Knight Transportation.............Can't Do it.....

I made 36 k my first year and have been making at least 45 or better a year since .

 

Quite easily in fact. Go to the Owner-Op section and look at some of the threads that break down the actual cost to run a truck

He did a fleece purchase. Unless He ran % Then he got a flat rate ox X amount and a fuel Surcharge of Y amount. He then most likely had an enormous truck payment. He then has all the Deductions that seem to come with fleece purchases where his company charges a little bit here for this and a little bit here for that. He could have had some really big repair bills. The company I left in may, had my truck in the shop for over a month straight. There are many factors behind the numbers. It's actually really interesting!

 

You did alot better on your first years' wages than I did, working for Conway Truckload; $23,000 from beginning of May to Dec. 31. I busted my tail too. Yes, I spoke to my FM repeatedly about getting miles and rarely took time off. And I'm also speaking on behalf of the many other drivers for Conway (or ANY other mega carrier) making the same substandard wages.
I will say that, respectfully, even were I to make $40,000 a year doing this job, to me it would not be worth it. You are working upwards of 100 hrs a week (14 hr on duty days) usually 7 days a week with only 10 hrs. off between shifts to make $30,000 to maybe $40,000 a year? Sorry but that is NOT good money. Poverty level. And if you want any kind of medical benefits, you will be paying upwards of $400-$500 a month for them. About a weeks' pay. The real reason that there is a "driver shortage" is because the drivers leave when they realize they cant make a decent living doing this. And regarding room for advancement after several years; yes, some drivers have moved on to something better but these jobs are relatively few and far between for the amount of drivers applying for them.
There WAS a time in the not so distant past when driving was a good job but all the new hours of service rules have changed all that. Also, all the large trucking companies are making record profits while at the same time paying their drivers peanuts. Really, the best candidate for this job would be a homeless person with no responsibilities. Then, even though the pay is lousy, at least you could more or less save most of your money due to the fact that your expenses are so low. Now, if someone were to genuinely love this job and money wasn't an important issue then I would say congratulations that you have found something that you enjoy. To anyone else, you might want to look into a different endeavor.

 

I left Knight to go drive for Con-way and I was shocked at the treatment of the employees there at Salt Lake City. I lasted a week and a half there. And in that time 10 people quit and the office people just laughed at them ,"&^%$ You, go ahead and leave! There's 20 more behind!" *snicker. Just amazing

 

Just gonna stop by and add my two cents. Most of the mega carriers will run you to death and pay you peanuts. Knight is one of those mega companies. I've been driving 10 years and I would tell you to stay away. Even IF you lucked out and signed on with knight, and had a decent experience, it would still be average pay at best. It's not like you just declined running for a company that would have massively changed your life for the better. There's so many other Knight-level companies out there.

 

Not true in my opinion the mega carriers often starve drivers with 500 miles weeks. It is the small ma and pa carrier that run drivers into the ground.

 

500 mile weeks? never had any weeks like that. the lowest week i had was 900 and that was when my truck was in the shop for 4 days. I was even paid breakdown pay ($350). My weekly average is 2800 - 3200 miles. I never do turn down a load and i rarely complain. Down the road i will leave knight but for now this is the company i drive for and so far so good. Yeah people complain about things but every company has people that complain. I have goals i am willing to work for to obtain them.

 

Your smallest paycheck was $900? With knight? Wow. Im a Knight and that one is kind of weird bro. I mean an average of $900 weekly is more realistic to me. Average. Average...

 

Look at what i wrote again. I said the lowest miles i got was 900 not $900.