Marten or Shaffer?

How many miles per week, and how much micro managing can you stand? 3000 miles x $.53= $1590.00. $1000.00 / $.53 = 1886 miles. If you only make $1k a week, you might as well have a local job. If you can get some decent miles it might be good.

Ask them more questions about what matters to you.

Personally, I like a smaller company that lets me run my ship.

 

Flip a coin they are both rate cutting bottom feeders..

 

I worked for Marten from '08 to '13. If I had to do it again I would choose Shaffer.

 

You won't get a clear cut answer to help a decision. Everyone's experience is different. Trucking companies are pretty much the same. You have to decide what do you value the most. Hometime? Big miles? High com? Bonuses? No micromanaging? Territories ran? Dedicated lanes? Both have been business for a long time so they are doing something right. Everything companies say is just a means to get you to orientation. After that, it's on you to do good work and get big miles. That's with any company. I've came across drivers that love both or hate both. At the end of the day, if you're not on time for your deliveries, then you won't be successful anywhere. You've got a smorgasbord of companies to choose from I would imagine but which one talks your language? Example: if i talk to a recruiter, i dont wanna hear about frills and thrills. I want a straight shooter, i want to talk about miles and freight. Cpm takes care of itself really. Doesn't matter that much. I need to know if a company has the customer base and freight base/lanes to keep me busy. I don't care about anything else. Everything will take care of itself.

 

Both are trash megas
That used truck purchase only difference from lease it has a better chance of breaking down.

 

@Farmerbob1

 

Worked for Marten for two years.

If you choose them be prepared to have the inside of your truck inspected by some random dude you've never met every single time you drive into a Marten yard to pick up a load. It's unbelievably insulting. Supposedly its to look for piss bottles but I got a write up for having an empty Doritos bag and a (singular) shirt on the floor behind the curtain separating the drive space from where I lived. Surly mechanics are the ones who do the inspecting.

We also had to put a steering lock on any time we took home time. They weren't satisfied that drivers would do this and prefer to treat them like infantile morons so we had to take a picture of the steering lock in place and text it to them.

I had laser eye surgery to get rid of glasses. I get the procedure done and the doctor said he wants to see me in four weeks to make sure it was healing right. I gave notice to Marten dispatch two weeks before I need to go home as required but they said there were too many drivers out and that I couldn't return. That's your problem not mine, I say. You go home and we'll ding your DAC report for unauthorized truck use and abandoning a load, they say. Dropped the load I had, as scheduled, and then quit them immediately.

They #### on my DAC anyway which caused complications at my next job until it became clear that they were just being spiteful.

Not sure if you're going to listen to this, but this is not a company you want to work for.

 

For me, the obvious choice would be LTL. You have options. You can run local @ $24 (starting pay), or you can run OTR @ 63 CPM (starting pay). Get your endorsements, you’ve already got one year.
But if you’re not into LTL, try IWX. they’re in Kingman, AZ & Springfield, MO & a few other places. I have a friend working there now. .57 CPM + per diem. They run refrigerated.