Knight Transportation Bad News

I have been with Knight for 2 years. I am fairly happy with them but they seem to be trying to squeeze my weekends off down to a day off or so. Then they expect me to wait up to a day for my next load AND then you have to fight them for layover pay. It is easier to get results here than at some other companies because of the driver/dispatcher relationship. I will either get my problem solved or move on to another company, although I would like to stay here because when all is well I run 2500-3000 miles between Monday morning and Friday night. Any fewer miles and it is just a waste of my time. If freight is slow fine, sit me home because all I do in a truckstop is surf the web for a new job.

I have found that Knight office people are general pleasant to deal with BUT the few that are bad are REAL bad. The Katy Tx terminal had a guy run off some real good drivers due to his "better than you" attitude and he was promptly fired.

You have to be professional, polite and STERN in telling them that your time is valuable and is not to be wasted and overall they do listen.

Decent company but I am always looking for something better. I really wish I didn't have to say that I am always looking but hey it's all about my income and valuable time being utilized.

 

Dna mach,

Unfortunately, your last paragraph echos the sounds of many drivers. Most, if given the opportunity, would love to find a company that they can be home every or almost every night, pay them for all of their on duty time at a good rate and provide low cost/excellent benefits for themselves and their families. Trust me, there are good companies out there. Sorry but you will not find them in any of the big carriers.

Drive safe

 

Yeah, it is on the low side. Knight's big draw is home time. They will get you home ever 7 to 10 days if you want that. Also there's the express. Some divisions it's 4days on 4off. Others it's 7days on, 7days off. Both include health insurance..

 

Also a lot of terminals have mobile washes come in and wash trucks on site. iIf she sees one when she's at a terminal she can tell them to wash her truck and they will.

She says she has never been to the Tulare Term and the the mobile wash in Portland charges $30 bucks to wash trucks not from that terminal. Since she works out of the Seattle term they only wash on Wed when she is not around, and it is a dirt lot.

I just found it strange that company drivers would get charged for a wash at any terminal.

Anyway she talked to the folks in Phoenix and they told Seattle to reimburse the washes she has paid for in Portland.

 

That's because they don't. Charged for a wash ?? Someone is getting dry cleaned. The Phoenix terminal is the only one that has a drive thru wash that I Know of. You scan your badge and there is a sign there that tells O/O's how much the price is. I've never used it though, it's been out of service for two years. She needs to look into that...being charged to wash a company tractor, huh ?

The two guys that wash the tractors at the Memphis terminal are pretty good. Real detailed oriented but you do wait for it and he gets the rims to shine. ....about 30 minutes per truck. At the Katy terminal the guy just blows off the dust and he doesn't wash the grill. I asked about a wash in Gulfport and they said the washer guy hadn't come by for a few weeks. Nice touch that goes a long way with the occasional Blue Beacon. Red Volvo's look sharp when they sparkle and once every month or two they need a good clean. The public's opinion is based on the appearance of the trucks but all that matters is that precious dollar.

 

Tulare terminal also has a drive thru wash, IMO, it works better then the one in PHX.

 

Could be worse, those orange trucks only get washed every 90 days

 

For sure about the big carriers. Being home nightly wouldn't work for me though. The yard to my house is 70 miles round trip. Once a week through the house is good but my weekends there are the only way I care to do it. No good local work either but I still like the road for the most part. Paying for my all my on duty time ? This is the part that makes me want to wake up from the dream that is truck driving but isn't. I got a ticket two years ago so Wal-Mart is a few more years away.

 

That's because they don't. Charged for a wash ?? Someone is getting dry cleaned.

What, do you need her to post the receipt to believe she was charged $30 bucks to get a company truck washed at the Portland Term?

Like has been said before, it seems this company operates differently from terminal to terminal. So what may be operational procedure at one terminal is not done at another. She went to meeting conducted by safety were they were telling drivers how to conserve fuel and fill out some fuel card that Knight uses, and she asked them what fuel card? She told the safety guy that she has never filled one out and that it was never even discussed in her orientation last Dec in Seattle. Seattle told her Portland can do what they want but Seattle thought those cards were a waste of time since they clean the clocks of the rest of the company's terminals when it comes to idle percentage and MPG.

 

I always thought the fuel card was nothing more than a way to get drivers to actually see their fuel consumption. Since we have to enter the mileage to get fuel they know to a tee what every tractor is getting current to the last fill up.

Atlanta, Gulfport, Phoenix, Memphis, Charlotte, Katy, Lakeland and Tulsa...Hmm I wonder why their idle is so high ????? They have never uttered a word about mine but I don't idle just to idle. I crank it up after the sweat burns my eyes then I get a good nights rest.

Well one thing is for sure. About the truck wash, if they charged me for one, it would be clean for the next driver to get in it upon my departure.