[dollarshort]

All I can say is don't hesitate to sign on with Knight!

At first I had a few problems with my dispatcher, but after getting a new one I have been running an average of about 3,000 mi. per week.
I am based out of PA and I am in Dallas, TX right now. Drop and hook and heading for Salt Lake City for Friday delivery. I run mainly south and west because that's where I told my dispatcher I like to run.
I do go into the northeast on occassion, but it's usually because there is a great load coming back out.

I have not turned down any loads since last November.

Knight will not let you sit, and you will usually be preplanned on your next load before you are empty. Kinda nice knowing what you are gonna do in advance.

Good luck in whatever you decide, but you won't go wrong with chosing Knight.

[Uturn2001]

Originally Posted by SwervynMervyn

How long are you out on the road and how long is your hometime with Knight?

Thanks

That was one of the things I liked about Knight. I could get home weekly or stay out as long as I wanted to and change things around as needed and all I needed to do was talk to my dispatcher about it.

If you want home weekly, you can count on getting at least 36 hours off at home. The longer you stay out the more home time you can take. When I first started I stayed out for 3 weeks at a time, my choice, and would take 4 and sometimes 5 days off at home just depending on how my miles for the month were adding up and what I needed to do while at home.

[kcfalcon]

I run on avg 10 to 12 out 3 full days home.
And still get over 11,000 a mounth with no problem.
With Knight, who your dispatcher is and how you get along with them makes a world of diffrence.

Not saying you will never have any problems, in the last 3 weeks here is my list.

1. no drop number for a sat delivery, no answer to my call 8 hrs, finally got ahold of someone in katy tx terminal (i'am out of Kansas City) was told to drop on yard and grab another load out on sun.
Monday morn fleet mgr said "sorry my fault" paid me 50.00.

2Friday eve fuel card not working, night dispatch said "huh.. thats odd" fixed in 15 min.

3dispatched to topeka ks from kansas city, no load when I got there. 2 hr wait sent a new pick up in kansas city, paid for the miles to and from topeka.

4 2 wrong drop numbers.

So I figure that is not to bad.

[fireman932003]

I am home EVERY weekend. I usually pull into the house around 11pm or so Friday night and leave back out around 6 or 7pm on Sunday evening. This last week I got 2860 miles. Not too shabby! The only problems I have had the last few weeks was wrong directions to a shipper but that was fixed by making a phone call. And last but not least, My trailer that was supposed to be pre-loaded was not. It was a live load.

[tjv189]

Knight sounds like a great company. Right now I drive for Swift, and although they haven't been too bad so far, I'm definitely looking into finding a company like Knight that will let me mostly run where I want to.

To you guys that were saying you would have to go to the northeast every now and then, if I were to tell my dispatcher that I don't want to run the northeast at all, do you think they would be able to arrange for me to go no further northeast than PA? I know there are exceptions when freight is slow and stuff like that, but I really really don't like running anywhere in the northeast. I would rather sit for a day and not make anything, waiting for a decent load than take a 200 mile run to NY. Just my preference though.

So my question is, if I were to tell them to keep me out of the northeast, would they make an effort to do that or do you usually have to go up there to get something better coming out? Thanks in advance.

[Uturn2001]

If you develop a good relationship with your dispatcher s/he will make every effort to find loads that do not pick up or deliver in the area(s) that you do not want to go, or will make arrangements for you to drop the load somewhere in route. For example, lets say you pick up a load in Denver going to Patterson, NJ. Your dispatcher might have you drop the load at the Indianapolis terminal and pick up something else in that area.

If you get pre-planned on a load going to an area that you do not wish to go contact your dispatcher before accepting or turning down the load and find out if you can drop the load somewhere in route if you accept it. Most of the time the answer is yes.

[kcfalcon]

First off Knight is non-forced dispatch, you can turn down any load you want.

That being said, I would not turn down to many or you will end up with the junk loads.

As uturn said, if you and your travel agent get along good then they will make every effort to keep you where you want to be.

Alot of the time those are the only loads they have, or any number of reason's, but my dispatcher alway's calls and ask if I would take it first (even though he knows I will)and yes 80% of the time I end up dropping it in route anyway.

There agian is the key to Knight, you and your dispatcher.

[dollarshort]

What I usually do is check if I can get a nice preplan load back out of where I am delivering if it is in the northeast. If not then I will try to drop in route also.
Even though I live in PA, that is also the furthest northeast I care to go.
I told my dispatcher that from day one, and he does a great job keeping me out of there.
Last week for me:

Mon: Delivered load in Minersville, PA I picked up in Amana, IA
Picked up load in White Marsh, MD for Arlington, TX.

Wed: Drop and hook in Arlington, TX.
Picked up load in Dallas, TX for Salt Lake City, UT

Fri: Drop and hook in Salt Lake.
Picked up load in West Valley, UT for Reno, NV

Sat: Unload in Reno, NV
Deadhead empty to Fontana, CA

Sun: Picked up preloaded trailer in Fontana yard for Denver, CO.

Mon: I am sitting in Denver right now for tomorrow morn. drop.

Tomorrow after resetting I am preplanned on a load from Denver, Co back to Carlisle, PA and head home for a few days.

Pretty good week by any standards!!!!!!

I usually don't run out west a whole lot because the freight is better on the east coast, but I have my 10 yr. old son with me and he wanted to go sightseeing.

[fireman932003]

Nothing can be guaranteed. But if you work with your dispatcher they will work with you. I do not like the northeast either. I hate it! BUT, I will take one up there every now and then to help out my dispatcher. In return, he takes care of me. Knight is a non-forced dispatch company, but if you turn down loads all the time you will not last long at knight or any company. BOL

[Doktari]

I drive for Knight as well. I'm out of the Lakeland, FL terminal. I started with May trucking. That was a good place to start but after 4 months of being out for 4-5 weeks at a time I said "enough is enough". Decided to go with Knight at the beginning of May (the month ) and am happy over all. Like all companies, there's quirks here too.

For one, they really want you to fill out, on a daily basis, a fuel card so you can manage your miles/gallon, etc. It's sometimes a chore to get your scale and toll reimbursements. You'll get them, it's just that you have to stay on top of them, which you should anyway no matter what company IMHO.

I've had no problem getting the required 2500 miles/week. That's on the low end actually. Starting in 2 weeks I'm going to start driving with a friend of mine that I scammed.... er ... persuaded to come to Knight. JK Anyway, I'll immediately go from making 34/mile to 42/mile and they give preferance to teams for the longer runs, so I am told. We'll see.

The things I like most about Knight are:
1. Paid after each trip
2. Plan your own route
3. You won't sit waiting for a run (1.5 hours is the longest I've sat)
4. They run you regionally but will send you out beyond that if you want to
5. Lots of terminals. (I run along I-10 from FL to LA or TX a lot. We have a terminal in Gulfport, MS that I get to in 1 day. I usually pull in, drop my trailer and head 2 exits back to the east and go to a decent resteraunt for dinner then to Barnes & Noble for a couple hours and a Cappaccino or something. ) Nice start to my trip.

Things I like least about Knight:
1. They are a little short on trailers sometimes. I spent 6 hours one time in Atlanta looking for an empty. Boy was I hot but I'm not afraid to let them know I'm pissed and stomp my feet, etc. I got 6 hours of local pay for driving around Atlanta. With Atlanta traffic it should have been 26 hours of pay but they'll only bend so far.
2. You have to stay up on your reimbursements more than I think you should. I mean, why make drives work at all to get the money they are due? It's just one of those things.

As I said, no matter what company you choose, THAT company will have things you don't like and things you do like. Over all I'm very happy at Knight.