Careers

You've landed your first trucking job, but what's next? Here are 5 ways you can grow both your truck driving career and your income.

For many drivers, becoming an owner operator is more than just a career move, it's an opportunity to build independence, increase earning potential, and create a future on their own terms. At Knight Transportation, we've designed to help make that transition possible.

After the craziness of the pandemic, the importance of essential workers like truck drivers has never been more valued. Truckers are the backbone of America’s economy and having them successfully transport needed goods kept the country moving. Now that most of America is back to work, and your value as a truck driving professional has been cemented, you might be looking to expand your truck driving career and become a refrigerated freight truck driver. Interestingly enough, with the increased need for medicines, frozen goods, and more, nationwide the demand for refrigerated freight hauling has never been greater.

When our men and women in military service end their active duty status and return to civilian life, they can face many challenges related to integrating back into society. Thankfully, according to an interview with David Valdivia, who himself is a veteran and who now works to help veterans transition from active duty into the transportation industry as a driving recruiter, “the camaraderie at Knight Transportation, and the way that is set up in terms of structure is very similar to the military, which is often comforting for those who are just coming out of active service.”

Mike Sanford, a Ports Truck Driver for Knight Transportation opens up about his truck driving career.

Are you a new truck driver who just finished CDL school and training? Congratulations on earning your Class A Commercial Driver's License (CDL)! Now that you have achieved this significant milestone, it's time to explore the diverse opportunities the trucking industry has to offer. One of the most common and versatile segments is dry van trucking.

At Knight Transportation, our internship program is built around one core belief: real-world experience should be meaningful, hands-on, and empowering.

Over-the-road trucking, also known as OTR or long-haul driving, is a classification of professional truck driving that can take you as a driver all over the 48 continental United States. In other words, when you choose this type of driving as your career, you will enjoy more travel and experience some different situations when compared to short routes or local driving.

Truck driving is a rewarding career in several ways. Getting to see the country and make a good living, you must be diligent in ensuring your body stays fit. Sitting for hours and being away from home means you cannot always eat the way you want or move as much as you would like. Experienced truck drivers take good care of themselves on the road.

Today, there are more and more people reaching retirement with little to no savings. Many of these retirees realize, after retiring or when contemplating it, that they need more income than social security provides in order to make ends meet. This has resulted in many retirees returning to the workforce shortly after saying goodbye to their career or starting new careers after leaving the workforce. Rising health care costs, cost of living increases and more has combined to create this phenomenon. Thankfully, there are truck driving careers for people over 50.

As the trucking industry continues to evolve, there's one question that keeps coming up: why are companies investing in technologies like autonomous vehicles if it means they could eventually replace human drivers? While it's understandable to be concerned about job security, it's important to recognize that autonomous vehicles aren't meant to replace humans, but rather to enhance safety and efficiency on the road. Just as airplanes do not fly on autopilot without a pilot in the cockpit, tractors with autonomous technology are not operating without a driver in the cab.

Virtual truck driver hiring processes and orientations have been in the works at Knight Transportation for some time. The sudden shift in the way the world works with COVID-19 and social distancing accelerated the timeline. Now, Virtual truck driver orientations are here and available to nearly all newly hired drivers.