Smaggs goes to Marten. My Experience with Marten Transport.

Hey Smaggs, The paycheck are kinda . It's been a while, but basicly they divide you pay into taxable and untaxable (per diem). So say you were on a load that paid .36 Center a mile, you might see it divided into 16 and 20 (for example only) and one of those 2 categoreys will be taxed. You pay the. 03 a mile fee on the first $1437 dollars you make in a month. So it wouldn't be the $3600 over the course of a year, but it would be a lot. For me since I averaged 1600 miles a week when there, I paid far into the month. You're getting way more miles than I did, and as long as your happy.. That's the bottom line. One thing I would do if I was still at Marten is to pay my own money to get a prepass because their bad CSA score will have you getting pulled in for DOT inspections a lot. One time I was pulled in twice in one day. I jokingly told the DOT officer, "You guys must like me." As I waved the inspection I just had earlier that day. He smiled and waved me by.

 

Not sure about the sticker thing. I have only gotten them when DOT actually checked out the truck mechaniclly. I just had my first pull over inspection since being with my current company ( I started in March 2011), but they only checked logs, permits and such. I passed, and they gave me the printout that said as much, but I didn't get a sticker, and my company didn't need to mail a copy of the inspection back to them. Now what's funny is that you mention Level 3, becasue I could have swore that the DOT man said that my paperwork only Inspection was a Level 3.

When I worked for Marten I was on the East side of the country. The farthest west I went was to Houston, TX.... The Tucker Terminal which opened while I was there, (and replaced the Forrest Park one) is state of the art. Real Nice Wash Bays that are closed off from the elements, fuel everything at once like you said. Inspections were pretty fast as long as there wasn't a line. Usually while you fuel. Getting work done was the pain. They did take a while. They have a real nice breakroom though, and a pickup truck you can use to go to the store. They would never put me in a hotel. I would sit all day, and all night till the work was done. As bad as that sounds, at least it wasn't the old Forrest Park terminal.

As far as the pee bottle thing goes. I've heard of the Owner Firing a Driver who had his truck filled with trash and nastyness. The story goes he told the guy he needed to tidy up, and when the guy didn't take the hint, he fired his ###... I say good!! One thing I have always done is to keep a clean good smelling truck. This is a self respect issue, but also it is to respect the mechanics who have to enter your truck to work on it. If they have hold their head out the window when they pull your truck in the shop to keep from puking, they will be less likely to treat you with respect, and it will give you a bad rep.

If I was the owner, and the mechanics told me that a truck smelled like #####, I would tell the driver to clean his stuf out of my truck so that my mechanics don't have to smell that cr@p.

 

The inspection lane dude does not go inside your truck, he checks tires, breaks, etc. You need to go through it at least once per month. It takes about 30 min, but longer if another truck is in front of you. The best and fastest shop to get work done on the western fleet is at the wilsonville, oregon yard. There is hardly any other drivers there. They pay hhg short miles, not practical.

 

Its been 3 years since I worked there and I could be wrong bu I am pretty sure they track the odometer to make sure you are routing yourself within an acceptable range of miles they are paying. Then they can hit you for a buck a mile over what they deem is acceptable in case you route yourself 100 miles out of the way to see your girl because you have time on the load...lol

 

The first 3 years i ran otr but the miles dropped off, so a year ago i went on the western fleet and its been good 2,500-3,000 miles week. But the hometime could be better. They run you hard on otr when you first start, but don't be surprised if it starts to slow down a little. the western regional fleet gets the most miles out of all the fleets at marten.

 

They will let you go out of route if its quicker, like stay on the interstate instead of cutting through the mountains. Not once in 4 years has anybody questioned the route i took. I have gone as much as 150 miles out of route because it was faster and interstate.

 

Wish you a fatty check brother