Marten Driver (currently)

What speed are Marten trucks governed?

 

Mine, which is a 07 Cloumbia is set at 65 on throttle, 66 on cruise.
I have been blown off the road by our 08 and 09 tractors.

 

How is the mileage for the Marten Drivers as of now? We live in the SE GA region and see Marten all over. Hometime? Treatment by FM's/DM's? Would love to know! Thanks!

 

I'm getting ready to start at Marten as soon as I come off of WC. I talked with several of there drivers and for the most part they said they where getting descent miles and that they where happy there. The one thing that all of them said is that they get home on time and that they're home time was good. Marten has a 1-5 home time policy. So you run 15 days you get 3 off. You run 30 you get 6.

 

how are you Marten drivers accepting of he mandatory per-diem ? and how much of a admin. fee to the charge ?

 

It took awhile, but on Sept. 1st the pay cut finally became mandatory. I agree, the company itself now represents nothing more than a scam in corporate dress.

 

The drivers who understand what happened -- and I think most do -- are angry, naturally. I think the main thing that's preventing a mass exodus is the current job shortage. Our pay got decimated on Sept 1st. The "admin fee" of 2.5 cpm is just one (large) piece of the pay bomb puzzle.

One reason Marten and other companies figured they could fool some drivers into thinking a huge pay cut was a great thing for them, is the fact that the federal withholding rate is different for different drivers, since it depends on various factors like Flexible Spending Accounts, Health Savings Accounts, etc. When you try to do an exact analysis of the numbers that applies to all drivers, you run up against some complexities.

Just can't help but wonder about the wisdom of an employer perpetrating an out-and-out scam on its employees. Is it really worth the massive damage it causes to morale? An honest pay cut is one thing, a dishonest scam another.

If it's worth the damage to morale, it could only be for one reason: driver turnover. If drivers are disposable, maybe it makes good business sense to scam on them.

 

Drivers aren't happy here lately because they docked our pay big-time on Sept. 1st. Lots of drivers (including myself) used to pull in $70K-plus at Marten. I doubt I'll ever break $70K again driving for this company.

As much as the current management team has done to dismantle the good work of the previous one, some things like getting home on time are still fairly intact at Marten. Compared to other companies it's still a pretty good company to drive for.

Miles depend heavily on who your fleet manager is. If you're not getting the miles you want, you need to demand to switch fleets until you do. You'll eventually get on a good fleet.

 

hey math hows it going. im going to marten on monday. im flying to forest park. from pa. anyway, i signed up for the midatlantic regional runs. from what i hear marten has its bad and goods but overall decent to work for. are you allowe to pick out trucks. shoot im 6'5'' so pete has the room i need. hopefully they are easy on accomodating. but do have some advice on what to look for in orientation and with the company as a whole.

 

The Forest Park terminal is pathetically overcrowded these days and the driver facilities are awful, frankly - the worst by far of all five major terminals - so try not to let your view of the company be shaped by what you see there. Besides, I heard the company is already building a big new facility out east of town somewhere. Your regional runs probably won't take you all the way down to Atlanta anyway.

I'm 6'4"...the Freightliner Columbias I've driven had more leg room than any other truck I've been in, including the Pete 387 I'm in now, so I wouldn't be asking for a Pete unless it's for some other reason. The seat just doesn't go back as far. I do like the truck I'm in though...the Pete seat has always been to my liking as a tall person.

Here's a tip I don't remember if I've ever mentioned on this forum. Now that I'm talking about the seat I might as well mention it. Ever since I started driving I always liked the setting that gives the seat a little forward/backward play. To amplify this effect, several years ago I started bungeeing the forward/backward adjustment arm to make it stay open all the time. By adding in a few more bungees, some pulling forward and some pulling backward, you can achieve a super-smooth ride without any sudden jerks. It's something you have to get used to because the seat really slides back and forth a lot sometimes, but I think it's totally worth it. You have to play around a little with the bungees to get the spring tension set just right, but once you do, even the bumpiest of bumpy interstates are no problem whatsoever. I've done this on several different trucks now. Each seat is a little different so you have to kind of wing it every time, but it works.

Great luck here at Marten!