Knight info

I've been with them a little over a year now, in the van division. I like them, BUT...

They happen to fit me, and my lifestyle, at this time in my life, i.e., an older driver. I started driving in 1986, mostly company but also bought (and paid for) a brand new truck. Ran O/O for 7 years. Got out of trucking a couple of times for a year or two, but always went back, it gets in your blood, I guess.

I was used to running 2800 to 3600 miles per week, with Knight I now get around 2000-2500 ('course, the economy IS slow right now), and that's all I want and/or need.

They want you to run legal, and it seems like they really MEAN it, which is real nice, for a change. (That's not to say that you can't fudge the books once in awhile, if you know what you are doing, but that will usually be up to you.)

It's a BIG company (3500 tractors), but each terminal (30+) runs on it's own, so you and your dispatcher get to know each other, so if you get a good one, it feels like a small company. "Your Hometown National Carrier", LOL. Will you get home every weekend like they may say? Well, maybe, maybe not. They have a WHOLE lot of freight (usually), but they're not going to deadhead you very far just to get you home, so it depends on where you live in relation to the freight lanes.

They have nice, but not exceptional, equipment. Very comfortable, but not very flashy, if you know what I mean. Well maintained for the most part. It hasn't been a problem lately, but before freight slowed down, MT trailers were sometimes hard to come by (they have a low tractor/trailer ratio), but if I ever had to REALLY run around to find one, they paid me for all that looking/driving. All trailers are spring suspension, no air rides. Ah, well, you can't have everything.

The tractors are governed, speeds vary a little bit according to your idle percentage. 66 tops, but they have them set up so they run a little faster on foot feed compared to cruise, which is nice. Think about it, you are cruising along (slowly, to be sure), but when you come up on someone going even slower, you can put your foot down, and get around them without causing a 5 mile line of angry motorists behind you. I thought I would go nuts driving a slow truck (I had driven some FAST trucks in my time), but now I find it rather relaxing. Few get in my way now, whereas when I had a fast truck, someone was ALWAYS in my way, it seemed! Everyone should be able to run across the desert, at night, with the full moon shining, at 85-95, in their career, but you don't have to do it all the time.

The company is debt free, so it should be able to weather this recession better than some. At least I hope so, I am not an economist.

You can opt to get paid every day (well, every day you finish a load, and get your paperwork electronically by 1000 hrs, Phoenix time), or you can go weekly.

Lot of drop and hook, detention ($10.00/hr) paid after 2 hours whether the customer pays or not. Not much, but better than nothing.

That's my take on them. I never thought I would work, and especially never thought I would like, a large company like Knight, but it turns out I do.

Of course, this is all predicated on the fact that I have been around trucking for almost 20 years, and know what trucking is like. You have good days, and you have bad days. Sometimes you make a lot of money, and sometimes you don't. Sometimes you get home when you want, and sometimes you don't. Sometimes you love trucking, and sometimes you hate it. And that when it's all said and done, it's what YOU make of it that makes the difference.

Work hard, and honestly, and you will do OK. Piss and moan, and you will hate your job and your company. In the end, trucking is a HARD job, but it can also be a great job, and Knight is not a bad company.

Good luck.

 

No, I don't know anything about that, sorry.

 

Does knight take on CDL graduates??? Where is orientation??