Knight Vs Jim Palmer

So due to my situation. Let me explain I have my dot physical and my cdl permit with tanker n double triple . I went to the school tdi to enroll paid 25 for background check was accepted. But than found out I need a cosigner or 5000 which I don't have . So after starting over I decided on knight or Jim palmer. I noticed they have alot of similarities. Is there anything someone can say about one or the other. This my list of differences. If anyone wants to add anything please do it will help me. Or personal experience good or bad Contract 1 year for Jim palmer and 18 for knight Jim palmer 1 year no money due. Knight is 50 a week Schooling is 2 to 3 weeks at Jim but 4 to 6 at knight. Train is real world not range for both. Jim is 2 months but knight is 1 month. Train pay is 600 for palmer and 400 for knight. Palmer is 40 cpm and knight sliding scale can some one explain that too me. Knight offers regional and dedicated but Palmer only otr. Both are non forced dispatch. Palmer home time is out 3 to 4 weeks home for 2 to 4. Knight is flexible would like after a while to get on regional or dedicated so I can be home weekends. What is drop and hook as palmer is 20% and knight us 70%. Apu palmer has them but knight it in some or has that changed. Jim palmer a small company while knight I want to say a medium I may be wrong tho. class size Jim palmer is 5 to 6 at a time. No idea on knight. Palmer only has 2 terminals compared to knights 30. How important are terminals and drop yards Palmer is manual while knight is automatic. I can borrow 200 a week from Palmer but have to pay it back. Knight signs you on as a employee and you make 300 a week till you become a trainee.

so does anyone got any advice or comments on either company.

CDL:

Commercial Driver's License (CDL)

A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:

• Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
• Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
• Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
• Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.

Terminal:

A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.

Regional:

Regional Route

Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.

OTR:

Over The Road

OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.

DOT:

Department Of Transportation

A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.

State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.

CPM:

Cents Per Mile

Drivers are often paid by the mile and it's given in cents per mile, or cpm.

Drop And Hook:

Drop and hook means the driver will drop one trailer and hook to another one.

In order to speed up the pickup and delivery process a driver may be instructed to drop their empty trailer and hook to one that is already loaded, or drop their loaded trailer and hook to one that is already empty. That way the driver will not have to wait for a trailer to be loaded or unloaded.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

So due to my situation. Let me explain I have my dot physical and my cdl permit with tanker n double triple . I went to the school tdi to enroll paid 25 for background check was accepted. But than found out I need a cosigner or 5000 which I don't have . So after starting over I decided on knight or Jim palmer. I noticed they have alot of similarities. Is there anything someone can say about one or the other. This my list of differences. If anyone wants to add anything please do it will help me. Or personal experience good or bad Contract 1 year for Jim palmer and 18 for knight Jim palmer 1 year no money due. Knight is 50 a week Schooling is 2 to 3 weeks at Jim but 4 to 6 at knight. Train is real world not range for both. Jim is 2 months but knight is 1 month. Train pay is 600 for palmer and 400 for knight. Palmer is 40 cpm and knight sliding scale can some one explain that too me. Knight offers regional and dedicated but Palmer only otr. Both are non forced dispatch. Palmer home time is out 3 to 4 weeks home for 2 to 4. Knight is flexible would like after a while to get on regional or dedicated so I can be home weekends. What is drop and hook as palmer is 20% and knight us 70%. Apu palmer has them but knight it in some or has that changed. Jim palmer a small company while knight I want to say a medium I may be wrong tho. class size Jim palmer is 5 to 6 at a time. No idea on knight. Palmer only has 2 terminals compared to knights 30. How important are terminals and drop yards Palmer is manual while knight is automatic. I can borrow 200 a week from Palmer but have to pay it back. Knight signs you on as a employee and you make 300 a week till you become a trainee.

so does anyone got any advice or comments on either company.

To be honest its like choosing between Chester's Chicken and church's chicken. Either company will be good for you and depending on location one may work better for you. Jim Palmer is reefer so there is a lot more live loads as in you sit in the truck while it is being loaded/unloaded. Drop n hook is basically what it says. Drop a trailer and hook up to another. Less waiting and more driving. Are you going to get sponsored by them or go through the company school? As far as I know knight doesn't pay for a room or provide transportation, part of the reason why I chose Swift.

Be prepared to be otr for a while and then you will have more options with regional and dedicated. There aren't as easy as they sound either. Being home on the weekends is possible but it may affect your pay, I say may because others are home everyday and some every weekend and make more then me, yet they are more experienced as well. I recommend making a list of what you value more and see what company is a better fit. Either way no matter how you feel after one little thing you must stay with that company for a year. This will open up more options.

CDL:

Commercial Driver's License (CDL)

A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:

• Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
• Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
• Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
• Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.

Terminal:

A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.

Regional:

Regional Route

Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.

OTR:

Over The Road

OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.

DOT:

Department Of Transportation

A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.

State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.

CPM:

Cents Per Mile

Drivers are often paid by the mile and it's given in cents per mile, or cpm.

Reefer:

A refrigerated trailer.

Drop And Hook:

Drop and hook means the driver will drop one trailer and hook to another one.

In order to speed up the pickup and delivery process a driver may be instructed to drop their empty trailer and hook to one that is already loaded, or drop their loaded trailer and hook to one that is already empty. That way the driver will not have to wait for a trailer to be loaded or unloaded.

HOS:

Hours Of Service

HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.

OOS:

When a violation by either a driver or company is confirmed, an out-of-service order removes either the driver or the vehicle from the roadway until the violation is corrected.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

I going to use this thread to post my questions thanks I'm advance. What are the pro vs con of forced dispatch and non forced dispatch. What is sliding pay and how does that work

I going to use this thread to post my questions thanks I'm advance. What are the pro vs con of forced dispatch and non forced dispatch. What is sliding pay and how does that work

Sliding pay scale is used to bump up pay to help with lower miles so with Swift anything over 500 is .36. If it was 10 miles it would be $25 plus .50 a mile. I can't tell you because I am with a company that is not forced dispatch, but I am a firm believer of accepting every load no matter how heavy, the area it is going to, miles, etc. I am paid to move freight and will do it no matter how grand or small.

How important are drop yards or terminals as palmer has 2 while knight has 30

Drop yards are like lesser terminals. Some have amenities while some dont. I believe you can park at any yard which is convenient. They come in handy when you need to get by a shop or whatever else.

Don't know anything about Palmer, but I'm with knight myself. Granted, I've only been here about a month total, so I may not be qualified to give in depth information. I can, however, let you know of my experience so far.

Knight seems to be a pretty solid company. So far, seems like they treat you pretty good. Most people who work here are pretty happy. They keep their equipment well maintained and they only keep their trucks for about 2 years, or til around 500,000 miles. I've not seen a truck that is really rough looking yet. The truck I'm driving now seems to be an exception to that rule. It's a 2013 volvo, but it's in very good shape and runs real good.

They have a pretty good maintenance program to make sure the trucks are well kept.

I believe of you attend school for knight, it is in arizona and I do believe they will arrange transportation for you and will also put you up in a room.

Knight does not have apus and does not allow inverters to be hard wired to the truck. This means you will only be able to run a 12v DC plug in inverter, which you'll probably be limited to about 400 watts.

The sliding scale for knight is between .40 and .49 cpm. So the longer the run, the lower the cpm. Generally, trips under 50 miles are paid at .49 and trips over 500 miles are paid at .49 cpm. I was told you'd average about .44 cpm. You also can make a bonus of .05cpm for all miles ran.in the quarter, provided you meet the fuel, safety, and performance goals.

There are other things, bit like others have said, there is not a great deal of difference between companies anymore. Just pick the one that has the type of work you are looking for, and runs in the areas you like

CPM:

Cents Per Mile

Drivers are often paid by the mile and it's given in cents per mile, or cpm.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

APUs:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

Correction, trips over 500 miles are .40 cpm

Thank sambo since I can't send u a message I know you have to sign a contract and it 50 a week and it a 0% interest free loan. Do you know if they do a credit check as I bad credit

I think all company's do a credit check anymore as part of Pre employment. Whether or not it will affect your ability to get into school? I don't know.

I am not sure if the schools are actually a in house training program, or if it's an actual schools that sets up shop at a companies terminal.

Someone else would know for sure.