Marten Transport May Not be for you!

joseph1135 · Aug 15, 2012

stuey said: ↑

Here is my two cents:

I hired into Marten to run a dedicated account that was just starting up for Wrigley's Chewing Gum from Flowery Branch GA into Canada (Quebec) and back to Kennesaw GA. Then to Marten's terminal in Tucker GA and go home for 3 days off. I was also told that on occasion I'd go thru/to Chicago IL to pick up hazardous materials that would be used in the plant in Canada so I might be asked to deliver product to a vendor for Wrigley's and then continue onwards and upwards. This seemed like the perfect type of job for me, it would meet my financial needs, allow me to see my family who lives in Canada and allow me to do something that I still love to do... as I've often thought of getting out of the race because of so many discouraging things within the industry.

I accepted the job offer, thought that I asked all the right questions and got a good feeling for Marten. I to had heard over the years that Marten was what many say in this industry of being a top tier company. An outfit that you strive to get into because the company has low turn over, nice equipment, a leader in the industry and on and on and on. But, like so many other companies I hear about or have personally worked with, they seem to regress into a less than desirable company... for whatever reason.

I went to their orientation in Tucker GA and it seemed like chaos there. They had no idea and no organization, in my opinion. They had an agenda of required things they needed to get thru in order to seat everyone in the equipment and get them moving freight. Marten brought the medical staff to the terminal which allowed for quicker processing. They also had the insurance representative on hand and most everything else was done over the internet in live chat private chat rooms with other orientation groups linking together with Mondovi WI. Most of this stuff is typical of any company's orientation and so I paid less than full attention to it to be perfectly honest.

After completion of the entire process, id cards were issued and truck assignments assigned. If you were fortunate enough you got something there in Tucker GA. There was seven of us that traveled by 2 rental cars to TX to pick up our trucks. We drove straight there and because it was a Friday that particular "shared" shop didn't have night or weekend hours and had it not been for the quick thinking of a couple of people in the car I was in to call Mondovi and ask about access and keys, we'd have had to spend the weekend there as no one at Marten's Mondovi WI office let that staff in TX know we were coming and no keys would have been available, nor would we have had access to the property. Long story short I personally felt like we had been let down and given little consideration... again, my opinion. Not such a nice way to start a new relationship.

So, we all got into the trucks and we got a good nights sleep and one by one on Saturday we got some sort of dispatch to get us moving... There was another driver that had been hired to do the same dedicated account that I had been hired for so we spent most of our time discussing and comparing notes. We got beer loads that carried us into points west and then finally, after 5 or 6 days we were heading for home. I make this point because we had been told to bring only the essentials as we'd be routed straight home to get the rest of our gear and then we'd drop right into our rotation for Wrigley's. So here is my second let down, my idea of straight home and Marten's idea was two different time frames. Mind you now I have Mr. Marten's son as our driver manager, he was the one who brought this new business in for Marten and he was to head it up until everything got up and running smoothly... a point that had not been made clear in the initial conversations about the dedicated account, (that Marten had just acquired the account and was getting it up and running).

After I got home and set my truck up, I proceeded to take my three days off only to be called on early and given my first dispatch. It wasn't for Wrigley's Chewing Gum nor was it for the dedicated account at all. It was some more beer that had good miles but it carried me away from the dedicated lane and I told Marten up front that I was a Christian and beer wasn't going to be a load that I'd be able to haul except on rare occasion. I called and asked what was up, had I misunderstood, was there a problem with the account? And this is when I found out that I was going to be given any and every load possible to keep me busy until the account was ready. All the drivers had been hired with the expectations of jumping right onto the account, three up while three are coming back to start with and as the loads increase so would the driver pool. But Marten jumped the gun a little and didn't have everything in place to transition the prior contracting company out and Marten in. Maybe a good thing, maybe not... they didn't want to lose the drivers they had just hired, after all, it's expensive to hire new drivers so retention is the key (to any trucking out fit for that matter) so they were just dumping whatever refer freight they could get to keep us busy and a check coming in.

But, I didn't want to do refer freight necessarily. I took this job because it offered good miles (better than average for refrigerated as I understand), a dedicated lane and a dedicated customer with very often the same destinations, a simple border crossing that paid a premium and best of all... it gave me three days at home after a trip up and back. I have all the respect one driver can have for another and we all have our chosen freight types; flat, dry, refer, tank, over sized... whatever, we all have some we like and some we don't. Hauling miscellaneous loads of varying types of refrigerated freight wasn't what I wanted to do... it wasn't for me. Driving night and day wasn't for me either. God Bless those drivers who do it now and without them we'd be up a creek for food & toilet paper... well maybe not toilet paper since that comes in a dry van.

I hung in there with Marten for a several weeks. I couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. For me I was let down for the third time because I had left a very good regional position with decent miles and better than most in my home time for Marten and what Marten had promised to me in my job offer. Disappointed doesn't even begin to cover it, truly it doesn't. I was repeatedly ignored for home time of 4 out and 3 home as promised. Detention, at that time was paid to the driver only if the customer paid to Marten, (I understand it's been changed to honor system payment on detention now) and it didn't start until after 4 hours which is typical for refer freight and when you never knew if you were going to get it or not it was frustrating, at least for me.

Now here's some good news about Marten. I went into the Tucker GA terminal and spoke with the recruiter who recruited me, the senior dispatcher/driver manager and the terminal manager and told them that I was going to leave the employ of Marten Transport. I did this of course after I told Mr. Marten, my driver manager, that I was leaving the company because the job I was hired for wasn't what I was being used for. The senior dispatcher/driver manager and the terminal manager wanted to make any accommodation possible to keep me working for them, again, retention is the key. They were straight forward and honest, I guess but they said that they didn't have any regional positions available at that time, only OTR and that it was a 10 - 12 day out and 2 day home situation; however the senior dispatcher/driver manager offered to take me onto his board and work me 6 -8 days out with 2 day home picking up and delivering general refrigerated freight. It was unfortunately not a solution for me as I only took the job for the turn around to Canada and home time and that I had no desire to do refrigerated freight at that time.

Lastly I'll add this; the other driver that went to work for Marten when I did and was hired for the same Wrigley's account... he's still there and he loves it. About two more months after I left he told me that the account was fully functioning and he was enjoying it. The only thing that is really different, he's not doing the 4 days out and 3 days home but 2 weeks out and a weekend home... but it works for him. He came from a refrigerated company before starting with Marten and this was only his second job; so he's not influenced by other factors really... again, my opinion.

My experience with Marten Transport wasn't a good one. I had high hopes with this company. I had been driving for years, paying my dues with the larger fleets, minding my P's & Q's, waiting for the opportunity to move into a better company that would appreciate me for my skills and professionalism. But, like everything else, it's all subjective. I had a pay check that cashed every week and the equipment was decent. I have answered you're poll as Neutral because my experience isn't yours or anyone else's. I offer these ramblings only as information to a perspective driver seeking information with regards to Blue Bird. I leave it here for everyone to comment on and complain about as is usually the case for such a long diatribe on this forum.
Click to expand...

Nobody cares about your religion. Your job is to pick up freight and deliver it. They probably saw ffrom the start you were going to be a problem when you tell people what you will or won't do. Something to think about.

Wisc-Badger · Aug 16, 2012

brianw900 said: ↑

did you consider the fact that drivers already with the company were ahead of you in line for this run
Click to expand...

Wasn't he offered this run as incentive to hire on?

-insert name- · Aug 16, 2012

And so, another thread goes in the gutter with arguing. TTR is a good bunch, but the first impression from us on this user went something like this,

My post is of no helpful value, I'll see myself to the door.

Wisc-Badger · Aug 16, 2012

joseph1135 said: ↑

Nobody cares about your religion. Your job is to pick up freight and deliver it.
Click to expand...

I agree. If your religion prevents you from hauling beer or whisky or tobaccy you are in the wrong business.

doughboy180 · Aug 16, 2012

rachi said: ↑

Marten used to be good with hometime but not anymore. On western regional you stay out 10-12 days, then you get about 1.5 - 2 days off, then back in the saddle. Figure on maybe 5 days off per month, not much time to see the family. Now, if you are a driver who never goes home, then this post won't matter. Every other aspect i like, good miles, detention pay, good equipment, but quality hometime is important to most drivers.
Click to expand...

5 days off a month? Beats the heck out of my last company. Their policy was 3 days of hometime no matter how long you're out. 3 days is not enough after being out 6 weeks. And since I had to schedule my hometime by giving dispatch a specific date...if I didn't get home until night time on that date, I just lost a day at home.

doughboy180 · Aug 16, 2012

stuey said: ↑

Here is my two cents:

I hired into Marten to run a dedicated account that was just starting up for Wrigley's Chewing Gum from Flowery Branch GA into Canada (Quebec) and back to Kennesaw GA. Then to Marten's terminal in Tucker GA and go home for 3 days off. I was also told that on occasion I'd go thru/to Chicago IL to pick up hazardous materials that would be used in the plant in Canada so I might be asked to deliver product to a vendor for Wrigley's and then continue onwards and upwards. This seemed like the perfect type of job for me, it would meet my financial needs, allow me to see my family who lives in Canada and allow me to do something that I still love to do... as I've often thought of getting out of the race because of so many discouraging things within the industry.

I accepted the job offer, thought that I asked all the right questions and got a good feeling for Marten. I to had heard over the years that Marten was what many say in this industry of being a top tier company. An outfit that you strive to get into because the company has low turn over, nice equipment, a leader in the industry and on and on and on. But, like so many other companies I hear about or have personally worked with, they seem to regress into a less than desirable company... for whatever reason.

I went to their orientation in Tucker GA and it seemed like chaos there. They had no idea and no organization, in my opinion. They had an agenda of required things they needed to get thru in order to seat everyone in the equipment and get them moving freight. Marten brought the medical staff to the terminal which allowed for quicker processing. They also had the insurance representative on hand and most everything else was done over the internet in live chat private chat rooms with other orientation groups linking together with Mondovi WI. Most of this stuff is typical of any company's orientation and so I paid less than full attention to it to be perfectly honest.

After completion of the entire process, id cards were issued and truck assignments assigned. If you were fortunate enough you got something there in Tucker GA. There was seven of us that traveled by 2 rental cars to TX to pick up our trucks. We drove straight there and because it was a Friday that particular "shared" shop didn't have night or weekend hours and had it not been for the quick thinking of a couple of people in the car I was in to call Mondovi and ask about access and keys, we'd have had to spend the weekend there as no one at Marten's Mondovi WI office let that staff in TX know we were coming and no keys would have been available, nor would we have had access to the property. Long story short I personally felt like we had been let down and given little consideration... again, my opinion. Not such a nice way to start a new relationship.

So, we all got into the trucks and we got a good nights sleep and one by one on Saturday we got some sort of dispatch to get us moving... There was another driver that had been hired to do the same dedicated account that I had been hired for so we spent most of our time discussing and comparing notes. We got beer loads that carried us into points west and then finally, after 5 or 6 days we were heading for home. I make this point because we had been told to bring only the essentials as we'd be routed straight home to get the rest of our gear and then we'd drop right into our rotation for Wrigley's. So here is my second let down, my idea of straight home and Marten's idea was two different time frames. Mind you now I have Mr. Marten's son as our driver manager, he was the one who brought this new business in for Marten and he was to head it up until everything got up and running smoothly... a point that had not been made clear in the initial conversations about the dedicated account, (that Marten had just acquired the account and was getting it up and running).

After I got home and set my truck up, I proceeded to take my three days off only to be called on early and given my first dispatch. It wasn't for Wrigley's Chewing Gum nor was it for the dedicated account at all. It was some more beer that had good miles but it carried me away from the dedicated lane and I told Marten up front that I was a Christian and beer wasn't going to be a load that I'd be able to haul except on rare occasion. I called and asked what was up, had I misunderstood, was there a problem with the account? And this is when I found out that I was going to be given any and every load possible to keep me busy until the account was ready. All the drivers had been hired with the expectations of jumping right onto the account, three up while three are coming back to start with and as the loads increase so would the driver pool. But Marten jumped the gun a little and didn't have everything in place to transition the prior contracting company out and Marten in. Maybe a good thing, maybe not... they didn't want to lose the drivers they had just hired, after all, it's expensive to hire new drivers so retention is the key (to any trucking out fit for that matter) so they were just dumping whatever refer freight they could get to keep us busy and a check coming in.

But, I didn't want to do refer freight necessarily. I took this job because it offered good miles (better than average for refrigerated as I understand), a dedicated lane and a dedicated customer with very often the same destinations, a simple border crossing that paid a premium and best of all... it gave me three days at home after a trip up and back. I have all the respect one driver can have for another and we all have our chosen freight types; flat, dry, refer, tank, over sized... whatever, we all have some we like and some we don't. Hauling miscellaneous loads of varying types of refrigerated freight wasn't what I wanted to do... it wasn't for me. Driving night and day wasn't for me either. God Bless those drivers who do it now and without them we'd be up a creek for food & toilet paper... well maybe not toilet paper since that comes in a dry van.

I hung in there with Marten for a several weeks. I couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. For me I was let down for the third time because I had left a very good regional position with decent miles and better than most in my home time for Marten and what Marten had promised to me in my job offer. Disappointed doesn't even begin to cover it, truly it doesn't. I was repeatedly ignored for home time of 4 out and 3 home as promised. Detention, at that time was paid to the driver only if the customer paid to Marten, (I understand it's been changed to honor system payment on detention now) and it didn't start until after 4 hours which is typical for refer freight and when you never knew if you were going to get it or not it was frustrating, at least for me.

Now here's some good news about Marten. I went into the Tucker GA terminal and spoke with the recruiter who recruited me, the senior dispatcher/driver manager and the terminal manager and told them that I was going to leave the employ of Marten Transport. I did this of course after I told Mr. Marten, my driver manager, that I was leaving the company because the job I was hired for wasn't what I was being used for. The senior dispatcher/driver manager and the terminal manager wanted to make any accommodation possible to keep me working for them, again, retention is the key. They were straight forward and honest, I guess but they said that they didn't have any regional positions available at that time, only OTR and that it was a 10 - 12 day out and 2 day home situation; however the senior dispatcher/driver manager offered to take me onto his board and work me 6 -8 days out with 2 day home picking up and delivering general refrigerated freight. It was unfortunately not a solution for me as I only took the job for the turn around to Canada and home time and that I had no desire to do refrigerated freight at that time.

Lastly I'll add this; the other driver that went to work for Marten when I did and was hired for the same Wrigley's account... he's still there and he loves it. About two more months after I left he told me that the account was fully functioning and he was enjoying it. The only thing that is really different, he's not doing the 4 days out and 3 days home but 2 weeks out and a weekend home... but it works for him. He came from a refrigerated company before starting with Marten and this was only his second job; so he's not influenced by other factors really... again, my opinion.

My experience with Marten Transport wasn't a good one. I had high hopes with this company. I had been driving for years, paying my dues with the larger fleets, minding my P's & Q's, waiting for the opportunity to move into a better company that would appreciate me for my skills and professionalism. But, like everything else, it's all subjective. I had a pay check that cashed every week and the equipment was decent. I have answered you're poll as Neutral because my experience isn't yours or anyone else's. I offer these ramblings only as information to a perspective driver seeking information with regards to Blue Bird. I leave it here for everyone to comment on and complain about as is usually the case for such a long diatribe on this forum.
Click to expand...

So the only compliants you have consist of being sent off to do OTR because the dedicated account wasn't ready yet and there were no regional positions available where you live, or where you're domiciled, or whatever. They were even willing to work with you and keep you rolling so you can keep making money while you wait to get on your dedicated account. That wasn't good enough for you, so you quit and went somewhere else. Yes, they should have been up front with you about the account not being ready. I'll give you that. But quitting over not getting what you want when you want it? Sounds to me like a bunch of :smt089:smt089:smt089:smt089:smt089:smt089:smt089

doughboy180 · Aug 16, 2012

You're lucky to even be employed with the way economy has been for the past 5 years or more. To quit over something as petty as not getting your way right off the bat and being unwilling to work with dispatch and scratch their back while the company prepares to scratch yours by getting your dedicated run set up and ready....it truly boggles my mind. I weep for the future of this industry.

casc1 · Aug 16, 2012

I have yet to figure out what religion has to with what you haul....you are hauling it.....not drinking it. However if a case were to fall out of the back.......well......

doughboy180 · Aug 16, 2012

casc1 said: ↑

I have yet to figure out what religion has to with what you haul....you are hauling it.....not drinking it. However if a case were to fall out of the back.......well......
Click to expand...

I'll haul anything....fill up a bunch of 55 gallon drums with cow #### and I'll haul that too. Don't have my hazmat yet, so nothing that needs a placard. Other than that, if it'll fit in a box (dry or reefer) I'll haul it. I don't care, if it pays I'll haul it.

apyles · Aug 17, 2012

-insert name- said: ↑

And so, another thread goes in the gutter with arguing. TTR is a good bunch, but the first impression from us on this user went something like this,
View attachment 34600
My post is of no helpful value, I'll see myself to the door.
Click to expand...

I do agree 100%

The best solution is to have this thread locked by the mods. It's for the good.

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