Knight Transportation, Flatbed

Notice a trend? There are NO simple, easy, routine, cookie-cutter days. That fact you can count on.

Incidentally, I would suggest everyone carry a spare landing gear crank handle on your truck. I've had a missing handle on a trailer I was grabbing three times. I've kept my spare strapped to the catwalk for years.

Yes sir I do. Expect the unexpected. Brad said we could have drove the trailer 2 miles to the Loves if we had a crank. I will ask Knight if I can have a spare crank just in case of that situation.

See if you find a wrecked trailer sitting around the terminal , or somewhere else. Maybe snag one somewhere that has ancient trailers being used for storage. These seldom move.

Good luck tomorrow!

Day 26. Dec 17th. Testing day! Arrived a little later than I wanted to. Got to the terminal exactly at 830am. Melissa will be doing the road test. She also does the classroom orientation for Knight students. So at least it is someone I met before and not anyone new.

Went into the classroom area and did the computer quiz. Passed! Melissa then explains to me she will be doing something different for the road test. She has me going on a run to pick up a load instead of the usual mapped out road test. Apparently Brad had high praises about me and she wanted to see how well I do. I am going to bobtail to YRC Freight yard about 10min away and pick up a empty. Then drive to Hanover, PA to a plastic supply company for a live load.

I am driving an International for the test. Melissa walks behind me as I do the pre-trip which makes me extremely nervous. She's writing things down and I'm wondering if I'm doing things correctly. Get inside the truck, start it up and off I go. While driving I see she is writing lol. I tell myself to calm down, ignore that and just drive.

At YRC they do things differently when picking up a empty. I had to check in with a yard jockey and ask for a trailer. After waiting 20min he comes back and says he can't find one but next door at Saia he saw a few Knight trailers. So I go next door and hook up to a empty. On the way to Hanover I'm feeling comfortable. I make sure Im checking my mirrors, keep both hands on the wheel, keep a safe following distance, make sure my stops are smooth and stop before the solid white line at stop signs and lights. Swing wide and watch the trailer, do not hit the curb!!! do not speed and pay attention to what I'm doing. I get to Hanover and the yard is tight. It's half loading bay and half employee parking lot. Why do I have to do this lol. I get in with little trouble, did a nice 90 degree back with one pull up but slammed into the bay door hard smh.

While we are getting loaded she asks why did I change trainers. I tell her the difficulty I had with John. I vented and told her everything, even how I acted and the things I did. She says that's horrible and will look into it. She asked about Brad and I told her he was excellent. Somehow we get to talking about politics, our views on America and personal life. We share a lot of the same views, what's even more of a coincidence is both our fathers served in the navy at the San Diego naval base, we were born at the same hospital on base and both left when we were 5yrs old. The only thing missing was us being born on the same day...

Once loaded I left and she had me take Carlisle pike all the way to the terminal driving through residential streets. I was determined not to be nervous, just pay attention, be alert and drive the truck. I get back to the terminal and have to drop the loaded trailer and park the truck. Once parked and truck is off, Melissa takes a breath and says very well done, welcome to Knight. I passed!!!! Graduated from Squire to a Knight, I'm very very excited!

We go inside and she introduced me to my DM Seth. This whole time I thought Lloyd was my DM but he is the DDM. We talk and asks me when I want to start. Today is Friday and I tell him I can start Monday. Lloyd says take some home time and come in Wednesday the 22nd. Ok cool. My first day solo will be a dry van run to Ohio then they will put me on with flatbed next Monday Dec 27th. The reason being is I still need to do a week following a flatbed driver for load securement and most available drivers are on vacation for the holidays.

I go to the waffle house for a celebratory meal and have a hard time holding in my excitement. The waitress there has seen me around and asks why am I so happy lol. I end up telling her about my time with Knight. I eat, drive home and wait for Wednesday to come....

See if you find a wrecked trailer sitting around the terminal , or somewhere else. Maybe snag one somewhere that has ancient trailers being used for storage. These seldom move.

Good luck tomorrow!

Thanks PackRat. I would greatly appreciate your advice throughout my first year solo. Please feel free to respond to any future questions I will have. You and others on this site have valuable knowledge that I am open to learning from.

Congratulations!

Been following along and will continue!

Awesome 👍 congratulations!!!! been following. Glad you got a cool trainer and got through it. Now the fun begins.

Do you do 30k solo training miles in flatbed too?

Also, two things about the trailer. Before you back all the way under, Always stop when the front edge of it is just over your rear drive, get out and check it for height. And two, after you connect and do your tug test, get out, go under and visually verify the locking jaw is around the king pin. Use a flashlight at night. You'll never risk dropping a trailer or high pinning it if you do those two every trailer.

Congrats, TwoSides!

Spot on PackRat. I also carried a spare crank plus hardware, more than once I’d grab a trailer at one of Walmart’s backhauls only to find a missing crank handle.

Notice a trend? There are NO simple, easy, routine, cookie-cutter days. That fact you can count on.

Incidentally, I would suggest everyone carry a spare landing gear crank handle on your truck. I've had a missing handle on a trailer I was grabbing three times. I've kept my spare strapped to the catwalk for years.

Congratulations!

Day 26. Dec 17th. Testing day! Arrived a little later than I wanted to. Got to the terminal exactly at 830am. Melissa will be doing the road test. She also does the classroom orientation for Knight students. So at least it is someone I met before and not anyone new.

Went into the classroom area and did the computer quiz. Passed! Melissa then explains to me she will be doing something different for the road test. She has me going on a run to pick up a load instead of the usual mapped out road test. Apparently Brad had high praises about me and she wanted to see how well I do. I am going to bobtail to YRC Freight yard about 10min away and pick up a empty. Then drive to Hanover, PA to a plastic supply company for a live load.

I am driving an International for the test. Melissa walks behind me as I do the pre-trip which makes me extremely nervous. She's writing things down and I'm wondering if I'm doing things correctly. Get inside the truck, start it up and off I go. While driving I see she is writing lol. I tell myself to calm down, ignore that and just drive.

At YRC they do things differently when picking up a empty. I had to check in with a yard jockey and ask for a trailer. After waiting 20min he comes back and says he can't find one but next door at Saia he saw a few Knight trailers. So I go next door and hook up to a empty. On the way to Hanover I'm feeling comfortable. I make sure Im checking my mirrors, keep both hands on the wheel, keep a safe following distance, make sure my stops are smooth and stop before the solid white line at stop signs and lights. Swing wide and watch the trailer, do not hit the curb!!! do not speed and pay attention to what I'm doing. I get to Hanover and the yard is tight. It's half loading bay and half employee parking lot. Why do I have to do this lol. I get in with little trouble, did a nice 90 degree back with one pull up but slammed into the bay door hard smh.

While we are getting loaded she asks why did I change trainers. I tell her the difficulty I had with John. I vented and told her everything, even how I acted and the things I did. She says that's horrible and will look into it. She asked about Brad and I told her he was excellent. Somehow we get to talking about politics, our views on America and personal life. We share a lot of the same views, what's even more of a coincidence is both our fathers served in the navy at the San Diego naval base, we were born at the same hospital on base and both left when we were 5yrs old. The only thing missing was us being born on the same day...

Once loaded I left and she had me take Carlisle pike all the way to the terminal driving through residential streets. I was determined not to be nervous, just pay attention, be alert and drive the truck. I get back to the terminal and have to drop the loaded trailer and park the truck. Once parked and truck is off, Melissa takes a breath and says very well done, welcome to Knight. I passed!!!! Graduated from Squire to a Knight, I'm very very excited!

We go inside and she introduced me to my DM Seth. This whole time I thought Lloyd was my DM but he is the DDM. We talk and asks me when I want to start. Today is Friday and I tell him I can start Monday. Lloyd says take some home time and come in Wednesday the 22nd. Ok cool. My first day solo will be a dry van run to Ohio then they will put me on with flatbed next Monday Dec 27th. The reason being is I still need to do a week following a flatbed driver for load securement and most available drivers are on vacation for the holidays.

I go to the waffle house for a celebratory meal and have a hard time holding in my excitement. The waitress there has seen me around and asks why am I so happy lol. I end up telling her about my time with Knight. I eat, drive home and wait for Wednesday to come....

It's WEDNESDAY!

CONGRATS, Good sir, waiting to hear!!!

Best to ya!

~ Anne ~