Knight Transportation

So you're still with Knight huh?Is it really worth it trying to get that fuel and mileage bonus?Sounds like they like ripping the drivers off as much as possible I bet their bonuses are laughable.What you described about knight is very common in trucking sad to say,and especially with big companies.Look how long it took you to get your reibursement and you have to go thru many channels to get anything done or resolved.That safety guy should get fired.I would have turned him in for messing with my logs.If Knight talks to you about this thread,just tell them like it is.Most companies do not care about their drivers unless you do them a favor.In trucking you are just a number.The people in the offices including dispatchers are the pencil pushing pretty boy type and truckers to them are scum so of course they don't care about the truckers.

 

Brother, I am very sorry to inform you of this but... you have made a big mistake getting into the trucking business. All, and I do mean ALL the major carriers are as bad as what you have just experienced with Knight. Along with an absolutely horrible lifestyle, this is a very, very low paying industry. You're looking at $25,000 $35,000 a year TOPS. And that is to work 100 hrs a week and rarely go home. Also, if you want health insurance, it will cost you almost the equivilent of a weeks' wages per month (while the company only contributes about $100.00 a month). And, contrary to what some people will tell you (either in trucking school or on posts on this forum) it does'nt get much better with time and/or experience with a company. And beware the paid, professional bloggers on this forum that are working for the trucking companies; their goal is to keep the newbies misinformed so that there will be a steady flow of replacement drivers to fill the void left by the experienced drivers that are leaving in droves as a result of the low, low pay, along with everything else. Seriously, delivering pizzas pays as much or better than these jobs, and you go home every night. There are some smaller, family owned trucking companies that do treat and pay their drivers better than the big carriers and these would be your best bet for a decent living.

 

I made $900 last week. Yes, everything you say on here is correct. Remember that you are still kind of new. There are a few things you need to learn..things you cannot get "trained" on, that only come with time and experience. Don't give up. If you feel something is wrong and/or illegal, talk to your fm. If he says go, then go. Also remember that anytime your dispatcher calls you to ask you a question on something, it's not him asking you this, it might be the load planner, customer service agent, market mngr, ops mngr, or a fm from another terminal (you might be in their territory) Your dispatcher already knows everything about you, or that truck. If i get a phone call from my fm, i know someone in that office needs to ask me something.

Just last week i got a call from my fm, asking "are you sure you'll make this appt"? i'm thinking, dude you have my truck pulled up on your screen, you can see my hos and ping the truck to where i'm at(miles to shipper) ....so i respond< "is it customer servive"? he said, "yep". I said, "tell 'em not to worry, i'll be there" he said, "ok cool" and that was that. Most guys would have taken offense to that question, but these are things lots of people don't really know.

 

30k tops? wow. sorry for you brother. Im lookin at double that this year & I've only been driving for 3 months. Of course I dont work for 1 of those ###### bottom feeders either.

 

That was last week's pay, sometimes it's up, sometimes it's down. Congradulations on your job. God bless.

 

Very unlikely in my opinion. I hope that doesn't happen. Been at it for 8 years, and the only things that have changed are the rules and regs of the industry. Driver pay is steady. Oh and the DOT physical hasn't changed a bit. I've been able to pass the DOT phyisical since 2004, BP meds and all. I avg 45k doing otr. I'm not greedy.

 

I'd hate to be the first to point this out, but after 5 years of driving why on Earth are you still driving for starter companies? Talk about selling yourself the short end of the stick.

 

That is in fact a good question. Well, first trucking job i had was a local one. Did it for 4 years. It also payed $10.00 Per hour. It was also non-union, after my second year i got a raise, for .38 cents per hour. The good thing about this job was, you could work as much overtime as youd like. It was all driver load/unload. 100 stops daily, all over southern cal.Very back breaking. I was making 25k per year. Long story short, i quit.

Got into otr, did much less my first year, about 18k. But work was steady. After a couple years my pay went up, and sort of stayed there. I like doing this better than the local truck driving job i had.

My family (uncles) on my dad's side are ALL truckers. Owner operators in California. They pull 53's locally and do ok. They have their own customers.I tried the o/op thing and got burned out in 1 year. I stay because this a steady and respectable career to have. I'm proud of what i do, and so is my wife and family.