Knight Transportation is a ship of fools!

I ran into the same thing when I worked there. I always started looking for an empty before I dropped my loaded. You rookies will smarten up after a while I guess.
I left the company for other reasons. Don't plan on going back.

 

Just carry some extra seals, padlock the doors and install a kingpin lock to secure your empties. The Hutchins yard used to remove the glad hand valves as per instructed by their dispatch to secure an empty but all you had to do was grab one off one the many out of service/trade trailers and you were on your way. Never had to fight so hard in my life just to work as I did with Knight and that was for maybe 2000 miles a week. Sitting on your butt and just "rollin wid it" would get you about 1300-1400 miles a week.

Games games and more games. Doing local junk loads just to get a load out of the area, and don't think those guys don't know just which customers to send the other terminals drivers too. Whose got time to play games theres enough delays with this job to begin with sans the ones created by your own flippin company.

 

This happened almost every time I went into Phoenix or their area of responsibilty.

So you go on a wild goose chase all stinkin' day for an empty trailer, you finally find a POS trailer, discover 5 OOS defects, go back to the Phoenix yard (coporate HQ, BTW), find 7 mechanics who would rather BS with each other than, gee I don't know, DO THEIR #### JOB, finally blow a few blood vessels in the terminal manager's office to convince them mechanics to fix the #### trailer, of course they drag their feet just long enough that you can't pick up the load on time and your caring, responsible dickspatcher gives away the load to someone else, usually their GOOD buddy!

Total wasted 11 hours​

Total amount of unneccasry stress 100%
Total amomut of money earned $0

Or I guess I could have just refused to to play this stupid game, take my chances, and run the #### trailer long enough to get somewhere east where I had a better chance of getting their junk fixed.

 

Yeah, that Phoenix shop sure had a bunch of jerk offs working there. Right from the top man in the shop. OTOH, the guy who ran the shop in SLC would bust his butt, and make sure his mechanics did the same, to get you back up and running ASAP.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ-pzjBJyrA

 

That's a good one!!!

 

Finding trailers is by far not the only thing you waste time doing at knight.

I am new to trucking but that doesnt mean I cant recognize a problem when I see one. I just finished up training with the Squire program and have nothing but issues since I left orientation.

It took me 2.5 weeks to get in a truck with a trainer. Trainer didnt bother to really train me on anything while I was out, he wanted the truck driven as a team and when I was driving he was in the passenger seat asleep or in the sleeper birth on his cell phone texting, or watching porn.
Got out of that truck and spent another 2 weeks waiting for Knight to provide me a solo truck to complete my required 30k miles. When they finally found a truck for me it was an absolute piece of crap with 477k miles on it but looked like it had about a million. Sent me to go get it, 100 miles away from where I live, and had given it to another driver before I got there. Replaced it with another truck that was in even worse condition after waiting 11 hours for them to find it.
I refused that truck, I am not taking a ticket because they wont do maint. Waiting again for them to find me a truck which I figure will take em about another week or two and will probably be another pile of elephant dung.

Total time wasted so far...4 weeks.
Expectations for future....another 1 - 2 weeks down time and a DOT OOS ticket in my future.

I want to believe I can make this company work to get my experience but I am really beginning to have my doubts.

 

I have worked for Knight for about a year now and this has not been my experience.

I run between 10,000 and 12,000 miles every month.

If I have to shag empties I get paid hourly to do it.

I drive a great truck and it is well maintained.

Every new guy gets an old truck that the last guy left a mess. That happens everywhere you go in any trucking company. You take it, you get it fixed and clean it up, after a few months of showing you maintain your stuff, they put you in a newer truck. If as a new driver you think your going to get a cherry truck your nuts.

 

2 posts. Horse hockey. Company shill. or owner's son.

 

Say what you want. I spend most of my time driving not working a blog.

Knight is a good company.

I've found whiners like this at every company I have ever worked for, driving or not. The last company they worked for was the best ever, the one they work at now is the worst. When they quit or get fired it changes to the next company.

You make your own success in trucking or in any other business. If your sitting around whining about someone not handing you success on a silver platter, then a whiner is all you will be.