The Worst Trucking Company In The Industry

I'm guilty of that myself. I swear id FlyingJ charges me $10 for breakfast again, I'll boycott them. Till lunch anyway. LOL

 

I hear ya kc0rey. When I first started out you could have a good decent meal for seven bucks and now the buffet costs in most decent stops over ten...15 for the high class places...

 

That someone is happy with their current company. Life is far too long to spend it working at a job you hate and a lifestyle you cannot live.

 

If the company you started out with is the company you're still with, then you're one of the few drivers that didn't really "pay dues". I'm jealous.

When I went into trucking I didn't have time to research and do footwork on trucking, or trucking companies. When my wife and I got out of the military, I needed a job that would pay to feed five mouths, and I didn't want my wife to work.

We did all our learning about trucking the hard way. One thing I heard consistently from a lot of drivers out there, was that if you could suck it up for one year with the same company, opportunities would open up for you. Too many drivers would reiterate that same message for me to ignore it.

I didn't hate trucking my first year really, but I did hate the company I worked for. All the gripes you read about the bad companies on this forum applied to Knight Transportation as far as I was concerned. But we had made a decision that we were gonna stay with that company for a year, then try a "better" company for six months and go from there.

At about my 8th month into trucking I was waiting to get loaded when a driver approached me and started making light talk. He got around to talking about Knight and asking me if they lived up to their promises. I told him, not in my case. By that time I was just entertaining him cuzz I had been approached by recruiter drivers before, and I knew what he was driving at, he was gonna talk up his company, then leave me with an application to his company with his name filled in on the recommendation portion of the application. The only reason I lended a little bit more weight to his statements was because he told me he used to drive for Knight before he started driving for his new company, and told me all the promises Knight made, this new company delivered on. He said when I had a year under my belt, I might be interested in his company, they paid more than Knight, and if I lived in Phoenix or L.A. ( I live in Phoenix ), I would be going through my home terminal, at least once a week. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I thought.

For those of you who don't know what Knight Transportations selling points were, they were a "regional" carrier that delivered freight only west of the mississippi river so you were never more than two days away from home. That being the case you were supposedly getting a lot of home time cuzz a lot of their freight went to Phoenix and Los Angeles, if you lived in or near one of those two cities, you were "guaranteed" a lot of trips through your home terminal. Let me tell you right now that they also get a lot of freight from Stockton to Portland, and if you lived in Phoenix or L.A., you were gonna be living pretty much on that portion of I-5 as soon as you went out. If you lived in Portland or Northern California, you'd get lots of loads up and down the I-10. Anyways, this post is not about the lies Knight tells.

Anyways, I had never really seen this guy's company when I was driving, but I started looking for it whenever I was on my way home from Portland or Stockton, and if I ran into any of that company's drivers, I would talk to them and ask them if they liked their company and if what the selling points that driver had made were true. Surprisingly, every driver I talked to from that company only had good things to say about it. The only thing that always sent an alarm off on the back of my head was that when I asked if that company was hiring, the drivers would answer yes, they're always hiring. I found it strange that such a "great" company couldn't hold on to drivers. WheneverI brought up that point, all the drivers would answer the same: some drivers can't handle the miles. If you can't make 2800-3200 miles a week look legal, or if you decline too many loads, this company's not your cup of tea. Looking at it from where I was standing, where the majority of my loads were in states where the speed limit for trucks is 55mph, and my truck was governed at 60mph, I got a little bit intimidated too. Finally when I worked up the balls to press that point home with one of their female drivers, she told me their trucks were governed at 70mph, and they didn't get any freight at all into Oregon or Washington ( I know, I maybe should of asked that question a long time ago, but like I said, I learned the hard way. ).

I'm ranting now. Let me stop. I ended up quitting Knight Transportation at a year and went to drive for Mckelvey Trucking, and drove for them for two years. I was extremely satisfied with that company and if My wife had let me, I'd still be driving for them at least till before the new HOS rules went into effect. I'd drive about 2800 miles a week at 31c a mile, and still be through Phoenix at least twice a week, with time off every other week.

The point of my post is not to bad mouth or talk up either of those companies. I've been off the road for two years now, and don't know if any of the things I've written about either company still apply. Actually last I heard, Knight was making a strong effort to buy off Mckelvey trucking, and if they succeeded, I can see Mckelvey sucking too. But I don't know either way. My point is to back up Burky.

Judging by the majority of these posts, you'd think ALL truck drivers hate their jobs, and ALL companies suck. However, that's not the case. I talked to a lot of drivers out on the road who loved driving, and who didn't hate their companies. However, that was two years ago.

I don't see how anyone would enjoy driving anymore. The pay's not that great, the HOS rules are endangering the public's and drivers lives, more and more companies are being bought up by the bigger companies who pretty soon will make it easier to set wages, state governments are almost daily writing up a new law to make it easier to fine drivers over new and petty infractions under the guise of highway safety, but which I think all drivers will agree are just excuses to generate revenue for their states at the expense of truck drivers.

For those of you who still drive, my hat's off to you. I appreciate your sacrifices and know you are needed for me to afford to buy what I need. Those of you who still enjoy driving, I'm extremely jealous of you, to still enjoy a trucking job under the current climate, you must be driving for an exceptional company, or must be under a hell of a contract. As much as I hate my current warehouse job, I could never go back into a truck and drive OTR even for Mckelvey.

Good luck and be safe out there.

 

Ok, Burkey. How long have you been driving and who do you drive for? Sounds like the dream job for my husband.

 

Burky; I thought you were either talking about WERNER, Or C.R.England.
Reasoning being "STUPID SONS"!!!