01/21/10 Update on good and bad at Marten

Kabar,
Thanks for this thread it seems like it was what i was wanting to hear. i have my app. in and has been approved just have to get the physical done. they said i could do orientation in Richmond,VA.

I have been debating over and over if i should go with MARTEN or ROEHL.....

Still thinking but might be leaning a bit towards MARTEN.

Thanks.

 

gregsmith7467
i am in the same boat as u. i have been prehired as well. i started with roehl and they are a good co. for a starter. i was with them for 2 yrs. and left for family reasons. money a little low. trucks are ok.

 

My input on marten so far is good my first load i got 1838 mile load from indy to casa grande. plenty of time to get to delivery they dont bug and nag you if u keep up info on Q/C. I come from a O/O with 1 trk with 10 yrs exp. driving triple digit trks now to 65 mph I never worked for a large trkn co. before and i gotta say so far so good. I got a 09 freightliner cascadia not use to driving slow but ill manage. Ill keep everyone informed as the days and weeks go by.

 

I have definitely noticed that regular customers seem pretty eager to get the Bluebirds out of their doors. Then one day I got detention paid for $3. Payroll had dogged the customer for 12 minutes of detention!

I'm not on the e-Logs yet, but I'll tell you this: when I am and the customers pull that thumb-twiddling crap, dispatch will know, and customer service will know, and the delivery appt will be changed to reflect the shipper's failure to hold up their end of the deal. Sure it might hurt my mileage one week, but by God, when we fluff the logs to make up for lazy or bumbling shippers and receivers, we're only enabling them to push us around.

If the game's going to change, you can be sure all of the players will have to change, too. I have enough stress facing down DOT, I'm not about to take on problems that should be the shippers' and receivers' responsibility.

This is why I'm kind of in love with the move to e-logs. Yeah, creativity will die a horrible death, but "I can't" will mean "I can't" now, and everybody's going to have to start looking to blame somebody beside the driver for delays.

 

Im on the e log here at marten. Its not bad at all. You get used to it. You have to trip plan carefully. The 14 hr rule is the thing that can mess with you, especially if you like to run during the day, and say the load delivers at 2 am. You will have to turn down some loads that in the past you would have accepted, and it usually is because of that 14 hr rule. All the companies are eventually going with the e log. There are alot of challenges with it, but we will all have to overcome them. And it can be done. Here at marten we gotta run 100% legal . Rest assured , you can run legal , and still make a good paycheck.

 

Well off to marten orientation here in chester Va. Hope all goes well. Thank god i came prepared with all my past info.

 

There running my app now,my best friend works there and talked me into calling them.Wish me luck.