Avoid Marten Transport LTD.

I'm over 55 and had to accept their per diem package. Last week I ran 800 miles, sat three and a half days so where do I fall in your perception of the way Marten does things. I don't grumble, am proffesional, always on time, take better care of this truck than they do. So where is my 3200 miles, I'm on their per diem scam package. Where is my miles? Maybe I should complain, hey, wait a minute, I am complaining, nothing has changed, I'm still sitting in my truck until Monday waiting on a load and it's Friday. All clean and no where to go. Life sucks, maybe it's time to end it.

 

Sure, end it. Get to looking for a job with another better, smaller company that will take care of you. It may take a while to find something but at least you're looking. Helps a lot when you don't feel trapped.

 

Marten is "not" the only company starving drivers for miles. How about a company that starves you out on miles so you will quit and then replaces you with serbian or bosnian drivers that they can sub-contract to at almost one half the rate they were paying you??? They dont have to pay any benefits as well to these drivers which turns out to be quite a good business strategy for these companies while the drivers just become more and more dispensible. I have personally sat in our drop yards waiting for extended periods of time to get any kind of assigned load and have witnessed these above mentioned drivers come and go with my company loaded trailers while I sit with nothing.I realize times are hard with the economy and freight shortages being as they are..Most of the larger companies are not hiring drivers,or if they are its under certain restrictions such as limited hiring areas requiring you reside within a certain proximity of their terminals and drop yards. As for my co. they have eliminated vacation pay,bonuses,and have almost completely stopped contributing to our 401k plan. Theres only one way for us to make a paycheck out here,and thats solely dependent on the miles we run. It doesnt seem to matter how loyal,professional,efficient and productive you are out here any longer. There just doesnt seem to be much of a payday out here for alot of us.I cant afford to quit my job no matter how meager the miles have been lately, I just dont think the miles are there, no matter who you drive for. If my company wants me "gone" to replace me with a cheaper driver, then I guess they"ll owe me unemployment because I'm certainly not going to quit. Why make it easy on them.....

 

i drove for them 1.5 yrs and in 2/08 broke my ankle while on the rd. they did pay workmans come right from the start but when i cked in every week with there workmans comp dept had to talk to randy marten and he was a a.. treated me like sh.. was off work 6 months. he would say man your costing me alot of money he wondered why his drivers were always getting hurt. well i left and went to a smaller co and randy bought me a nice harley. now i was not going to get a lawyer but after the way i was treated well have to say love my bike and the co im now with

 

had to talk to randy marten and he was a a.. treated me like sh.. was off work 6 months. he would say man your costing me alot of money he wondered why his drivers were always getting hurt.

THAT RANDY IS SOMETHING ELSE

 

I think Randy is a hands on kind of owner who should take a step back and let the pro's do what they do best. All he needs to do is count the bucks Daddy left him.

 

I don't think that everyone who complains about their company is a whiner, He is wrong about drivers on per diem getting 3200 miles, I got 800 last week and have never, ever had more than 2500 miles in a week. Marten makes sure that you won't see the quarterly bonus they like to brag they give to drivers who drive over 30000 miles in a quarter. The catch is they won't give you 30000 miles. I sat in WI last weekend Friday noon until Monday 9am in a truck stop, paid two days layover because I was 3 hours short of 3 days. This seems to be pretty routine with Marten. Deliver wait a day or two for the next load, get a 3 or 4 hundred mile load and get 2 or three days to deliver. This is driving me crazy, no pun intended.

 

You would think with all the good news concerning Marten's earnings,that you drivers would be busier.

 

I agree that not everyone who complains about their company is a whiner. But what I have discovered around the business the last nine years or so is that 99% of the time the driver's version is not the whole story, but rather his spin on things so he doesn't have to take any responsibility. It's always "the company screwed me over." His personal attitude, etc. never has anything to do with it. The classic example is the driver who takes $300-400 in advances every week, then complains he is only getting a $200 paycheck. That is all I was saying.