Marten Transportation SUCKS!!!!!

the negatives about marten are the sliding pay scale, the per diem pay, and the long loads going on the rail, and being off by ten percent or more sometimes on the dispatched trips. The problem with the sliding pay is that when they boosted the pay for the shorter runs, they took a penny or two from the longer runs. as for the per diem, they charge you 2 1/2 cents a mile for it. Add that up over the year and you see how much money we loose. Keven rutherford on the road dog channel says you break even at 1 cents, so if correct, it means we are eating 1 1/2 cents per mile. At 2400 miles a week, that's $36.00 a week, $144.00 per month, $1728.00 per year. ( money lost, not gained). The pluses at Marten are the nice equipment, A.p.u.'s, hometime policy,( I go home every 2 weeks and take 3 1/2 days off) and paid vacation. On average I take home $750.00 per week, but thats not much for working 70 hrs a week, thats $10.71 cents per hour. Another thing, they let you route the way you want and fuel where you wan't as long as it a pilot or fly J.

 

hmmmm,,im not trying to prove you wrong, and commend you for putting up with such a dishonest outfit. There is one thing i will have to correct here....you cant run any route you want....when you are, for example running from say chicago to phila........you cant take the turnpike across pennsylvania.....that's right you have to do the extra 100 or so miles. they want you to take 80 all the way... you will get in trouble.......i know this is rediculous..because they would rather make you do an extra 100 miles to get to phila.....if you dont take 80 to 476 to get down there...they will bring it to your attention and charge you accordingly....I think that's the only one. I know...it really doesnt save them any money...and you have to do an extra 100 miles to get there, and yes... you do not get paid for it...not one thin dime...just an extra reason why MARTIN...sucks

 

Prohibited tolls are the full length of PA Turnpike, The Chicago Skyway, and the full length of the NY Thruway.

Of course it saves them money. They spend a little more on fuel, but they don't waste the enormous toll cash.

You really need to tone it down a little ez. You're starting to sound like the alter-ego of Kabar.

 

no man, i assure you ...I am not him.....I am on the driver's side 100 percent. 100 percent......I am for change in the trucking industry...belated change that guarantees that a driver will not be treated inhuman, that will not be fired unfairly...just because of a dispatcher or office staff who does not appreciate the sacrifices that their drivers make, and fair pay....every week...I am for the driver, not the company....there is no reason for drivers to be treated the way they are treated...and now with elogs? a living is out of the question....if they can monitor your 14 hour day...then you should be guaranteed a minimum amount on your paycheck..not turn on you..all drivers should get a minimum so that if they sit for long periods of time, then they would get a minumum amount ....say 700.00 dollars......that would make dispatchers and office staff work for the money they make instead of watching a clock......and MARTEN TRANSPORT is not the only company that needs a good office cleaning

 

'that needs a good office cleaning '
wonder why they fired two people from safety with 20 years each with the company. yet they keep the bad people ie: after hrs and weekend people who won't reply to you , when you send a lat call, due to problems beyond you control.

 

Don't go to work for Martin they are crooks. You have to stay on top of them about your trips, tolls, and more. They well not pay you on time for them. They well say that you forgot to get something for them or that you did not have them turned in on time and then take up to 3 months to pay you for them. The per diem pay does not equal out you are loosing pay with it. Our fuel was stollen at a truck stop in the middle of the night and they tried to blame us for it, saying that we should have heard them. They find every reason to get rid of the drivers. They blame everything on all the drivers. The give the drivers problems if they can't make it to their appointment times on time, they don't care if you get stuck in the snow or their was a really bad accident, or if you dont have the hours, you better make it on time, or they well make you sit for a while before giving you a small mileage load. You can tell them that you dont have the hours to take a load and they well keep pushing it on you. They well keep sending you messages on the quail come, as well as call you on your phone, all night long so you dont get a good night of sleep. They dont have directions to all of their pick up location or drop off locations, and if they have the directions most of them are wrong. They well send you the wrong directions for a pick up and say its all you fault for not calling the company and checking. You should not have to call the company to check when the information comes from them.

 

I agree with a most of what you said, except for whos responsibilty it is to get directions. In this day and age we have it so easy when it comes to directions. When I started driving back in 1983 there were no cell phones, no qualcom, no GPS. Just you, a map, and a payphone. And once you went somewhere, you better write it down and save it in a folder. No offense, but to me all a professional driver needs is the addres and phone number, and he should be able to figure out the rest unless it a weird address. I never trust directions, and use multiple sources to cross check. I feel spoiled. I don't have to stop in a truck stop and use a payphone. I send a Mac 46, and cross check it with MY GPS, map, or even call them from my phone. If all else fails I can call dispatch. I guess if you started driving recently and don't know any better you would think it's not your job, but seriously we have it easy today.
To this day I pride myself on never having to ask for directions to a place I've already been. It's a pride thing.

At my previous job, I trained a driver who would constantly call me for directions to the places he had areleady been over and over. I would reach down by my seat and grab my folder full of directions and tell him, but I thought he was unprofessional.

My gripe with Marten is the pay. If they just gave me some good runs, and didn't penalize me with that per diem garbage, I couldn't care less if they if gave me any directions ever again.

 

OK I'm just being funny or really stupid here but HOW THE FRICK do they CHARGE you for going less miles?

Using LESS fuel and paying the toll out of your pocket if they don't get a toll ticket receipt?

No REALLY! I had brain surgery in Feb this year and things do get confusing for me like this one! Please! Be easy on me here!

 

We have a handbook that explicitly states that if you're going to Philly, you take I80 to I476 south, and that the PA Turnpike is verboten. The only way to "forget" that is if you're an idiot. I'm sorry.

What happens when you "forget" is, depending on how cranky it makes your team lead, you'll get the price of the toll deducted from your paycheck. This happens because we have EZ-pass, and can technically blow right down the whole turnpike without stopping. But Marten says "no".

The gripe is that they direct us to take a longer route, mileage wise, and pay us for the Rand-Mcnally route, which is PA turnpike.
It's a little poopy, but it doesn't steam my carrots.

 

I think it's absolutely hilarious when some who supposedly has been driving for 33 yrs and is whining about wrong direction & saying that you should not have to call company for directions. sounds like a steering wheel holder who wants everything done for him! what a joke! Drivers like that are usually the first one to say "why don't we drivers get any respect?" Well this is the reason why, laziness & imcompentancy!