JB Hunt or Knight transportation?
 

So I am trying to decide who to go with. I am based out of Denver and have 6 months OTR experience. JB Hunt pays per mile but may not get as many miles. Any info good or bad would be greatly appreciated.

RC

Why are you looking to change companies? Are you looking for more $$ or more home-time or what? Knight runs mostly regional freight, so they should get you home pretty regularly if you live near a major interstate.

Why are you limiting yourself to just two companies?

I knew a guy at my last company who was with JB for 9 yrs!!! He left because they ended up not getting him the miles. That's my biggest fear of JB.


If you are in Denver i may have a gem for you. But i don't want to divulge it just yet before i find out all the details. I'm not trying to be a prick about it. It's just that i must find out everything about it before i blab it out all over the internet because it could turn out that the company sucks. But from the looks of it, they don't. And i'll find out real soon.


But to answer your question, i would say for myself, neither.

To anwer your question absolutely, then i would say JB, because they are larger and more solid than Knight and you just may get lucky with them (JB) as far as miles and workload go.

Thanks for the response Lewis,
It is not that I am limiting myself but that these are the two OTR companies that seem to have the least negative comments of the bigger carriers and which I can get on with at 6 months experience. Any of the good local jobs here require 1 to 2 years experience before they will touch you.
I also want to stay away from reefer. Been doing that for the last 4 months and just can't deal with all the sitting to get loaded/unloaded. You are on time for your appt. but still takes sometimes 3-6 hours to get rolling again.
I would like to hear about the Denver company you eluded to. Let me know when you have researched it.

In that case JB probably would be a good choice. You might get lucky as far as mileage and consistancy go.

Now as far as the Denver jem i promised you. You really should seriously consider Western Freightways. They just might take you on with 6mos experience. I just called them and they don't want me because i'm too far away ( i live on east coast) but they have another equivalent division near me which i will explore. They, western freight, just got bought out by New Century, which as you may know is a new jersey company which is near me.
But Denver is right (literally) up your alley.

If you talk to anyone who is with or knows about New century, you know that they are awesome; KW's with apu's, trucks will do well OVER 65, good pay, benefits etc.

Their number is 1-866-9WESTERN.
Their website is not accurate or current because they just got bought out.

Thanks for the tip on Western F. I am going in to see them in the morning. Nobody answered the phone when I called (6PM) but I would rather go in person anyways. They are only 20 miles from my house too.
I will let you know what they say.

I did check the new century site and they want 2 years exp. Hope Western will consider my 6 months.

I don't have any info about Knight.

My experience with JB Hunt comes off as bashing, with good reason.

If your not going with knight, then look at other companies before choosing. 6 months opens alot of doors.... not as many as 1 year would, but a few more than just 2.

just my disgruntal .02 cents.

Knight may be better the JB Hunt however there all big company's and each have there problems. I drive for JB Hunt and an looking at Prime Inc for my next move. JB Hunt leaves you sitting alot and mileage lacks just as everyone says. Also JB Hunt only runs in the north east. The only time you see us in the west is when we are going home. If I had known that before I signed up with them I would not have decided to drive for them. Trust me JB Hunt is not the company to drive for.
The other major problem with JB Hunt is the Intermodal freight is hurting us OTR Guys. they would rather ship on rail then to keep us rolling.

DrPepper
Thanks for the insite. I have been worried about running too much out east AND not getting enough miles with JB Hunt. I do like the idea of banking hometime days for future use. How has that worked for you?
The recruiter says there should be no problem getting 3000 miles/week but is that really true? I know that Knight is not the greatest but maybe to get to that 1 year mark it won't be so bad.

PS: Lewis, I went down to Western and they require 2 years min.
Thanks tho.

Oh well, in that case you might want to check out what this guy says about his experiences with Knight as well as all the other companies he's worked for:

http://www.geocities.com/Trucker_Rich/index.html

These are the important links, but you probably want to read about ALL the companies:
http://www.geocities.com/trucker_rich/trucking/j11.htm

http://www.geocities.com/trucker_rich/trucking/j16.htm


Meanwhile, i will keep in mind companies that will go with 6 mos.; Who knows, it may be a good match for me too.

I will not be able to see New Century as planned next week, due to my plate becomming fuller. (Funny how the plate gets fuller when you tell them you're leaving.............)

P.S. i'm just curious, what type of tractors did western have in the lot?