Knight Transportation - Adventures in a big red truck

Discussion in 'Discuss Your Favorite Trucking Company Here' started by GabeScott, Mar 30, 2014.

  1. unloader

    unloader Road Train Member

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    How's it going out there Gabe?
     
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  3. GabeScott

    GabeScott Medium Load Member

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    It's been a little rocky this last weekend. I felt like I was getting sick Friday night. By saturday noon I was very sick. Managed to still deliver my load in socal then grab a return load that got me back to the yard with 15 minutes to spare on my 11. My wife met me at the yard and took me to the emergency room. I had a bad case of bronchitis and an ear infection. Got a shot in the butt of antibiotics and 3 prescriptions. Sunday while sitting on the toilet attending to other business I cough hard which cause my ears to pop. That made the room start spinning, or rather tumbling in about three directions at the same time. Well heck yeah I throw up all over the place. The room stopped spinning after about 5 minutes and my wife was a trooper about taking care of my personal hazmat spill. Monday I felt a lot better and went back out on a 770 mile load on Tuesday.

    One of the positives for running regional is your never more then a day or two from home if you start getting ill.

    My miles for last week where 2356, still crappy but I lost a load on Sunday due to getting sick.
     
    unloader Thanks this.
  4. GabeScott

    GabeScott Medium Load Member

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    Finished up an easy 7.5 hour day and now I'm setting four miles from my delivery which is scheduled for 0800 tomorrow. I can smell the chili and brats starting to warm up in my lunch box oven.
     
  5. Surfer Joe

    Surfer Joe Heavy Load Member

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    Those that know me also know that I am no fan of any of the large trucking companies.
    That being said, I will also say that I worked for Knight for awhile and I always felt that I was treated fairly. I was given a very nice truck, my miles were fair, and most of the staff that I dealt with were competent and conscientious. Whatever issues that I had were welcome for discussion, in person, with my terminal managers. I eventually left for bigger and better things; mainly due to the fact that the overall pay was not enough to support me and my family. Would have been perfect though, had I been single with nobody to support but myself.
    One more thing; I also drove for Conway Truckload for a year (just prior to my driving for Knight) and I will say that both the miles and conditions were very poor. Sad to be in the Conway terminals and talk to the other drivers and hear of all the horror stories (no miles, can't afford house payments or rent, poor credit, can't afford sick family members' medical care, no money or savings whatsoever), the list goes on and on.
     
  6. Go-Go

    Go-Go Light Load Member

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    Hmmm , so as a newbie, what company would have been best for me to start with, in your honest opinion of course?! I'm currently in Joliet getting some great training along with the training I've received thus far in Indianapolis. Since considering entering and choosing a company I've heard bad things about ALL of them. Is it pay, or supposed lack of pay to individuals which make Knight a bad company? EVERY driver ive spoken to has told me that they're happy with their pay and miles. Of course I know better having been in the Military for over 20 years that we all wish and want to make more, but for the most part they were all satisfied with what they were making.

    Again,WHAT makes Knight such a bad company to work for? I mean I'm looking for specifics! Just like deciding what service to enter, they all had their good and bad points, but one is not definatley better or worse than the other (Go Navy!), its what that service has to offer to each individual. I've been told by a few drivers to stay away and not listen to the complainers in the lounge. Lounge Hounds spend more time in the lounge than on the road and have an excuse for everything and its NEVER their fault. As I learned early in my military career, there are slackers and go getters. Choose who you get information from wisely.

    Of course I'm biased. But I have had nothing bad to say about what I've experienced thus far. I guess once Im told whats bad about the company and if I experience that same problem I'll agree!
     
    newbietrucker007 Thanks this.
  7. GabeScott

    GabeScott Medium Load Member

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    Here's the downside of Knight in a nutshell - Their short length of haul business model limits the driver on his earning potential. Other then that there's not really that much wrong with the company. New to newish equipment. Open door policy makes it easy to get in touch with higher ups. Regular maintenance has really cut down on equipment problems, especially concerning trailers.

    So what would it take to make most drivers happy at Knight?

    A) Increased pay. Look to Crete for an example. Crete's length of haul matches Knight's pretty closely but their drivers get 6 to 8 cent's more a mile. That's 600-800 bucks more every 10k miles. Run a 100k in a year and that's 6000-8000 more, it's a big difference.

    B) APU/Battery HVAC/Opti-Idle/ETC. Stop with the silly idle too much and your truck slows down game. Equip the trucks with something that allows drivers to have a reasonable hotel load and stay cool during down time while on the road.

    If Knight did both A and B they might just become the best big carrier to work for. They won't, but I'm just saying.........:smt075:violent1::protest::smt021:laughing3::pottytrain2::blob4::pottytrain1::smt064
     
  8. Surfer Joe

    Surfer Joe Heavy Load Member

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    Go-Go, maybe if you get a chance, you can read my first post on my thread: "Want to Stay Broke? Work for Conway"!
    Yes, I was specifically referring to Conway on that thread, yet the same conditions apply to almost all other large companies. One specific that I can give you is that, pretty much wherever you decide to go, you will be paid about $600.00- $750.00 a week. Many times, even less. A lot less; especially if your truck breaks down a couple times a month, or if freight is just "slow". All to work upwards of 100 hours per week.
    With all respects, attitude, along with a strong work ethic, are both over- rated. You do what you're told and you go when you're told. And you stop when you're told (or made). Your "potential" is mainly under control by others. Most of those "Lounge Lizards", "Terminal Hounds", or however else they are referred to most likely have their truck in the shop (Again), are out of hours, or are between assigned loads.
    About the only good thing in regards to all these large companies is that you can get the experience necessary to hopefully move on to something better ASAP.
    And remember that 98% driver turnover rate (again, for all the large companies) is something to pay attention to at the very least. Even in this poor economy, that's a lot of drivers voluntarily jumping ship.
     
    Last edited: Apr 17, 2014
  9. GabeScott

    GabeScott Medium Load Member

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    Got my load delivered this morning and then got sent 260 miles deadhead to pick up a load of hay that is going another 1000 miles. Did Arizona legalize pot? That is a 1000 mile length of haul on my last two loads. Maybe they felt sorry for me after I got sick. The hay load doesn't deliver till monday. Good thing I'll go by three diferent Knight yards on this load so hopefully I'll get to run most the miles off it then drop it in the last of those 3 on saturday and then grab something else so I finaly get a good week.

    On a different subject. Could companies not let people with limited english skills answer the phone. I'm not talking thick accent I mean he didn't know very many words. He told me to meet him at what I thought he said was the gasoline extension(he actually was speaking spanglish and saying gasoline estacion). after driving through town twice(and an open scale twice too) I finally found a way to get him to say something besides gasoline extension. I asked him him is their a sign in front of the building and what does it say on it. He says to me, "Phillips 66". ###.
     
  10. GabeScott

    GabeScott Medium Load Member

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    So far my hopes are dashed for a swap. Msg'd DM this morning on ETA's to the two yards I'd be going by and not a peep all day. Don't get me wrong 1300 miles is nice, but 4.5 days to deliver it is just plain wrong.
     
  11. GabeScott

    GabeScott Medium Load Member

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    well I got that swap finally. Dropped the hay at a terminal today then deadheaded 50 miles for a load that goes 360 miles and deliveres tomorrow at 0800. Got about 4 hours left to drive in the early am to deliver tomorrow.
     
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