time that's going to be pretty much three and a half almost four days you wont run any miles, so you'll take a hit that week also..

so that's why i say i average $800 through out the month.. some if not most are over $800 few are below.

when it's hot out, you can't run at night, it doesn't benefit you any. if you do it means you have to idle during the day to sleep which means you're speed is going to get cut back (it happens automatically). but if you dont mind a sixty mile an hour truck then idle until your happy. when it's cold we have small heaters under the bunk that burns diesel out of the tanks and uses power from the batteries to run a small fan to blow the heat into the sleeper. works darn good also, it'll dry ya out if you're not careful, i've woken up more then a few times with chapped lips. many say the trucks wont idle mostly because no one really explains the process that has to happen in order to get them to idle..

yes i'm on the dry side, we have reefer out of the terminal also, but i dont know anything about it, and that's just one more thing i'd have to be responsible so i went with dry instead.. i'm out of the Lakeland, Fl terminal.. looks more like a dirt lot and doesn't have a shower or much of a drivers lounge, but it's home..

no worries about the questions, bout to roll in a min so i may not reply to the next one until tomorrow.. be safe.

 

Are the miles always light after home time?
Does it make ya want to stay out longer?

 

light? if you're askin about my drop in mile for the weeks i go home, it's because i always loose three days of driving, will equals about 1200 to 1500 miles which means i only make half or what i normally would that week. sometimes they send me home with a load that wont deliver until monday, so i spend three days dragging it from Chicago or where ever i get it from, and then sit with it (well the truck sits with it at the terminal i be at the house) and then deliver it on monday.. so now i have one trip that's 1800miles on pay roll for that week. i reload monday afternoon on another long run that i wont be able to deliver until tuesday afternoon. the bad thing is that trips have to be scanned in by 3pm on tuesday in order for them to make pay roll, and that's usually how my miles end up short for home time.

and yes it is the reason i stay out three to four weeks before coming home for my three days. Florida sucks, i love it, but it sucks to be a trucker down here.. other terminals have so many options its upsetting..

 

Smaggs. I've read all 52 pages, and what a story. I was thinking Knight was on my short list, and now I am not sure. I have the same attitude you do and to see that a person like yourself is taking this hard really discourages me from Knight. All I want is miles and to need to make over 450 a week and I'll be fine, I dont really care what the company does to me as long as I meet my quota, but it doesnt seem like Knight could even do that. My top 3 were Knight,Roehl,and USX. Can you shed any light on the avrg you take home weekly? Thanks man. I hope things get better for you.

 

Anything less then $800 a week for a new driver is a slap in the face....period! NEW is not an excuse to work for a sweat shop.





American Trucker

 

issue #1: 600 is pounding out? thats like a leasurly drive