Profile For Old School

Kearsey, I've been thinking the same things about Knight. Some really good salespeople walked in and lied like crazy to close a deal. They walked away with a huge commission and the rest of us are stuck resolving the problems left in their wake.

I said it earlier, I just like to make things work. I have figured out what works for me. I can't say, or believe, I have the magic sauce that will make everyone's career a bed of roses. I just know what is working for me. I am making great money, and am very secure in my position. I do what I can to help others understand how I got here. I know it irritates some, I can feel it in their remarks. I still have to show the way that has worked great for me.

Robert is correct. These cameras are probably going to be more severe on newbies. It's not actually the camera, but the managers wo review things. I know Davy is an excellent driver, and very productive. He had very different results than I. It is unfortunate. Knight lost a great driver when they lost him. I just don't really know what all was going on there. At Knight the terminals are run autonomously from each other. They actually compete in a sense with one another. I like the management style. It gives a driver a greater channce at being a stand-out. It gives everyone a chance to show how well they are contributing to the overall results of the company. There is always going to be that bit of unfairness, but a true professional just has to rise up and establish themselves to play the game in a way they can win.

Not every driver is capable of achieving your status and reputation for a number of reasons and I think sometimes people forget that, even though that individual without that reputation is also correct in their findings.

Robert's question is as intriguing as it is insightful. His statements are spot on. Trucking is a business that is just not handled fairly. I know it is hard for some to grasp that, but there are no easy ways to be successful at this career. When we are new, we struggle to get just a little bit of respect from the people we work with. The problem is those people we are trying to impress, are not even really noticing us yet. They have seen a thousand other rookies just like us come and go, and they just assume we are going to do the same. It takes a long time, and a lot of evidence showing positive results before we even start to get noticed, and then it may only be by our main contact - our dispatcher.

Robert's question about me getting that goal changed for the fuel bonus is very accurate. Not just anybody would have been able to get that accomplished. I'll tell you right up front, I never expected to get my request on that deal, but I felt I had to mention it to several people. Whether I actually had any real influence or not, I cannot say. I found out later that they had been bombarded with calls from drivers concerning the same matter. It seems there were a lot of drivers who felt something just wasn't right. They were like me. They had good numbers, but they still fell short. There was enough input from the drivers to sway someone's opinion. That is pretty rare.

Let me tell you guys something about me. I like to make things work. I get a lot of satisfaction by solving a problem or having success at something that others can't seem to master. I know that some of you get irritated with me when you see me promoting the large companies like the one I work for. Many think I'm some sort of sell-out or a corporate shill. The truth is, I just like to make things work. I have found once you get yourself deeply seated into one of these big companies, you can usually find a special niche area in there that you can specialize in. That does wonders for your career. There are no drivers at Knight making the kind of money the flatbedders make. That makes it a niche opportunity. Of course, yoiu earn your share, but it pays to find those niche opportunities wherever you are.

Once you are in a specialized position, you have a tighter knit group of people you work with. You're not lost in a crowd. There are a lot of people at Knight who know me by name. I remember once I was speaking to a woman from the corporate office in Phoenix. She called me about something, I don't remember what it was. She acted like she knew me, But I had only ever heard her name mentioned in a conversation with someone else. I had never met her. I questioned her about how she seemed to know me. Her reply was that part of her responsibilities was to gather up reports for a meeting she has with Randy Knight once a week. She reminded me that he was one of the company founders, and she said he also knows who you are because your name is often at the top of those reports. Apparently Randy is the top knocker over the dedicated accounts, and he gets reports on how productive the dedicated drivers are on the various accounts they serve.

I'm sharing all of that to help you guys understand why I think it is important to try and stay with these big carriers. There are so many benefits to a long term commitment. There was a time when our pay got froze due to economic problems similar to our current ones. There were people who took special steps to make sure they could work around the rules to increase my pay. They managed to get a weekly amount added to my pay through a purchase order. I still get that amount each week. I have received stock in the company. I get a special amount of money each week just to be available to answer phone calls from new drivers on my account. They pay me that each week, but I seldom ever get a call from anyone. They recently added another penny to the bonus for drivers who have stayed long enough to have driven 500,000 miles. That is paid quarterly. These companies will take care of you if you can be productive, safe, and commit to them.

The easiest and most common thing we drivers do when we are frustrated is to move on somewhere else. That often results in higher pay, and we think we just shot the finger at the man. We are happy to have shown those SOBs we are worth more, and we just found out how to get more. I have observed this for so long. I know what happens next. It is only about a year or three that we decide there is something egregious about this new outfit we don't like. So, what do we do? We stew over it until we decide we have got to show the man who is boss again. It becomes a cyclical career which usually burns out after about a decade.

Continued...

Excellent question Robert! There's a lot in that question and I appreciate it.

I'm super busy right now. I'm going to give you a response tonight after I shut down.

We all miss her Stevo! Unfortunately she is gone. She passed away.

Take the advice given in this forum with a grain of salt. A lot of good information in here, but some stuff that’s just plain wrong.

This what you said earlier.

Now you claim 99% of what we say is good!

You are confusing me.

Congratulations!

That all sounds great. How did you think we were wrong? Brett and I didn't go to Paid CDL Training Programs. We don't teach that as the only way to success. It is a very good way to go though.

Bobcat, I don't think the drivers are the problem. I actually think they are the solution. That's why I try to share my experiences with you. Sometimes it's just our mindset which needs to be altered. If I'm convinced the company wants to use and abuse me, then I interpret each step they take in that light.

I have a completely different mindset from most drivers. I also have much different results from most drivers. I try to supply evidence and it only stirs up strife when I do.

Guys, I spent 30 years managing employees. So I have a strong tendency to be empathetic with the frustration of managers. I'm at the total opposite end now, and I still see a lot of the problems I saw as a manager.

We can all do better. I give it my best every day, just as most of you do. I just have a hard time thinking my company is set to keep me down. I've owned several businesses. I always wanted my people to be the best and prove it to me, so they could be paid the best. I still have faith that our companies want the same things I always wanted when I was in business.

Forgive me, I keep feeling I'm not saying things in a way we all understand.

One thing we drivers tend to not understand is the layered management in trucking. There's a lot of people in trucking company management. Each layer is responsible for the layers beneath them. Just about the only ways they can measure success or failure is through numbers in reports.

There's a lot of conference calls and meetings each week where upper layers put pressure on lower layers to produce better numbers. Those managers have no idea of the many ways you avoid disaster each hour you spend on the road. They know about service failures and success. They know about fleet fuel consumption, and fuel expenses compared to revenue produced.

They look at a lot of numbers. Eventually that pressure works it's way down the path to the man at the bottom - the driver. The driver is expected to be productive, efficient, and safe. That's a lot of pressure.

When managers want better results they resort to incentives they can measure with reports and numbers. That's how we get into these event recordings and bonus pay based on not being prone to triggered events. I understand why drivers dislike the system, but it's the kind of stuff managers drool over. It gives them solid evidence of success and failure that they feel is reliable.

Part of being a successful trucker is learning to work within their system. It takes a lot of effort, but when there is a financial incentive, it makes sense to learn the system and make sure it doesn't hinder your career. At Knight we have to keep our camera or events score (smartdrive score) below 15 to qualify for the bonus money. Extremely careful driving will get you there.

Here's some screenshot of my last month and current month score. I have maintained a zero score, just as I do on most months.