Heading to indy 12/4/11

Good luck. Im an LTL driver and I have delivered to that Marten terminal off 84th and Georgetown where you are probably going. Nice people in there.

 

Just a few tips, having worked for Marten for 4.5 years, and now regretting having ever left them...

1) If you have an important appointment or engagement at home, pad an extra couple of days to the start of your home time request, just in case. I had 54 home times with this company, and they got me home on time only once. That was that one time HR and Safety were watching. With the exception of the first and last home times, it wasn't the fault of the fleet managers, it was the fault of the load planners, who you will never meet.

2) Ignore the bizarre rumours about Randy Marten, as well as any "super trucker" claims about somehow being buddy-buddy with him. The drivers that do know him personally don't advertise, the ones that do advertise are likely lying.

3) Try to keep all communications on the Qualcomm whenever possible. Not only are the fleet managers seriously loaded down with too many drivers on their boards, it is also an excellent way to CYA.

4) No matter how much of a POS your first rig with them is, gut it out and run your hardest. It's the quickest way to getting a shiny new rig (which I did by the second month).

5) Clean and inspect your trailer after every load, taking pictures if you can. I cannot tell you how many times that has saved me from false accusations by my co-workers trying to cover their own backsides after they screwed up.

6) Keep the inside of your rig as clean as humanly possible, and the amount of personal belongings to a minimum. There are many reasons for this, the biggest being you can be fired if you don't.

7) DO NOT GET INTO AN AT-FAULT ACCIDENT DURING YOUR FIRST YEAR! Doing so will 100% result in immediate termination at the nearest terminal to where you had the accident, or whichever one the load planners can get you to soonest. If you do "screw the pooch," suck it up and report it, because the consequences of not reporting it can end your career.

8) NEVER VIOLATE THE HOS RULES, no matter what! You won't get away with it, it will come back to haunt you later. See tip 3 on how to deal with fleet managers trying to get you to do that. Take clear pictures of your Qualcomm screen if anyone tries to coerce you into running illegal. I saw a lot of drivers fired months after running illegal after their fleet manager told them to (by cell phone, of course).

9) Do not get sucked in to the "office politics" at certain terminals, especially Mondovi and the one in the Atlanta area (I forget where they moved that one to). It will get you into trouble.

10) Treat the shop personnel like you want to be treated, no matter how they treat you. It does pay off later, when you really need something fixed quickly. Same goes for terminal personnel, they do remember which ones show them respect, even if they don't. Again, it does pay off down the road when you really need something (like a new truck).

Finally, I recommend a small portable digital video camera that can record at least one driving shift without requiring you to erase and start over. Go to YouTube and look up my user name here, without the spaces, and play the video to see why. There are now many less expensive and far more portable cameras out there, with more capability, than the lash-up I was using when that video was shot (just do a search on dash cams to find what is right for you). Keep a couple of spare storage chips, just in case you need to send the one that recorded something important to safety or risk management. They'll save the chip for you until you next get to Mondovi.

Be safe!

 

Do theyrequire hazmat I got a pre hire 6 months ago but don't have it just wanted to make sure I can work for them without it

 

You regret leaving Marten, where did you end up, Swift?

 

I worked for both Marten and Swift. I think Swift is way better than Marten.

 

the honey moon is still going on. Wait, it' gets worse