Tell Me!

He is based out of a drop yard in Stockton but spends quite a bit of time in Jurupa, just left there a little while ago. Many of his loads go from Jurupa to Salt Lake City area. He always pulls a refer but he has sometimes hauled dry product, usually helping out another fleet.

Our son has been driving for Marten since late March and says he loves it. Drove for CR England before that for 8 months. He drives refer on a dedicated fleet mostly between California and Utah but some further north. He originally reported to a regional manager but a DM got hired for his fleet and she treats him with lots of respect. He is on a schedule of 12 days on and 2 days off and was asked once to run 2 days longer and he agreed, but they have always booked his time off when he has requested. Some weeks he doesn't get many miles because of long layovers but his minimum weekly pay has been bumped up to $1425 and he is presently being paid 61 CPM. He really likes his Kenworth T680, much better ride than a Cascadia he drove at CRE. He has an APU and inverter, bought his own fridge. His dog is his companion, under 25 pounds.

Good luck!

Is he working out of the Jurupa Valley terminal? I live close to the Jurupa terminal and am thinking about applying with Marten. I would prefer dry van. Are most of his loads D&H?

Terminal:

A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.

Regional:

Regional Route

Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.

Dm:

Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager

The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.

Dry Van:

A trailer or truck that that requires no special attention, such as refrigeration, that hauls regular palletted, boxed, or floor-loaded freight. The most common type of trailer in trucking.

CPM:

Cents Per Mile

Drivers are often paid by the mile and it's given in cents per mile, or cpm.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

There is some things to be addressed in this.

I worked for Knight for 3 months but it didn't work out. My last days consisted of recovering a busted up truck that needed a whole weekend & $30 of cleaning products to make it livable. Then recovering a stolen trailer that was so frustrating that I didn't make my 01 appt & had to wait for next day to be loaded. All because they didn't pay recovery company before I got there. Nevermind how filthy it was inside.

Did you ask for pay? Each shop and terminal is independently operated, whichever terminal had the truck may not have been aware of its condition. As was the case when I got my truck. Knight payed for me to take a rental car, paid for my hotel, my time and labor to clean out the truck as it had not been done, bought me the cleaning supplies including a small shop vac that I kept for the truck. I have done several recoveries for them, I get paid handsomely for it, and its interesting work. In regards to missing your shipping appointment, again, did you communicate with your DM? If you knew you were going to be late for the appointment, call them and let them know and they will reschedule the load or make other accommodations. Knight, of all companies has an open door policy, you can literally walk into any terminal and sit down face to face with the DM's and the terminal manager, but its up to you to communicate your needs.

No scales except the one in Phoenix, no washouts allowed at most & this crazy rule that you need to have a trailer to go thru shop even tho you're only working on the truck. Finding empties can be a huge issue too.

Washouts are not only allowed, but will show up in our load assignments, they will pay you time to get the trailer washed out, and reimburse you for any costs. Some terminals have that rule about having to have a trailer hooked, others dont. Did you ever bother to ask why? I did. The answer I was given was that it facilitated getting the trailers inspected as many drivers were leaving damaged trailers at shippers and receivers. Finding empties is an issue at any carrier. Again, did you ask your DM to locate you an empty. I always do, I look at the load info and determine if I will have an empty, I then call him immediately if I wont and he delivers every time, without fail.

I wanted to stay regional but the safety rep in FL kept going on about not making money as a regional driver.

Ive never even heard from our safety manager, let alone have anyone in the safety department make a determination on which lanes I will take. The closest conversation Ive had was with the terminal manager and my DM. They asked where I wanted to run and where I wasnt comfortable running. I gave them my regions and general time off requirements and they said they will do everything they can to accommodate it. They have without fail.

There is a common thread in your comments, that its the companies responsibility to take care of everything and that somehow everything should run perfectly in a perfect world without your input. Why would I have such a vastly different experience with Knight? Because I effectively communicate my needs, am humble and dedicated in my relations with the office staff. I understand that things are dynamic and stuff happens, I plan and react accordingly. Knight is coming to know me as a safe, on time driver, who is easy to work with. I get great perks as a result. There is much more to being an efficient and effective driver than driving.

@ Davy

Im not here to defend or advocate. Donna M. is a woman I respect & admire because of all she overcame to become successful. Thats why I responded with MY personal experiences. I'm not going to get into a back & forth about Knight with you.

Obviously you're very sensitive about this & you've taken much of what I said out if context. I've been self-employed since I was 27 yrs old. The only things I expect from a company are: decent & legal equipment, decent freight & my settlement on time.

Everything else you said is YOUR experience. My DM at Knight & I worked great together. That's why he offered me that Publix dedicated if came back. That was months after I left. That right there says more about me than anything I respond to you here.

Donna has worked at Prime. I don't think you have. What we experience at out terminals is far more supportive than what I experienced at both Knight & Roehl. Does that make those companies bad? Far from that! They're both very successful carriers with many years under their belts with obviously happy drivers to keep them successful.

Why you needed to defend Knight by bashing me? That's for you to figure out...

There is some things to be addressed in this.

I worked for Knight for 3 months but it didn't work out. My last days consisted of recovering a busted up truck that needed a whole weekend & $30 of cleaning products to make it livable. Then recovering a stolen trailer that was so frustrating that I didn't make my 01 appt & had to wait for next day to be loaded. All because they didn't pay recovery company before I got there. Nevermind how filthy it was inside.

Did you ask for pay? Each shop and terminal is independently operated, whichever terminal had the truck may not have been aware of its condition. As was the case when I got my truck. Knight payed for me to take a rental car, paid for my hotel, my time and labor to clean out the truck as it had not been done, bought me the cleaning supplies including a small shop vac that I kept for the truck. I have done several recoveries for them, I get paid handsomely for it, and its interesting work. In regards to missing your shipping appointment, again, did you communicate with your DM? If you knew you were going to be late for the appointment, call them and let them know and they will reschedule the load or make other accommodations. Knight, of all companies has an open door policy, you can literally walk into any terminal and sit down face to face with the DM's and the terminal manager, but its up to you to communicate your needs.

No scales except the one in Phoenix, no washouts allowed at most & this crazy rule that you need to have a trailer to go thru shop even tho you're only working on the truck. Finding empties can be a huge issue too.

Washouts are not only allowed, but will show up in our load assignments, they will pay you time to get the trailer washed out, and reimburse you for any costs. Some terminals have that rule about having to have a trailer hooked, others dont. Did you ever bother to ask why? I did. The answer I was given was that it facilitated getting the trailers inspected as many drivers were leaving damaged trailers at shippers and receivers. Finding empties is an issue at any carrier. Again, did you ask your DM to locate you an empty. I always do, I look at the load info and determine if I will have an empty, I then call him immediately if I wont and he delivers every time, without fail.

I wanted to stay regional but the safety rep in FL kept going on about not making money as a regional driver.

Ive never even heard from our safety manager, let alone have anyone in the safety department make a determination on which lanes I will take. The closest conversation Ive had was with the terminal manager and my DM. They asked where I wanted to run and where I wasnt comfortable running. I gave them my regions and general time off requirements and they said they will do everything they can to accommodate it. They have without fail.

There is a common thread in your comments, that its the companies responsibility to take care of everything and that somehow everything should run perfectly in a perfect world without your input. Why would I have such a vastly different experience with Knight? Because I effectively communicate my needs, am humble and dedicated in my relations with the office staff. I understand that things are dynamic and stuff happens, I plan and react accordingly. Knight is coming to know me as a safe, on time driver, who is easy to work with. I get great perks as a result. There is much more to being an efficient and effective driver than driving.

Davy, I really appreciate you taking the time to provide such a detailed response. As someone who is vetting various carriers in deciding where I would like to kickoff my driving career (again), the post to which you responded can make it difficult to go with such a carrier because it creates a mental image if a company that just doesn't care. What your response illustrates is the necessity to bring things to the attention of people who can do something about the issue.

It hadn't really come to mind until I read your response, but it just clicked for me that one aspect of trucking is that truck drivers have to be assertive. You can't be timid and expect things to happen. I imagine that a certain level of assertiveness is needed on the road, too. It now makes even more sense why some drivers can speak of having such bad experiences at decent companies. Trucking truly is what an individual driver makes it. Thank you, again, Davy.

@ Davy

Im not here to defend or advocate. Donna M. is a woman I respect & admire because of all she overcame to become successful. Thats why I responded with MY personal experiences. I'm not going to get into a back & forth about Knight with you.

Obviously you're very sensitive about this & you've taken much of what I said out if context. I've been self-employed since I was 27 yrs old. The only things I expect from a company are: decent & legal equipment, decent freight & my settlement on time.

Everything else you said is YOUR experience. My DM at Knight & I worked great together. That's why he offered me that Publix dedicated if came back. That was months after I left. That right there says more about me than anything I respond to you here.

Donna has worked at Prime. I don't think you have. What we experience at out terminals is far more supportive than what I experienced at both Knight & Roehl. Does that make those companies bad? Far from that! They're both very successful carriers with many years under their belts with obviously happy drivers to keep them successful.

Why you needed to defend Knight by bashing me? That's for you to figure out...

No offense, but being a completely neutral party who doesn't personally know either one of you, I think you got a bit thin-skinned there. Truthfully, I found Davy's response to be quite beneficial to the forum because it gave a positive perspective to a carrier for people who are trying to figure out to which company they want to go to work (like myself). I don't think anyone is saying that your experience isn't valid. I think the whole point is that it's possible that your experience could have been different if you had approached those difficult moments with a bit more assertiveness. At least that is what I got from Davy's response.

@ Kerry

It's not about thin skin, assertiveness or timidity. I grew up with gangs all around me in nyc, being assertive is not a problem. My comments were for Donna because she's worked at Prime & knows the culture here. She knows how differently those things wouldve been handled at Prime. This thread is not about Prime vs Knight & if I pick apart Davy's response, that's exactly what this will devolve into. Why? because I've worked at both & Davy hasn't. I appreciate that he helped you & if you go to Knight, I hope you're as successful as he seems to be. We all find exactly where we need to be in order to be successful, if we put in the effort.

I was actually set to go to prime prior to knight. Definitely, my apologies if it seems that I was being combative or adversarial with you. The point was as Kerry pointed out, that many times, we see a company get bashed, when in all reality, it's our own performance that dictates our success. I have every bit of confidence that I would have found the same satisfaction with Prime.

Their safety department was unable to work with my speeding tickets, totally understandable. If they had been able to, I would most likely have been there. The point that I was trying to make is that most of the companies are similar in concept, what really matters is how we as the employees approach our work and relationships.

I've been out of my truck for over a month, in loaners, had to clean a few of them myself, I just think it's part of the job, my DM and terminal have done everything they can, as the truck is down in Dallas. It's finally getting resolved, but it took a lot of me being the polite but squeaky wheel.

I've read this entire thread. I'm going with Davy A. He tells it like it is. Davy: you rock!

@ Kerry

It's not about thin skin, assertiveness or timidity. I grew up with gangs all around me in nyc, being assertive is not a problem. My comments were for Donna because she's worked at Prime & knows the culture here. She knows how differently those things wouldve been handled at Prime. This thread is not about Prime vs Knight & if I pick apart Davy's response, that's exactly what this will devolve into. Why? because I've worked at both & Davy hasn't. I appreciate that he helped you & if you go to Knight, I hope you're as successful as he seems to be. We all find exactly where we need to be in order to be successful, if we put in the effort.

Fair point. Thank you for the positive vibes. Much appreciated.

I was actually set to go to prime prior to knight. Definitely, my apologies if it seems that I was being combative or adversarial with you. The point was as Kerry pointed out, that many times, we see a company get bashed, when in all reality, it's our own performance that dictates our success. I have every bit of confidence that I would have found the same satisfaction with Prime.

Their safety department was unable to work with my speeding tickets, totally understandable. If they had been able to, I would most likely have been there. The point that I was trying to make is that most of the companies are similar in concept, what really matters is how we as the employees approach our work and relationships.

I've been out of my truck for over a month, in loaners, had to clean a few of them myself, I just think it's part of the job, my DM and terminal have done everything they can, as the truck is down in Dallas. It's finally getting resolved, but it took a lot of me being the polite but squeaky wheel.

Apology accepted. If you'd like to meet for a steak dinner on me, just send a note to reynrod108@gmail.com. I can get routed to Dallas next time you're going to be there. Just because I didn't explain every situation in depth, doesn't mean I didn't question why things were done a certain way.

I'm sorry for your truck troubles. I live in my truck so I can only imagine how difficult that must be. Good luck with the repairs & your future success.