Going Over the Road with Knight

When I drove, Pete & International had the best gauge sets.

Then Volvo became so "ergonomic" and driver friendly, they quit the brake pedal 'shoe,' used smaller steering wheels, went to 'minimal' gauges, etc. Made tractors more like a 'car.'

Now, auto transmissions, idiot lights, etc. since we all know that "ANYONE can drive a truck!" <wink>

 

No, Not really! I have a load headed to VA from Boise just to get the crap out of the area.

 

Im headed to VA, you can play in the west me arse is out of here.

Ill prob regret saying this later on. But, the phx office is nothing but a train wreck. They really need to get someone in there to deal with it. Sooo many people running around like a chicken with its head cut off.

 

Knight has been saying freight is slow repeatedly. It's a joke. The truth is they don't book freight, and I believe they have lost contracts. When you don't have trailers available, shippers will logically look to other carriers who can do the job. East coast seems to have better freight then west. But it's still been sketchy lately.

 

They are not lying the frieght is slow, look at the other company's, SNI, Swift, CR Crapton list goes on. The other problem is the status quo has went on for so long that the customer base has gotten pissed off and is simply not offering up loads. The whole this customer is more important then this customer is total crap. You knowingly choose to fail a customer and eventually it bites you in the arse.

When a company turns to just looking at pure profit and no longer cares about servicing its customer is when hard times hit they hit like a ton of bricks.

 

Maybe it's a large carrier problem then. I've talked to other drivers with other companies who have not been slow. One friend today informed me they have more freight then they have drivers right now.
And with Knight, the lack of trailers was a huge reason. I doubt they will say it, but when you sell a bunch of trailers without having the replacements on hand and then send drivers to take empties from shippers, eventually you loose contracts. Something else that has slipped out during a phone call.

Knight has changed, and I haven't been here long and notice. It's values are not driver focused (I.e., safety and retention). Home time is a gamble because "we don't have freight". As you said, they seem more focused on profit as opposed to quality driver retention, which in turn would generate lasting growth for the company.