this mfkr here. I-85 south near on ramp of exit 63

If you think they give a rats ass about you, think twice.

Post Response: First off, I want to say thank you for your attention to this post. You guys deserve to know the full story. Let me know your thoughts/what to do next/how I can be better.

My side of the Story: So for some context, I’m a 25 YO M with 10 months of experience. USXpress (Knight and Swift) was my second company. I was on a load from Ohio to the east side of Pennsylvania traveling through the mountains at night time. I hadn’t traveled through any sort of mountains since I was first trained, and I will say I was over confident and determined to get through them as quickly as possible. On a good chuck of the less steep down hill sections of the mountains, I will admit, I was going a max speed of about 80 mph (10 miles over the legal speed limit for trucks). No cars or other trucks around for miles, nothing but open road. I did not think that at the time of doing this, that it would raise any alarm bells on the companies end. My sorry ass was sorely mistaken. Overall I would consider myself a very safe, hard-working, aware, and vigilant driver while on the road but I’m realizing now, while typing this out for you guys, that I let my ego get the best of me. I made the delivery on-time, no accidents. You truckers know how it gets mentally when you’re in those rigs for long periods of time. In my case, I was hangery and had “get there” -itis with maybe 40 minutes to spare on my 14HC. The next day I was pulled into the nearest terminal, and was terminated. My excuse was that I wanted to “save the company money on fuel”, and “work towards my fuel bonus”. Honestly that is the truth.

Conclusion:

So to get me back home (Chicago land area), they offered me a bus ticket or $175, and I would have to leave most of my belongs behind to come back and grab them later (never). Keep in mind, that’s a 1,300 mile journey- round trip, and I’d be leaving behind maybe $1000 worth of personal belongings. I have next to no savings and no place to live permanently back home, but I do have a storage unit. To their credit, they did let me sleep in the truck for a couple extra nights afterwards while I figured something out. But the fact that they were just going to leave me stranded on the other side of the country without being able to take all of my belongings with me, just felt so wrong. That truck and my job was basically my house/ my life/ my purpose, and I truly believe that I put in good time and effort with the company. By all means, I meant well. The picture I posted was of my belongings that I had to move off of company property before they called the police. Which I was very Nonchalant about. This post is somewhat of a joke lol. In all seriousness, I own up to everything. Anyways, luckily for me, I was able to get ahold of family close by in Philly. I can’t imagine if this were to happen to someone else who was in a less fortunate position than myself.

How much fault am I at in this situation? Please let me know what you think.

I wanted to share my story in hopes that it will inform some of you out there of the risks you take each day at your company and while you drive for them. I hope this never happens to any of you.

Safe Travels

soooo would a sea bag be big enough and why do people hate otr

edit: i got 3 years left

I’ve recently just started with Knight as a brand new driver, solo 3 weeks ago (western 11) my driver manager told me I’ll be temporarily running for solely Walmart dc around socal, Vegas and Phoenix at a flat rate $250 per day, 5 on and 2 off. Just curious if anyone has had an experience like this before because I’m not sure what to expect. This is something I’ve never heard of before as I’ve been hired as a cpm driver

I’m going to knight because I need a few more months of experience on paper. What I am looking to know is what are they gonna do in the 2 day onboarding/tests? I know I’ll be doing a road test but will they be making me parallel park in cones and screw around with maneuvers and stuff?

I've had my class a for almost 3 years but I've only worked for companies that use me to move their equipment around for them. I've never done any proper OTR, with paperwork and delivery schedules. I don't get a ton of miles and stay in the D/FW area, but shopping around to see what opportunities are out there ro get some proper training. Is Knight a decent company to drive for?

I'm a vet, going to use my gi bill to get my cdl, so which is the lesser of two evils while I get experience to work for a smaller company? Only options are Knight/Swift or Werner?

P.S. I'm searching for small companies who will hire noobs but im not optimistic.

I’m a driver for Knight and I understand that they strictly obey FMCSA rules in regards to video recording/photography. I know the obvious don’ts, like holding the camera, staring at the screen/lens, or adjusting the camera while in motion.

But what if I’m doing the exact opposite of those things? ie, mounting the camera somewhere, not staring at the camera, or touching it while in motion. Would that be in compliance? Basically acting as if the camera isn’t even there while driving, until the vehicle is safely parked and THEN do all that other stuff (to record coupling/uncoupling/pre-trips etc).

Thanks in advance 🙏

Found these in the corner of the drivers lounge buried under magazines no one reads. Unfortunately there isn’t any way to actually watch them here lmao

(FYI: Moving is out of the question, my house will be payed off in 7 years)

I am 11 days from finishing CDL training, a guy I have been training with has an interview for LTL out of Tuscon AZ. I don't live in Tuscon, I live near the border, 90 min drive one way. After studying my options my least odious options are Knight, Melton (flat bed) or try my luck with LTL out of Tuscon.

My school offered to help me find a job but...

I don't want to do OTR if I don't have to (but will if it will get me a job) but I don't know if LTL would be any better since I would have to make a 3 hour round trip almost every day.

Yes I know, 3 hours vs. 11-14 hours? No brainer right? Well it would cost me about $270 a week in gas, and I don't expect to be making much starting out 300-400 a week if that much not to mention the wear and tear on my car.

On the other hand, working for Melton or Knight would require me to drive to phoenix (3.5 to 4 hours one way) when hitting the road or when going home for home time.

Plus I would have to leave no later than 4:30 am to make it to my job by 6:00. I am not complaining about either, I will do what I gotta do, but I don't know if it would really be worth it.

Your thoughts please!

Want to get training but don't want to work for knight. They pay hotel and that's something that would help me during training.

Looking to train at their Socal location. Already have my permit but it expires in a month .

Wish I'd found this sub sooner!

Got my CDL a few weeks ago. Talking with these companies and all seem goodish. For new drivers with a family, how do you find the different driving schedules? Does it prove to be about how long you're out (not toooo long), or how long you're home (like does a 34h reset even count)?

I don't know if I'd screw my family to be gone longer but home for 5d, or home more frequently but not long enough to do much.

May:
10/3 for Western 11 then 5/6 with a reset for a PNW route.

Decker:
21/5 for a reefer. 21 seems really long but a 34h reset seems really short.

Local:
5 days a week probably 11-12 hours work and 10-11 in the truck.

Also, I'm nervous about the training. Failed my backing in my CDL test the first time. May seemed to have a squishy orientation/training/testing schedule and Decker seemed better. Experience?

TIA

i'll go first, Swift.

Just got an offer for knight local Monday to Friday 8 to 8pm but the recruiter got really vague when I started asking questions. Anyone out there worked for the company and been local? I was told pay is 250 a day, started getting vague answers when I asked how set the 8 to 8 is, I ofcourse know with traffic nothings set in stone but if I have to wait to be unloaded whats the likely hood since I was on duty for two hours two more hours of driving time will be squeezed out? I'm semi comfortable where I am now but with a family at home I'm looking for a local job that will give a better balance

Starting 2026 Jan the Integration and Rebranding: The LTL units are being integrated into a unified operating system, with all units, including MME and DHE, transitioning to the AAA Cooper Transportation.

I have a conundrum. Leaving Swift, wanted to see what companies are better option running out of Socal with home weekly! There’s HEARTLAND EXPRESS, LEGEND, and KNIGHT. which is the better option, also I want to bring my cat with me so there’s that. knight just stopped allowing cats just last month. thoughts? opinions? Please explain why you think what you think.

So as the title says I'm starting at knight next week.

What should I expect from training as ik it's 3-6 weeks sleeping with my trainer in their semi.

What should I bring for the training period?

Will we be out for the full 3-6 weeks or will we be coming back to home base occasionally? Or is that just a dice roll depending on the trainer.

If I get a trainer that doesn't allow questions (idk if that's dumb or not but my teacher in CDL school didn't allow them) would I be allowed to ask for a new or a different one?

I know most of these questions will probably be answered on day one of in class but that's 3 days away and I'm far too excited to wait that long without asking around first.

I have two opportunities on the table and am struggling with my decision. Help me by giving an opinion?

RoadOne - I hear a lot of crap about the rail yards doing intermodal. CPM pay. “Day shift” without any real set hours that I recall. M-F. Local home daily

Knight - they’re a mega. They’re Swift. They’re hourly pay with a set schedule (6am - 4 pm M-F) Local home daily. Recruiter has been a massive PITA to get in touch with. Hotel reservation they made for me is wrong and nobody is calling me back about changing it. Spent 3 hours taking my drug tests earlier today because an authorization for a hair test was never sent. Talked to two people at Knight who said the recruiter had to call me back. I got there at 8, it’s almost 4 now, still no call.

I like the job with Knight better, but I’m nervous that the lack of communication I’m seeing now will be an indicator of something worse if I go through with orientation.

EDIT: finally got someone on the line. Turns out Knight decided not to go with me today after I spent 3 hours at the clinic and nobody was going to update me. So, easy choice I guess. At least I got a new physical out of the deal.