Information About Knight Transportation
Topic 3571 | Page 1
Welcome to the forum Joshua.
I completed Knight's CDL training at Olive Branch las Oct. Your first week will be orientation. The second week will be classroom and training pad, learning all the backing skills for the CDL exam. The third and fourth weeks will be spent with an OTR trainer and a local trainer. Since you are from MS, you will be able to take your CDL exam with a third party tester that they use.
Next, you will spend 2-4 weeks with a trainer to continue working on your driving skills, as well as, learning the paperwork and Qualcomm system. Once your trainer feels you are ready, you will return to the terminal and have a road exam by one of the Knight trainers. Once that is complete, you will get your solo truck and begin the 30,000 mile Squire phase. This is OTR, and you will have a driver manager from the squire program.
Once that 30,000 mile is complete, you will be transferred to a Knight DM at your home terminal. This is when you may be able to get a regional/dedicated run. Each terminal has different accounts and it will depend on what's available at the time. Get to know your DM and prove yourself to him/her. When at the terminals, keep your eyes and ears open. I found out about the current position I'm in (flatbed, dedicated account) because I noticed some new flatbeds being delivered to a terminal and started asking questions to of the drivers that I meet.
As far as the benefits, that will be covered in orientation. If I remember correctly, you can enroll in most of them 90 days after hire or at the annual enrollment periods.
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.
Dedicated Run:
A driver or carrier who transports cargo between regular, prescribed routes. Normally it means a driver will be dedicated to working for one particular customer like Walmart or Home Depot and they will only haul freight for that customer. You'll often hear drivers say something like, "I'm on the Walmart dedicated account."
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.
Qualcomm:
Omnitracs (a.k.a. Qualcomm) is a satellite-based messaging system with built-in GPS capabilities built by Qualcomm. It has a small computer screen and keyboard and is tied into the truck’s computer. It allows trucking companies to track where the driver is at, monitor the truck, and send and receive messages with the driver – similar to email.Dm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.Driver Manager:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.
I too am looking at knight transportation and i was wondering if I did applied to them , where will i go for training ? I live in North Carolina ( go tarheels !! Because I truly want to become a trucker and I would love to do this , but want to do this right and correct. Any helo will do for me , because I wanna start living again
Anothet question ; how do one get into their referigrated division? Saw it on their website and i put in my zipcode and i saw that they have dry van / reefer position. I am curious and want some great answers and advice . please help me with ypur sound advice/ insight !!
Thank u !!!
Dry Van:
A trailer or truck that that requires no special attention, such as refrigeration, that hauls regular palletted, boxed, or floor-loaded freight. The most common type of trailer in trucking.Reefer:
A refrigerated trailer.
Welcome to the forum Joshua.
I completed Knight's CDL training at Olive Branch las Oct. Your first week will be orientation. The second week will be classroom and training pad, learning all the backing skills for the CDL exam. The third and fourth weeks will be spent with an OTR trainer and a local trainer. Since you are from MS, you will be able to take your CDL exam with a third party tester that they use.
Next, you will spend 2-4 weeks with a trainer to continue working on your driving skills, as well as, learning the paperwork and Qualcomm system. Once your trainer feels you are ready, you will return to the terminal and have a road exam by one of the Knight trainers. Once that is complete, you will get your solo truck and begin the 30,000 mile Squire phase. This is OTR, and you will have a driver manager from the squire program.
Once that 30,000 mile is complete, you will be transferred to a Knight DM at your home terminal. This is when you may be able to get a regional/dedicated run. Each terminal has different accounts and it will depend on what's available at the time. Get to know your DM and prove yourself to him/her. When at the terminals, keep your eyes and ears open. I found out about the current position I'm in (flatbed, dedicated account) because I noticed some new flatbeds being delivered to a terminal and started asking questions to of the drivers that I meet.
As far as the benefits, that will be covered in orientation. If I remember correctly, you can enroll in most of them 90 days after hire or at the annual enrollment periods.
Thanks for all of the great info Sandman! By the way, great job on the Knight CDL training diary. It had tons of great info and first hand insight of their program.
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.
Dedicated Run:
A driver or carrier who transports cargo between regular, prescribed routes. Normally it means a driver will be dedicated to working for one particular customer like Walmart or Home Depot and they will only haul freight for that customer. You'll often hear drivers say something like, "I'm on the Walmart dedicated account."
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.
Qualcomm:
Omnitracs (a.k.a. Qualcomm) is a satellite-based messaging system with built-in GPS capabilities built by Qualcomm. It has a small computer screen and keyboard and is tied into the truck’s computer. It allows trucking companies to track where the driver is at, monitor the truck, and send and receive messages with the driver – similar to email.Dm:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.Driver Manager:
Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager
The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.New Reply:
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I am considering joining Knight transportation by going through their training program. I am curious though about some things such as do they allow you to go straight to driving regional right after you complete their training program or do they require you to drive OTR for a period of time before letting you go regional? Also does anyone know about their benefits such as when do they start? Any other info you can share about Knight would be great as they are currently the frontrunner in my search for a company to go with.
Thanks!
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.