Started with Knight

Well, this is my first post to this forum and I am hoping I can get some good info from some current Knight drivers.
I have 15 yrs OTR exp and 2 - 3 years of that wa swith Knight. I ran out of PHX until they opend the Katy Terminal. I have not driven since 2004. I am probably returning to OTR trucking come January. I'll have to go through a CDL training program to get my CDL back and the full course "refresher" training will probably help me brush up on some of the changes. So if I decide to go with Knight, what can I expect? I like to run hard as long as I can. If I could have my way, I would stay out 3-4 months, run hard and take my time off by flying to the Philippines. But I may not be able to get "my way" huh? So let's say I get throughthe training and i am assigned my truck and I'm good to go. I want to run hard and I am willing to prove it. What can I expect? Also, and I am EXTREMELY wary of this, is their Lease Purchase program profitable?

 

Knight is not much on 'special handling' or 'demands! You can get away with some of your needs by running Casual, as in "when available." They'd rather have a good driver 'some of the time' to fill in for vacationing drivers, etc. and run their trucks....usually a no-no for co's who value their drivers. I ran 'Express' for Knight and a couple of times when trucks were not available for me, they put me in vacationing driver's trucks---I didnt like doing realizing the 'sacredness' of one's truck esp when it has all the driver's stuff in it, and treated it as my own and even washed it when I was done with it. No driver likes to come back to a dirty truck after their vacation let alone have another 'unknown' driver driving it!!

 

It's A Bad Habit.. Like Cigarettes & Pilot Coffee.. Plus Who The #### Said There Were Standards To Type Anything..

 

It makes you sound (read) like you are mentally damaged. Did you take basic English in High School? That is where you would have learned that you Don't Type Like This. It's not a bad habit, it's being wrong.

 

welL whaT iF wE placE a capitaL aT thE enD oF eacH worD?

 

Thanks OD I apprciate it however I am not intending to make any "demands" of any company. I apologize if I gave anyone that impresion. That's why I am investiagting the companies I think may offer me the most opportuntity here. In order to get jmy CDL back, I pretty much have to start out as a rookie again and for the most part I can handle that. I fully expect to have to "prove my worth" to whatever Driver manger/Fleet Manager/Dispatcher I get at whatever company I go with but once I have proven (to myslef as well as the company) that I can pick this right back up again, I don't want to get stuck with a company who can't get me miles. If my wife is coming to the US (and I am pretty sure she is), she is going to want: 1. Me home often or 2. To join me in the truck as a passenger. If by chance she stays in the Philippines, then I want a company who will let me "bank" my days off so I can make trip to the Philippines every 3 or 4 months. And if my wife comes to the US, as I expect and hope, I want a company who will let her join me as soon as I have completed my training so I can run and still be with her. . Let's face it, when you get right down to the nitty gritty, OTR drivers get paid by the mile for the most part. Some L/O and O/O get a percentage but just the same, if the truck aint rollin, it aint collecting no revenue and the driver aint earning no salary. As an "formerly experienced" driver, I can say it's fairly easy to average 2800 miles per week if you are willing to run and the company can provide the loads. The question here is "can Knight provide the loads"? I am down to 2 companies. Knight and Prime. I like both but it's a lot easier for me to find good comments on Truckers Report about Prime than Knight. And that says omething. I'd love to hear some solid information about Knight good or bad (running out of Phoenix). How bout it drivers?

 

Being an experienced driver, then you know that OTR is not family friendly unless you do have a wife who enjoys being on the move in cramped quarters---may not be a problem for a Philippine woman who most likely is more use to hardship and not a modern 'mall woman' as many American women have become these days!

The problem with taking off 3-4 months would be more like keeping insurance benefits.

Also as far as maintaining 2800 miles/wk, most of Knight's loads are short-medium hauls, lots of live loading/unloading, looking for MT's, etc. With much of the long runs, as in coast-to-coast freight, riding the rails these days (one rail freight co. says on TV that it moves 1 ton of freight 500 miles on 1 gal of diesel), most trucking has become local/regional with runs of 250-800 miles or less.And so much of a drivers time is spent not driving but picking up/loading/unloading etc.

If you can get 'back' that 1st yr of experience OTR (w/a clean record), then you have a better chance of getting more what you are looking for down the road. Good luck, and remember to keep 'family 1st,' as THAT is what life is about!! OD

 

Getting ready to Retire from the Army. See Knight all the time on I-5 here in the South Sound. Is Knight a good Company to start with? Want to get paid to see America. How far East do they go?

 

Knight is Coast-To-Coast.................400 miles at a time. But Truly Coast-To-Coast.

 

400? You must have gotten those "sweet" runs they talked about giving out if you "did them a favor".