Comments By Thomas M.

The only exception i have ever seen to the 11/14/70 rules are for local drivers which do not currently run logs. If you are OTR and you run local deliveries at my company we have a macro that does not effect our regular HOS. Not sure how this works though.

Knight has a sliding pay scale based on the mileage of the load. 33-42 cpm. It is pretty good and as you stay longer they have raises every 6 months until you hit the top of the scale. I see lots of drivers from different companies coming over and hear a lot of horror stories about other companies. It seams like it is always the same 4-5 companies that always come up as bad.

I know at my company they classify 1 year as OTR. Local and Regional driving is not considered.

I had the plantronics Voyager and took it back and now have the Blue Parrot. I love my new one, the plantronics was horrible.

Knight pays newbies while they are in training and the time with a trainer is strictly up to you and your trainer but it normally 3-6 weeks.

Guy is absolutely right and i couldn't agree more. It only took me a couple of months to go from 1500 miles a week to being dispatched over 3000 - 3500/week. I simply ran hard and made every delivery on time or ahead of schedule and my dispatcher started sending me better runs and asking if i would pick up extra loads. Those "favors" really show them that you are willing to go the extra mile and next think i know i started seeing extra money with the extra loads. Whenever i do a "favor load" for my dispatcher he throws in an extra $50 on top of the mileage for the load. Lately i have been picking up 2-3 extra loads a week and although i wind up staying out a few extra days the wife really likes the extra cash. :-)

Gary,

We have a specific trucking accountant doing our taxes right now. I agree though it is by your state and the IRS. It is really not much different at the basics but you have all the write off's and per diem that gets confusing. For a couple hundred bucks it is well worth it to have a professional do it.

Here we go again. Got to come home for 2 days after being caught in the NE with the last storm. Heading out tomorrow for another 2 week run.

I get a lot of e-mails from US Express trying to get me to come over there. We have a lot of former Werner drivers come to our company lately though. Not sure if they just got a run of dispatchers or management issues recently or what is going on. I agree that if it is your first job you should try your best to stick it out for the first year. There will be similar BS with any company until you have been there for awhile or are an experienced driver and they know better than to push too hard. I think all companies are pushing students really hard to see what they are made of and if they will hang in there or quit. Good luck whatever you decide.

I have heard good things about Schneider but not much about KLLM. Doesn't sound like you could go wrong with either one. Personally i don't think anyone should consider leasing until they have 3-5 years on the road and have a good understanding of the ups and downs so they are successful.