Knight Transportation

I was FIRED from Knight Transportation after working there from 2000 to 2010. I left in 2006 because my local route was cancelled and my cohorts and I were given the choice to be laid off or go OTR, but went back in 2008.

Hauled tanker during the time in-between and have developed a definite respect for the guys who do that. Smelling diesel fumes when unloading (even when you use the "vapor hose") and being a moving bomb while trying to stay awake going down a mountain road at 2 AM was just too much for me. Add to that standing next to a shiny trailer at noon in the middle of August in Yuma (120 degrees) for an hour waiting for the tanker to finish unloading....I digress. I repeat - the people that do that for a living get my undying and total respect.

Back to Knight... I went back to driving for them after the tanker experience. I was on my third year back when I was unloading at the Budweiser Dist Center in Kingman. I was sitting in my cab and noticed the Budweiser supervisor leaning against the building and staring at me. He then motioned for me to come over and when I did he pointed at the ground. I had no idea why he was doing that until he said I had done damage to their parking lot and would have to call Knight's insurance company. I knew I was being scammed and became very upset. He was pointing at a TIRE MARK. There were hundreds of tire marks from other trucks. He told me he was going to call the police if I did not calm down and I told him that would be a good idea because I felt like I needed a witness. This was Twilight Zone time.


I don't know why this guy decided to destroy my reputation with Knight, but he did. He sent a letter to Knight stating that I had done $7,000 in damage to their parking lot. Knight did not question this. They called me into the office and told me I was probably going to be fired. I flipped out. I explained that this guy had tried to tell me I had done damage to their lot and had pointed at a tire mark that was about three feet long and that there were hundreds of other tire marks in the area. The Safety Director said to me, "Well, it is going to go on your record as a $7000 accident anyway. Budweiser is a very important customer and we are going to pay the $7000 to keep their business." I was then given three days off while they "thought about" whether or not to fire me.

On my "days off" I drove my personal vehicle from Phoenix to Kingman (185 miles) to take pictures of the terrible damage I had done to the parking lot. There wasn't much in the picture because, as I said before, it was a tire mark. I then drove home to compose a letter to Mr. Knight and the Vice Pres. asking for someone there to please look at this and be reasonable. I did get to keep my job and Knight apparently gave Budweiser around $500 to make them happy based on my letter and pictures.

A couple of months later I bumped the back of a trailer very lightly while backing into a spot at the Eloy Flying J. The guy I bumped came flying out of his truck to yell at me and I pointed out that there was no damage to his trailer or mine. He called the police to report the accident (another Twilight Zone episode). He had a very old ratty rusty trailer and I could tell he wanted to get some money out of the "big evil company". Based on the preceding story, you can guess what happened. Knight got the police report stating there was no damage to either trailer whatsoever, but fired me for my second safety infraction.

I agree with the many posts I read on this Forum. Big companies do think of you as a robot. Rules are rules and to hell with treating people with respect, fairness and dignity.

 

Thanks for your support! I am not sure why you say the first incident is "sketchy". Hard to believe? My point is, the only thing that should be on my record is the second incident, if that. You seem like a real hard ### to me. If this is the kind of response I am going to get on this forum, I am sorry I signed up for it.

 

I would also like to add that there is MUCH more to the story about the Budweiser incident, but it would take too long to explain the whole thing. I thought I did quite well, but you apparently don't believe the story and accuse me of being "sketchy". Also, I can find another job (already have) without you wishing me luck. Question for you: If you owned a trucking company and had a driver who had been with you for eight years, would you fire them for bumping a trailer in a parking lot if that was the only incident on their record? Unless you are an idiot, I think we both know the answer.