Attached you will find a copy of our updated permit book, which includes all of our current permits and insurance information. Make sure you have a hard copy in your truck.
Author: T. Ellis
Per diem is NOT an “extra pay”. What we are doing is taking a certain portion of your regular pay and labeling it as a meal and incidental reimbursement instead of taxable income. All this means is the government has decided that as a “perk” of staying out over the road, truck drivers are allowed to not be taxed on a certain portion of their income.
As a company driver, we take care of calculating this for you each week. There is an IRS standard meal and travel allowance deduction at tax time that you will not be eligible for since we take care of it for you all year long. Also, per diem is for “night” spent in the truck and we max out at 5 each week.
Our per diem rate is now increasing from $66 to $69 per day.
If you have any questions, please call your driver manager or accounting! We’re here to help.
“Our shop team is very reliable. When I have any maintenance issues, they give me good direction on how to resolve them, whether it’s something I can fix myself or where I should go to get fixed. Greg, the maintenance manager, goes above and beyond to check in and ensure I’m safe during these issues, even on his time off. The technicians, Grady and Warren, are also so helpful in the shop and always help me get things taken care of.” – Tina Barlow, Company Driver
Together the MK Shop has over 79 combined years of experience within this industry. Such a statement can’t be made by many repair shops. They provide the best service and exceed expectations every day.
“The shop has always responded quickly to my questions and helped with any maintenance needs I have. They have saved me time and money and always provide their best recommendations on where/what I need to get fixed to get me back on the road as soon as possible.” – Harold Cain, Owner Operator
Our maintenance team is truly valuable and they work hard to make sure our equipment is in tip-top shape so that everyone is safe while on the road. We’re proud to have such an amazing maintenance crew.
This a friendly reminder of the regulations to follow regarding Personal Conveyance Status and Split Sleeper Berth Provision!
PERSONAL CONVEYANCE POLICY
You must notify your Driver Manager and note the reason in your ELD remarks when using Personal Conveyance
- If completely ran out of time getting loaded/unloaded, PC may be used to travel to the nearest reasonable safe location to obtain the required rest after loading or unloading
- Moving a CMV at the request of a safety official during the driver’s off-duty time.
- The truck is being used to go from a home terminal i.e. (Sullivan, Effingham, Decatur, Kankakee) to home or vice versa.
- Personal conveyance is permitted up to one hour of travel time from the terminal to home.
- You cannot use your truck for personal conveyance to go from your home to get a load at a customer.
SLEEPER BERTH PROVISION
The sleeper berth provision allows property-carrying drivers to split their 10-hour off-duty period when the following requirements are met:
- One off-duty period (whether in or out of the sleeper berth) is at least 2 hours long, and
- The other involves at least 7 consecutive hours in the sleeper berth
- Both periods added together must equal at least 10 hours
- When paired, neither time period counts against the 14-hour driving window
- 8-hour sleeper-berth period by itself can no longer be excluded from the 14-hour driving window
Updates to Hours of Service Rules.pdf
This information can also be located in the Resource Library whenever you may need it.
After hearing some of your feedback from the MK Connect Surveys, we realized the After Hours Call Center was very inconsistent and needed some help. We recently set up a webinar call with the Call Center for Re-Training.
We also have been scheduling weekly meetings with the Call Center to provide more of a training opportunity. During these meetings, our team and the Call Center go through some of the previous calls made to dissect what went wrong all while providing some helpful tips to potentially solve the issues we’ve been seeing.
Hopefully with these meetings, the After Hours Call Center will be more helpful and consistent!
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out! We’re here to help.
Out of our entire MK Fleet, we currently have 29 Lease Purchase Drivers! Transitioning from a Company to a Lease Purchase Driver is a BIG STEP UP and an incredible accomplishment! This career path is about gaining more independence and becoming an entrepreneur.
With that being said, we would like to recognize all the drivers who are currently leasing or have leased with us and are successfully growing their own trucking businesses!
- Bryant Austin
- Jeremy Beck
- Matthew Blevins
- Michael Booker
- Harold Cain
- Dan Emel
- Jerry Frost
- Timothy Garrett
- Kevin Habing
- Nicholas Harjung
- Philip Hollaway
- Dwayne Howie
- Curtis Jones
- Julie Kelly
- Fredrick Kruger
- Kyle Luesmann
- Tim McBride
- Mark McKinley
- Randy Murphy
- Johnathon Neumann
- Wade Owens
- Jim Rheinecker
- George Robinson – Leasing 3 trucks!
- Todd Sargent
- Darrell Seaman
- Omer Terry
- John Therieau
- Keith Thrasher
- David Ward
Want to become an Owner Operator?
Consider our Lease Purchase Program! This program provides the opportunity to purchase one of our trucks by lease with a third-party financing institution. After the Driver pays off the lease they own the truck in full, essentially having the means to begin their own transport service.
Our hope is that the program can fund and supply our Driver Associates to develop their own transportation companies while at the same time growing our trucking company through partnership.
Wanting more information? Seek some advice from the drivers above. Some Lease Purchase Drivers are mentoring others by providing tips and advice from their own personal experiences. Don’t hesitate to ask!
If you have any questions at all, talk to your driver manager. We’re here to help!
Categories
Gate Codes/Instructions
Here are the updated Gate Codes with some instructions. This information can also be found in the Resource Library within the App. If you have any questions, contact your Driver Manager!
Koerner Distributor
1601 Pike Ave, Effingham, IL 62401
Gate Code: 0609#
Instructions: Go to the west gate and use the left gate which is the driver’s side. Drop trailer in docks 11 – 14 if available. Do not drop in the dock with the red light on. Open the doors before dropping in the dock. If no docks are open, please drop the trailer in their lot and pull out an empty, if one is available. Scan paperwork in from previous load when picking up empty if the paperwork is available in the back of the trailer.
Agri Fab Decatur
3490 L & A Industrial Drive, Decatur, IL 62521
Gate Code: 1776#
Instructions: Drop in docks 38 or 39 if available. Please scan a copy of the bills in and leave the bills on the back of the trailer.
Expert Trailer Repair – Riverdale Drop Lot
13400 S Halsted Street, Riverdale, IL 60827
Gate Code: 6582
RLS Global Parking
231 North Old St Louis Road, Wood River, IL 62095
Gate Code: 0758
Instructions: Once through the gate, park as far as possible to the back right
Join us in spreading some Christmas Cheer! If you have your truck decked out with Christmas decorations, send a picture of your truck to your Driver Manager or to Tatum at [email protected], and we will award you with 200 Pro-Points and feature your truck on Facebook!
Check out Dan E.’s truck!
We will be awarding up until Christmas Day!
The railroad crossing by our drop lot on Banker Street will be closed from 11/7-11/11 for repaving.
Detour: Off Fayette Ave, turn south on S Raney St. Then turn left on Pike Ave. Then at the McDonald’s turn left onto South Banker/ US 45.
Here is a visual below!
Currently, there is a lot of construction at the plant and there is very little room to maneuver a trailer around, so all trailers are being dropped at their lot.
The best practice is to drop the empty trailer at 111 E Lynn St., then bobtail to Hearthside and get the paperwork out of the mailbox by the shipping office on the north side of the building. Then head back to 111 E Lynn St and pick-up the loaded trailer.