[hubbysontheroad]

Hey, all. I want to thank everyone for this site and others like it. It has been invaluable to my husband and I while enduring the job search. Now, on to my question; Could we have possibly made a mistake by picking Knight out of all the offers he had? The reason I ask is because he worked Celadon for a year and was getting NO mileage, his dispatcher (while nice), seemed a little scatterbrained and would forget him for a day or two until he started inquiring about a load in the near future. They are a good company, with good benefits and he enjoyed working for them, but we also have to make a living and that wasn't happening there.
I got on this site and others like it (this was my favorite, so I joined) to research other companies and It seemed all indications pointed to Knight. Never heard a discouraging word about them. Hubby talked to drivers on the road and got good reviews of the company. BUT...he started orientation on the 26th of Dec, 06, got his truck assignment the 28th and was on the road that day with a load...we were ecstatic. Now comes the good part. He stopped to fuel and his fuel card didn't work. He called his DM and was told to write a Comcheck for the fuel until they could get it straightened out. This was a very long, involved process that usually required a good hour to fuel, but with it being the holidays and all, we figured once everybody got back in the office it would all be magically fixed. And how wrong can you be?? Well, let me tell you. All together he wrote somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 hundred in Comchecks for fuel...which they promptly considered advances and he wasn't getting paid. (Knight pays daily) So after countless overages on his cell phone (which we will have to pay for) and 15 plus in faxes, they deposited 145.00 dollars in our checking account. They kept saying they weren't getting the faxes, even tho when he faxed, he would call and confirm they got and they would say "Yep, it's here". When he got to the Katy yard last week, they gave him a Comcheck for 350.00 dollars to cover what they said was left un-reimbursed from the fuel and all should now be good. (They also claimed to have mailed a paper check over a week ago, which we still don't have). Day before yesterday the pay from his load was 519.00 dollars...we got 114.00 of it since he had taken an "advance" of 350.00 last week and they took that out!!! In all, he has grossed over 1500.00 and we have actually gotten paid 504.00. He's called Phoenix, gets a voice mail and the call is never returned. Katy just tells him the same thing over and over..."We're not seeing the faxes of fuel reciepts and it looks like your pay is all straightened out." They have also not yet paid him the orientation pay promised (they said they have, but they haven't) and we have yet to see a pay statement, which is supposedly mailed every Wed. The website is down or no longer exists, so I can't see if you can view pay statements online or not. I realize that, in this family, Murphy's Law is in full effect at all times, but how can EVERYBODY be having suck a good experience with this company and we can't get paid or get a pay statement?? I'm tearing my hair out over this and have told my husband he has to stop this volunteer work or we won't have a place to live and we'll starve!! My husband is a very gentle and passive soul, which makes for a good husband, but I'm wondering if I should call and try to get this resolved, since I am the bitch in the family He's far too accepting of what people tell him and not so very aggressive. But now even he has uttered a cuss word or two (to me, anyway) out of frustation. Any advice?? Was the choice to go with Knight a bad one and should we cut our losses and find a new company before we start having to send them a paycheck, instead of the other way around???? Thanks for your input and sorry about the rambling.

[Uturn2001]

First off, IMHO, taking the daily pay option at Knight (or anywhere) is a mistake, especially for a company driver. It has a tendency to really mess up your payroll taxes.

Next, what your husband needs to do is take into the office all of his trips, all of his fuel reciepts, all of his logs, all lumper reciepts, etc into the office as well as any and all trip settlement sheets he has gotten and sit down and talk with the payroll rep at his home terminal. (If he happens to get to Phoenix then he should do the same thing).

Something somewhere has definately gotten screwed up and it is probably going to take more than a phone call or two in order to get in taken care of.

BTW: Have your husband check his comdata card and see if there is money on it. It is possible that money is being left on the card instead of getting direct deposited into his home account. When you go through orientation and set all this up you are given and option to have "X" amount of money or percentage deposited on the card or direct deposited into your home account and I have seen where people screw up filling out that form and then wonder where their money is.

[hubbysontheroad]

I thank you so much for your input. All of those things have been done. No money on the card, no check that is supposedly "in the mail". NO settlement sheets!! They are supposed to send them out weekly, but after 2 weeks, we have yet to recieve even one. When he went to his home terminal in Katy he took everything he had into the office...that's why they gave him the comcheck for 350.00 to compensate for the fuel that hadn't been reimbursed. Then, days later, they took it away again, treating it like an advance. The guy in Phoenix won't return his calls and everyone at Katy has heard enough of it (apparently) because they just tell him, "Well, it should already be fixed." That's all we're getting. Period. The closest he can come to a settlement sheet is the statement he recieves via Qualcomm which says what his gross pay is and what his net pay is. Seriously, this is all we're getting and we just don't know what to do. They don't seem to want to discuss anything further because, in their minds it should already be fixed, therefore it is. :? And the orientation pay never recieved, in their minds eye, was paid the first week. He's now working on a spreadsheet, putting in all his trips, fuel, reciepts, etc. so he'll have something tangible to show them, since they won't give us a settlement sheet. I know this sounds like we must have missed something somewhere, but I swear to God it really is this messed up on their part. I'm just about crazy with this thing and changing jobs is such a pain in the derrierre that we would really like to just stay put. But volunteer work doesn't pay the bills. Are we the only ones having trouble with this company? That's how it seems cuz I've heard nothing but good about them from everyone else.
Thanks again.

[NevadaJim]

After he left Katy, without it being resolved, he went back to work? This is just me, but I wouldn't have left until I spoke to the right people. I definitley wouldn't have gone back to work to get crapped on again.

[Uturn2001]

Does he ever get to Gulfport, KC or Memphis. If so, and it is during biz hours he could try going in and talking to the payroll rep at one of those terminals and see if he can get some extra help. The only other thing I know to tell you is for him to go back into the office at Katy and sit down and insist that they get on the phone with Phoenix, with him present and everyone go through everything step by step until it is resolve.

I used to work for Knight and never had any problems with my pay. I only left to come home to be a full time stay at home father after my 2nd son was born.

Just out of curiosity, have you recieved any mail from Knight since your husband has started. If not it is possible that the wrong address was entered into the computer and the settlements are going somewhere else. It wouldbe a good idea for your husband to check over everything from addy to income tax deductions and make sure it has been put into the computer correctly.

[csramsey640]

Sorry about your luck. Our neighbor runs 100% legal, and I mean that too....still grosses over $1000 every week, and he never had them push him to run illegal.

Although Im not sure if the hubby will follow through, he needs to refuse to leave until its all straightened out. If they threaten, threaten back. Are you sure that one of the fuel slips isnt missing?

Also the check they "say" they mailed out to you, would the amount make it correct? It may be possible to ask them to stop payment, and reissue another directly to your hubby.

BOL. and Remember fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.

Im sure it will all be resolved asap. If he isnt getting anywhere at those levels, start working your way up through. Payroll has to have a manager also, and it would be best to start with the manager in charge of the location he 1st called. If that manager wont listen, keep working your way up through.;

[hubbysontheroad]

We thought the issue was resolved when he left Katy, until a few days later when they took the money back out of his check. I don't want him to leave Knight and he doesn't want to leave because we've heard such good things about them and he just wants to find a company he can stay with and gain some seniority, ya know? I think Knight could be that company if we can get this issue straightened out. He found out yesterday that the payroll lady he talked to doesn't work there anymore, so maybe there were issues with her. As I said before, he's just not very aggresive and he's afraid of pissing someone off and getting his miles cut or something. But he's to the point where he's ready to take off some heads. :lol: Since he drives regional, he doesn't get west at all. (mostly between San Antone and Atlanta), so he never gets to Phoenix. He did have to take a load to Chicago this week, and is on his way to Dallas, so I'm assuming they'll have him back here by the end of the weekend for hometime and we'll see about talking to someone then. They run him out of hours, so I know he could be making the money...I just want to see a little of it in the checking account

[hubbysontheroad]

BTW, we have recieved one piece of mail since he's started...it was a settlement sheet for the two days he was in orientation :lol: No miles, no pay...so, the address is right. :?

[csramsey640]

WOW, way too many "what if's" and I wonder why she isnt there anymore. Id try again, and go through someone different from scratch. Use exactly what you wrote above, tell them, or have your husband tell them how much he wants this to work out, and that he feels he can make a good future at Knight, if they feel that they have a loyal person who isnt gonna jump ship in the am, it might be enough to get them moving. You honestly never know what impact that person who is no longer with them had on this outcome. what if her actions, left everyone else who looked at the situation with the opinion that all was covered, when it really wasnt, you know? I guess im also getting at "why" was she let go? Might have some answers as to where your money went, then again may be totally unrelated.

But since you know that, can you start from scratch with them?

[hubbysontheroad]

Thanks, ramsey. That's exactly what he intends to do. I just talked to him and he said he's calling the terminal manager right now and telling him he needs to meet with them Mon. to get it worked out. We also were thinking the same thing about the lady in payroll. He talked to her on Wed., Thur. he talked to another driver who said he called her that morning and was told she no longer worked there. Curious, indeed! When this is all said and done, I really think the choice to go with Knight will have been a good one. Their hometime is great. And while they don't have the week's paid vacation time about every 3-4 months that Celadon has, the better pay will balance that out. Thanks again for your input, it is appreciated.