My Experience With Knight Transportation

I agree!!!

I would appreciate someone explaining the "sliding pay schedule" that Knight is using. Thanks

I would appreciate someone explaining the "sliding pay schedule" that Knight is using. Thanks

The sliding pay scale pays you different cpm's based on how long the haul is. They do this because when you have shorter trips you are generally sitting at shippers and receivers longer so they will pay you a higher rate for the short runs. I believe their starting pay is .35 to 44 cpm depending on the length. a run less than 200 miles would pay 44 cpm while a run over 600 miles would pay 35 cpm. when you get a raise, the whole pay scale goes up.

Update:

Went to El Paso, TX from Arkansas and got there a day early. The consignee wouldnt let me deliver early so my DM let me drop my trailer in our yard over there. I was pre-planned on a load from El Paso to Valdosta, GA (1550 mi.) but wasnt able to pickup til the next day so instead of sitting in my truck all day my DM paid me some extra $$ to do a local run while I waited! On my way to Georgia i stopped by my home terminal and had a full service done on my truck. Truck went strait into the shop with no waiting or complaints/griping from shop personnel. I knew i would be driving past my house on the way too and decided to ask my DM if i could stay at the house for the night and head out to the consignee in the morning. It would not put me behind schedule but would put me about 100 miles out of route on my trip. I wasnt expecting him to say yes because of the miles it would add to my trip (last company i worked for would have for sure said no) but he didnt seem to mind at all. Still proving to be a great company, very laid back operating structure with drivers needs/wants in mind.

If you prove yourself as a dependable driver like you are doing I don't think you will ever have them say no to 100 miles out of route to get home. When I was with them I had an instance where they were having trouble getting me home. I tried to schedule home time when my wife was off work and was getting close to having to go home when she went back. They had me bobtail 180 miles to get home and spend time with her! My DM was one of the things that made it hard for me to leave the company.

Woody

Found this is after Drew replied to my post. After reading all of this that pretty much seals the deal for me...bummed about lack of power in trucks but that is a small sacrifice for being treated well at a company. So out of curiosity what do you guys eat on the road to keep it cheap? I want to run bare min costs while I am out so my wife has the money to take care of herself and the kids. How well do those coolers work that you wereceived talking about drew, the 12v iceless cooler I believe. I am hoping to have my permit in the next week or so...been studying the high road stuff :).

That is too cool Drew. I have always wondered about Knight as a company, it would have been one of my plan b`s if the first few didn`t work out when I started. The only reason it was at the top is because of my lack of knowledge about them.

Like Woody said, if you prove yourself, good thing will happen. I too will need to go out of route to get a day off on this load. My FM called me to let me know my business cards (yes, I have to have them for this division) were in and I asked her if it would be a problem for me to lay over at my home terminal and go from there to deliver this load Mon. She said (paraphrasing) no problem at all, do whatever you need to get some time at home. She knows come hell or high water I will get the load delivered on time. I have been proving myself for over a year now and doing so opens a lot of doors plus, if something does go awry, (it will at times) I don`t get riot act read to me.

I can not emphasize enough that keeping your DM/FM happy is crucial to to how you are treated. They do talk to others within the company and, right or wrong, opinions are formed about you that will effect your life on the road.

Good luck to you Drew and keep the dirty side down.

Man I screwed the grammar up on that post. Y`all know what I meant.

I know it's been a while since I've been on, I left my laptop at the house last time I was home, won't make that mistake again! Mathew, I don't know much about the iceless coolers as I have a yeti cooler in my truck (i use dry ice, when I can get it) but I know a few people that seem to like them. I hear the fans can burn out rather quickly, but it still might be cheaper buying a new cooler every year than buying ice every few days. Anyways I'll get to be home for thanksgiving for 3 days and then plan on staying out until Christmas, my dm has had me running on a Wal-Mart dedicated account close to home the past couple days so he can pretty much guarantee me to be home on time. I was also up in the northeast for a couple weeks and right before the lake effect snow pounded them he sent me back south.