marten transport- A+ company to drive for

does marten train there newbies for there CDL? and how long is the commitment after training?

 

I believe you have to have 6 months experience coming in the door.

 

aww man! oh well, thanks for the info telcobilly!

 

Hey is there any body with marten now that has anything good or bad to say about them they are doing my app right now and would like to get some more info before i make up my mind

 

Marten for the most part is a pretty good company. They keep you running, good hometime, good equipment, (love that Apu). In my opinion they are better then most big carriers. That said, i don't like the per diem pay, and the fleet managers can be a little rude at times. Been here two years.

 

Marten for the most part is a pretty good company. They keep you running, good hometime, good equipment, (love that Apu). In my opinion they are better then most big carriers. That said, i don't like the per diem pay, and the fleet managers can be a little rude at times. Been here two years.


Thank you for your reply and I have been reading a lot of the forums in here and from what i've heard in the past and even now they seem like the right choice has things as for as freight picked up and have the pre-plans with the e-logs improved any

 

Freight is picking up, and they still have not got it together concerning dispatching and the E log. Alot of the loads i get are super tite. Im thinking that when the whole company is on the E log, they will have to get it together. They won't have a choice.

 

Kool i don't leave for orientation until after the fourth. Are u regional or otr? And by the way thanks for all the info hope to see on tha big road

 

I just left Marten back in April. They were by far the WORST outfit I've ever worked for. I will outline the issues below.

*Maintenance network is far below par. They do not have a large enough network to get work done in a timely manner and many of their terminals (except for Wilsonville, OR) do poor quality work. Forest Park, GA (aka 'Forest PUKE') is the WORST of them all. While Marten does buy decent equipment and installs APUs on them, the trucks become reduced to junk with minimal upkeep and drivers that, by learning through their own experiences, eventually don't want to bother taking the time to get the equipment repaired until it's time to get a PM done. Many of us often had to wait 3 days to get anything done at some terminals even after scheduling appointments via Qualcomm.

*Per Diem Pay is a ripoff. Ask any good trucking-specialized accountant and they will tell you to RUN AWAY from any company that forces Per-Diem pay on their drivers. I saw the hit I took on my Tax Return this year- the numbers don't lie.

*Lots of short-hauls and staging loads that get put on the rail. I'm not afraid to do local work at all but Marten dispatchers have a bad habit of stacking local work on OTR drivers and it can become very stressful at times, especially when you're stuck in traffic and they keep hammering you on the Qualcomm asking you when you will be at certain places.

*New-Hires are expected to obtain a U.S. Passport and travel to Canada. I don't have a problem with going to Canada myself but they expect you to do it with no additional compensation for the extra work it usually entails (like faxing paperwork to Canadian Customs brokers and other stuff).

*Rude Dispatch & Operations Staff who refuse to listen to or take into consideration anything you have to say, regardless of how polite you come across. They also like to 'make up their own little rules' as they go as part of being on some sort of a power trip.

*Marten is notorious for getting drivers home later than requested. If you have anything important scheduled (like a wedding, Doctors Appointment, or something of that nature) you might as well forget about it if you don't live in one of their frequently serviced areas. They also did away with the $50/Day 'Late-for-Hometime pay' (or whatever they called it) late last year.

*Overpriced yet lousy Medical Insurance. I'm paying about $30 a week less for my Medical Insurance coverage where I'm at now than I did while employed at Marten.

Before anyone says anything I will say that I'm a relatively easy-going person who doesn't look for things to complain about but in this particular case I couldn't help but speak my mind about Marten. If you look for Marten threads in the 'Report A BAD Trucking Company Here' you will be able to take notice of the same issues others have also had with them. If you still choose to go to work for Marten despite being warned by others like myself, just be sure you have the means to get home (like a credit card with a minimal balance and money in the bank so you can rent a car one-way). I'm not kidding. Thankfully I had my vehicle parked in the Irving, TX terminal and was able to quit and get home easily.

I have since returned to work for a previous employer (Crete Carrier) and my stress level has dropped dramatically all while I'm making a LOT more money and not being nickel-dimed to death.

 

Capt chaos, I agree with some of what your saying, but what big company doesn't do about the same? Now i have heard that crete is a pretty good company, but that its hard to get home. But i have a question for you. Did you give marten notice that you were leaving? and did they direct you to the Irving terminal? Or did you quit at Irving while on hometime. I ask this question because I wonder if they will ding your dac for not giving notice, and for not taking the equipment to a place of there choosing.