I FINALLY LEFT K&B TRANSPORTATION

I actually get a kick looking up videos about K&B. The video LookHardGetPaid posted is interesting when his dispatchers tell him to drive when he is tired is interesting. We have all seen it. The guy is actually an uninteresting dick when you watch his other videos, but it is entertaining. Stay away from those outfits with guaranteed pay. They will mostly use you.

 

When I called several years ago to K&B, I said nah thanks, I will pass ultimately. The recruiter gives me this sob story about already booking a plane ticket and may get fired if I don't show up to orientation, I said well, let me know where you go, I may still be looking, but I know I won't be driving for K&B.

 

They’re advertising non-stop where I live .

$1750 per week guarantee($250 per day and you have to be available for work all 7 days ) 8 weeks out minimum and they’ll fly you anywhere in the U.S. for your home time up to 10 days

 

In my area too, and they don't even have a terminal here (El Paso TX). Only option they had for me was to fly me out to S Sioux City and work the "road warrior" position at 70cpm, guaranteed $1750 weekly (when certain criteria are met). Seemed decent until I looked them up, and saw that they run you on recaps and have to be out for 60 days, 10 days home time. Too little home time for so many days worked, I'd rather just max out my 70 in 5-6 days and take a restart at home.

 

I have a KB story I'd like to tell, may as well tell it here.
About 3-4 years ago I was on I-29 North of St. Joe Mo., heading north. It was the middle of the night, light traffic, and I had been on this run many times over the past two weeks. There are a number of nice hills where you can get your speed up pretty good, but our trucks start beeping and dispatch is notified if you go above 70 (governed at 67).
There was bridge construction at the bottom of one of the hills and it goes down to one lane, and that's a narrow lane at the bridge. Speed limit drops to 55 and I slow to about 60. In my rear view, a good ways back I see someone in the hammer lane, hell bent for leather. Well, I assume he'll slow down in the construction zone and fall in behind me.
He doesn't. He's staying in the left lane intent on passing me. As the orange barrels are coming up, I realize a wreck is going to happen, and I'll probably be involved. I SMOKE my brakes and he barely gets in front of me as his lane ends. No brake lights as he goes over the one lane bridge with workmen everywhere. My hands were shaking big time for about 20 minutes. I estimate his speed at over 80. I never saw him again. I have been wary of KB drivers since.

 

Down here in Texas too.

 

Went by there main terminal the other day. And there had to be over 120 empty trucks out there. Either they are slow, or ppl are quiting.

 

Maybe a little bit of both.

 

I'll give a little insight into the company. I've been here for many years but it's gotten to the point I may be pursuing other options. First off the management here sucks from the executive VP to the safety director. As far as I know none of them have ever driven a truck but keep coming up with bogus micromanaging nonsense that you'd normally only find in a mega carrier instead of correcting the issues that have been plaguing the company for years. We get morning messages which consist of clean inspections, bad inspections, safety reminders, and the executive VP blasting drivers when they've had a bad week. Drivers now get bad inspections because the maintenance department decides an out of service violation isn't important enough to get fixed due to the tight deliver windows on some of these loads or because they don't want to pay the extra money to send someone out on a road call. They'd rather risk killing a bunch of people just so the load can be on time. Then the executive VP blames the driver when they get a bad inspection but also gets irate if the load is late as a result of getting maintenance defects corrected. It's like you can't win for losing. Some of these loads pick up on preloaded trailers. They only give you a 2-3 hour window in which to scale, fuel, get maintenance defects corrected, and any other line 4 duties. If a shop is closed or has any kind of wait they just keep kicking the can down the road until they find a shop that's open. They have some good and bad apples in each department but they do nothing about the bad apples. When something goes wrong it's always the driver's fault. It's never the planner's fault. It's never the maintenance staff's fault. It's never the dispatcher's fault. They never hold any of their office staff accountable. If they do it's done behind the scenes without our knowledge. So now that I'm done ranting here's some pros and cons to help you decide if this company is right for you

Pros:
*Pay guarantee depends on which position you apply for. They have local drivers that are home daily. They have all 48 state drivers which can go home about once a month if you live in their operating area. They have regional Midwest drivers which has the same home time as the all 48 drivers but keeps them regional. Then there are the Road Warrior drivers. Road Warrior drivers stay out two months and get 10 days home. Road Warrior and Regional Midwest drivers get paid the highest but those programs are optional depending on where you live. I haven't had an issue with home time getting denied although sometimes they get you there late on the day you're supposed to be home
*If your APU goes out on the road they will put you up in a hotel until the APU gets fixed
*Clean trucks although some may have some miles on them. Some aren't as new as they boast. Some are new while others might have over 500k miles on them

Cons:
*Lack of office staff accountability. Maintenance staff doesn't want to correct defects at times. Planners not leaving enough time for line 4 functions. Sometimes you run out of time before you can deliver a load into a customer that only lets you check in 15-30 minutes early. They expect you to be 2 hours early to customers that are strict on appointments then get shocked when we get turned away
*Constant relaying of loads. Sometimes this is to get a driver home. Other times they book loads designed for teams but have to relay the load because this company doesn't do teams
*Trucks limited to 65 mph
*E-Smart tech in trucks prevents speeding and bridge hits. It also limits the trucks to 55 mph through big cities and 50 mph in winter weather which ticks off other motorists. It also limits the trucks to 2 mph when you approach low clearance bridges (even ones you can fit under). I have been flipped off, cussed out on the CB, and nearly ran off the road as a result
*No passengers or pets
*Force you to use an app on your phone that prevents cell phone use while driving except for navigation and phone calls with Bluetooth
*They don't believe in shutting down for winter weather unless the roads are closed. They just limit you to 50 mph even when there are travel bans/advisories in effect and even try to get you to take back roads if the interstates are closed
*They don't pay for detention or layovers. However they do pay extra for yard checks and shagging short loads out of drop yards to nearby customers
*Cruise control will not work when the headlights are on even on clear summer nights
*Power steering has been an issue in every truck I've been assigned so hope you have good upper arm strength

 

I usually don't bother with bad reviews but Iwant to mention this publicly so others don't get roped into this terrible situation. I was emailed/contacted for a couple of years it seems and the idea of having to leave a car at the airport for so much of the year just didn't seem to make any sense. Sadly, I decided to try it out anyway due to the claims of great pay. I'll acknowledge that first- it's not great. I've made more with other companies with less effort. The pay minimum is pretty much what you'll get most weeks. Without even paying for any benefits, I usually netted ~$1100 to $1400 per week. If you think that's amazing pay, you're entry level. You are treated like absolute trash from the moment you begin orientation class. Or maybe earlier if you include the ride in the van from the airport in Omaha. Their ex-cop safety weasel brags to the class "I'm gonna jam your phone" and you are forced to install an app that disables 6our personal phone while in motion. That would be fine, but they don't pay my phone bill. I was given a dirty and smelly old truck but does it matter when all the trucks are optioned like rickshaws? Moreover, the restrictions on the trucks are the worst I've ever seen- they won't exceed the speed limit even when it is wrong about the speed limit. It geo-fences you (which a voice announces loudly every minute or so) in what it perceives as a city area and limits you to 55- so you are clogging up city traffic. This angers alot of drivers, of course, often causing them to be aggressive toward you. The cruise control will not work if the headlights are one, the wipers automatically turn on all exterior lights even temporarily if you simply swife them once during the day in a light mist. You have the usual lane departure buzzing all day long, a robot voice telling you constantly "please slow down" even when you are below the posted speed and they will call you if they think they saw you make a mistake. I've even had the truck limit itself to 2mph when there is a nearby low bridge regardless of whether your are heading toward it or not. I'm sure I'm forgetting some details of how awful the trucks are. Then there's the sights and smells of their customers which are often slaughterhouses. The smell of death is something you simply gag your way through and you'll see guts, leaking fluids, etc. They also deliver to alot of grocery DCs and if you know about that nonsense you know it's not worth it. The attitudes of everyone who works there are awful- I always felt like I was talking to an angry ex girlfriend. They called my daughter when I didn't answer my phone WHEN I WAS ON HOMETIME because she was my emergency contact and it scared the heck out of her. If they feel you're not moving soon enough after break they will call and rudely tell you to get going (i was never once late, BTW) or maybe sound an alarm clock remotely via the tablet which will startle you in traffic. They don't tell you up front that the 8 weeks you are out will not include a single 34 hour break, you will run on regained hours and sleepervsplit almost every day YOU ARE EXPECTED TO WORK 60 DAYS STRAIGHT WITHOUT A SINGLE DAY OF REST. You are mostly run at night and in the Midwest, so two months of your life will be spent in awful neighborhoods at night in Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Philadelphia, etc. Regardless of your resume you are treated like a dog who doesn't know what he's doing. Hand to god, I am not embellishing any of this, in fact I'm probably forgetting alot. I am so relieved to be done with that place and wouldn't wish it on any other driver. Beware.