I really like Knight Transportation

Well RoaringDown55... I have been with Knight for over a year. Have to fight to get home after 3-4 weeks out. Have to fight to get my pay. On-line pay statement is always screwed up. They send you out 1000 miles and then they are going to try to get you back in 2 days.... heard should get you back 4 times and should get you back failed 4 times.. I stayed out for two months last year..... and when i took 3 days off i was called by the DM daily wanting to know why I am still at home. This company has it all wrong... you give the new stuff to the seasoned company drivers and the older equipment to the new drivers.. this gives us longer termed company drivers a reason to work.. but then again I am going back into the shop for sensor problems,, non complying clutch.. no power divider. and I have been in the shop monthly for 1-2 days each time. And then they want me to leave my truck in the yard to be worked on while i am at home... their policy.. if not in shop then on the line unlocked... so you think anything will be in the truck? and then if i clean out.. they will still take the other stuff that is part of the truck.... tired of a terminal manager who could not make it as a dm.. and ORDERS me to answer my personal phone... told him..my phone my bill... I have a qualcomm for company business... so not to burst your bubble... but give it a year and still see if your glass is still full,, oh and not to mention the time they left me in California and could not get me back to Charlotte in three weeks.. so i sat in California on a Friday and needed to be back in Charlotte on Tuesday... I left a few informative VMS to the director of HR... told them they had 1 hour to find me a load or I am bobtailing crosscountry... amazing... they found a load... the local terminal was holding it for their drivers....

 

Here's a tip: ONLY COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR FLEET MANAGE VIA QUALCOMM!!! Enough said... if you talk to them over the phone, they are very good at "sneaking around the truth." They can try to make you do bad/illegal things and if you only communicate with the qualcomm, they have no way out. And you can't get in trouble.

There are layovers with ANY company you go to. Get over it, if you don't like it, find a different profession. I'm sorry to sound like an #####, but that's the way this industry is. Stay positive and you will continue to be treated positive. However, don't let your dispatch or fleet manager, etc. walk all over you, because they definitely will try to do so. There's a fine line there...

 

..I've been with them for 4 yrs but have the 'happy situation' of being out of Phx (main term) with lots of CA freight to get me home weekly---and I do pretty much all the time! I drive 'Express', and so have no truck to wait for---just put in shop and drive home in pers. vehicle!! But if you drive for Knight over on the east coast---good luck! Not their main market---they are big out west! They never bother me and know what I drive: 5-7 days out/5 days off!! Like I said, depends on where you drive out of.......

 

I know what a layover is. I also know when you are being dogged. Try sitting in Little Rock and send msg on qualcomm every hour on the hour for 2 days... then call another terminal and talk to their planner to find out that nothing was reqested for your truck. Had a load in 5 minutes from that terminal. The company is great, the loads keep me rolling... as with all companies the problem lies in the YOUNG people their hire. Right out of college. Not one of them even has walked to the yard to look in a truck. I feeling on life is try to learn something about the other parts of the company you work for. Makes you more rounded. Their is a way to talk to people and a way to try to BOSS them. Bossing does not work well. Esp when the drivers they try to boss have at least 20-30 years on them age wise. Maybe PHX does listen to their drivers,, I know the East coast terminals think we are just robots. Many drivers quit due to this fact. I have given the company many chances to right their wrongs. Just tired of being treated like a 16 year old. I am an adult and you can talk to me. I like any driver have needs at home also. 3-4 weeks out is a long time from family and when i need to be home i would like the DM to make a half-hearted attempt to get me home, not leave me sitting 3-4 days run out. Like i said, this has happen time and time again. I just refused a 1000 mile run because they tried to get me to NH and i needed to be back home. Not enough time to make the run and get me home.. I did offer to run it half way to another terminal. Took the run half way to watch it sit for 4 days so that terminal could give it to one of their drivers instead of two drivers sitting around all day sunday looking for a run. We drive professional and this is our job. We also look to make money. I cannot see this company making a lot of profit by letting terminals letting freight sit. by two cents again....... and yes still looking for another company, do not want to move but friction does not make less stress for me.

 

I work for them for 'the perks!' As I mentioned B4 about 'my' hours, no out-of-route tracking, no forced disp, etc. If I was interested in just $$$, I wouldnt be there!! They used to be "a driver's company' many years ago B4 they became big and became a "Swift Wannabee' co. They do hire college grads with NO transportation industry experience---mainly cause these 'kids' cant find work after grad and Knight knows that they will burn them out in 3-4 months with their 'hap-hazards' ways of "managing' drivers and dispatching freight (mostly 'cheap freight!').

Dont know if you know the 'insides' of the "Knight boys & girls" who are sons/cousins, etc. of the owners, but most of them started out there as DM's, etc. and have quit the co.!!!!

 

My dad worked for Knight Trucking and I have to agree with you. He never had anything bad to say about Knight, and once my husband gets his 1 yr of OTR, he wants to go to them. They treated my dad great, and right before he retired, they put him in a new Volvo. None the less, my dad still enjoys "watching the grass grow" as he says lol.

 

He must have been driving out of Tulare---it's a good terminal! Yeah, watching grass grow (actually cactus here, but lots of wildflowers!) is getting closer for me too---thought about driving 'casual' for 1 wk/mo cause I like driving.......but the way the industry is going......?!!

Oh. BTW, Knight only requires 4 mos OTR experience with clean record to start out...just an FYI...ha ha

 

Jam,

I'm assuming that Knight slip-seats the drivers who aren't running constantly.
I don't imagine they'd leave a truck parked if the driver ran one week on -- one week off. If that's possible.

Running LA to Phoenix or LA to NorCal might be a sweet ride. Do you do one turn at a time, or back to back?

Are they drop and hook, terminal to terminal, or does the line driver pick up and deliver?

 

I've gotten used to slip seating every time! Can move in/out of a truck in 20 mins--dont set up everything (like color TV, CB--use a portable, etc.) til later when I shut down for the 1st day. I got my anti-bacterial and Fabreeze sprays if I need, but 'the regulars' keep the trucks relatively clean! I drive back/forth from home in Tucson to term in Phx each time (35 miles/gal car) and like being able to just drop the truck/put in shop---dont have to wait around for! Takes a while to get efficient at this, but to me it's just routine after all these years...love all that time off!!! But, wont get rich doing...ha ha Yeah, drop/hks/live lds/unlds, etc.

When I run S. CA, I stay away from drp/hks cause MT's are too hard to find in that area! Rather find a good trlr, keep it, and do live lds/unlds!!

I keep 'hop-scotching' around till I get close to running out of my 70 hrs, and then make sure I've got enuf to get bk home!!