marten transport

im feel for u maybe hotel is nice but just wait . im sorry , u will find out the hard way.

 

Yep you just wait. Follow there rules and do your job and wait and you will see they are a good place to work for professionals.

 

I get so sick and tired of people coming in and holding the boss mans nads while he takes a leak.You know what I mean?

When you say, ''you followed the rules." It implies that those of us who left Marten,(quit, not fired) because of the reasons outlined in POST AFTER POST,were somehow negligent in the performance of our duties.In other words,that we didn't follow the rules.Thus, and were probably a problem to management.I don't know what everyone else did.Here's what I did.

I picked up and delivered on time,ran decent logs and didn't tear up equipment.I also got several of their stupid azzed ''blue bird pins'' after 2 gig free DOT inspections. Those pins and a buck will get me a cup of coffee.How come I was only getting 1,500 miles a week half the time?

If you do well there,that's great.Many people don't do well over there for reasons that aren't related to their job performance.Reasons, like they are putting most of their cross country freight on railhead and simply dont have the miles to offer to drivers that cant run a locomotive.Reasons like,excessive layover and detention, poor miles,per diem.

Sure their equipment aint bad,it's better than average for sure.BUT,wheels that dont turn, don't earn.

Answer this,if they are so great,why are they replacing 100 drivers a week at three orientation centers/terminals.In Mira Loma,Indy,And Mondovi??

Just for giggles,how many miles a week are you running at the House of Blues?

 

I guess you didn't read where KC didn't get through his road test.

 

If they are referring to the one across the street from Marten in Mondovi,it has the feel of a crackhouse.

I didn't think it was nice at all.Maybe I'm just uppidity,but it seemed dirty,and kinda scuzzy..

It didn't impress me at all.But it was convienent for orientation,being right across the street from the terminal and all.Still scuzzy though.

 

I will say that the hotel I stayed at in Ontario and orientation itself was decently done.

 

You worked hard. Picked up and delivered as early as you could and didn't give your Fm grief? It's not enough to del on time. You have to be early when ever possible. If you run it as it is booked then that is not showing them you want to work. That you want to run hard. You have to p/u and del early every time you can. My FM knows that I will p/u a ld just as soon as I can legally get there. That I will be at the receivers as soon as the log book lets me and get it off me asap. ready for a no load. If they give me a 500 mile ld with 2 days to do it. I do it in one. I get pre-planned every time before I get to the other end. They are 800+ mile trips 98% of the time. But I don't care. As long as I am getting miles. Miles is miles, who care that they have very few trips go across the country any more. I run 2500 or better every week and 90% of that is between Chicago PA/VA and GA/AL.

And yes I read KC's post. I just don't by that he failed the road test for no reason. He must have done something illegal or un-safe. The fact that other drivers do it does not make it right.

 

Are you kidding me? Being on time and being awarded for being a safe driver isn't good enough? So if he gets there early, all he is going to do is sit longer. A lot of places go by appointment times, they DONT WANT you there early and then you end up trying to find a place to wait.

You never address the question of the full orientations every week? Is it because freight is way up and there is a driver shortage? Is it because they have terrible luck and get nothing but crummy drivers? I don't think so, according to the folks in orientation, they have a line out the door and only a small percentage are getting hired with strict hiring criteria, I think that says something about the co if they still have to keep hiring. I'm not say EVERY driver hates Marten, but where there's smoke there's fire. They are just another big revolving door mega-carrier, worse than some, better than others.

 

No being on time is not good enough. It tells the company that you will only work as hard as is required. if you give me 3 days to do the trip in then I'm going to be lazy and take 3 days. If you run it in early that tells them I will work harder then the next guy. You give me 3 day I'll do it in two. If I get to the other end and have to wait, oh well. At least I tried. They like that. They know you will work hard for them . They don't have to worry about you being late. Because you run early. Now they have 2 load going out. 1 is 350 miles with two days and one is 950 with 2 days. Who do you think they are going to give the 950 to. Thats right the driver who runs hard and arrives as early as he can.

You are right, Allot of customers do have appointment times. But they will let you in early. I do it all the time. Whats the worst they can tell you for asking? No. You can't get rid of the load early if you take the time given to you and don't arrive early. You can't get another load till you are done with the one you have. So the sooner you get rid of it. The sooner you can get a new one.

It's not hard. You can bust your #$$ to do the best you can or ##### because the company is giving you low miles because you have never show them you will harder then the next guy.

As for the hiring question it's simple. They are getting ready for CSA 2010. They are filling up all they trucks. Not just replacing the drives who have quite or been fired. But filling there trucks up. They know that they freight is getting ready to pick up. In fact in some areas it already has. They want to make sure they have the drivers to move it. Makes good business sense.

 

Thanks Billy..

I'm glad I'm not the only person that said wtf too..I mean, sure,when I got my typical 500 mile run from Marten,and 2 days to run it,sure,I'd get it there as quick as I could.If only so I didn't completely screw up my logs running 250 miles a day.As it turned out, I was rarely in danger of running out of hours at Marten.Just the same, I would try and get it there as quick as I could.Only to sit.

Seeing as Marten runs tons of reefer freight and does a lot of Wal Mart loads, I don't know how he is able to disregard appointments and just bring the load in whenever he rolls into town. Hell,Wal-Mart don't even want you on the property until 30 minutes before your appointment.They sure the hell ain't taking the load a day early.Not usually anyways.

Try bringing in a load early to a grocery warehouse and see if they dont throw the bills in your face and order you off the property.I know occasionally you may be able to get a load off early, but the load planners arent betting on it.Even if you are fortunate to get the load off,there are still drivers ahead of you who already emptied a day before you and are still waiting on a dispatch.So I'm not sure how he just breezes to the head of the line ''because he showed them he wants to work.'' How about when you empty and you're told you are 15 on the list for a load? I guess you just call up your FM and proclaim,"I want to work." I'm sure that will clear up any confusion and you'll be immediately rolling on a nice long run.If you believe it, it's not a lie.More likely than not,you'll be told to quit calling them on the phone and you'll get a load when they dispatch you on one.Then they hang up on you in mid sentence.

I'm just not down for playing these type of reindeer games with any company.You either have steady freight or you don't. It's that simple.I'm not playing mind games with these people,to show them how ''much I want to work." My record should be a clear indication of my commitment to safety and on time delivery. It's their job to keep me rolling when I get there.I'm a pretty flexible guy,as you must be in this industry, but I'll tolerate only so much

Any company that can't demonstrate to me that they are interested in my financial well being, and my ability to pay my bills ON TIME, with the miles they provide, will not have me as a driver for very long.

It's a two way street.