Marten Transport is a piece of work

You're right, I don't clean it. Not thoroughly anyway. I pay a detailer to clean it. They clean for a living, I drive for a living, it all works out.

I gotta point out though, I have worked for guys who didn't want their trucks smoked in, they said so up front, and I never did. Not once.

 

Okay, I've been following this thread for about a week now...

The tobacco residue issue is easily dealt with using a pail of water, two cap-fulls of liquid laundry detergent, and a small bottle of white vinegar (on all hard surfaces), and standard upholstery cleaner (on fabric surfaces). It takes an hour, plus whatever time to remove everything from the truck first, and put it back after everything is dry. I do this every 3 months, as well as when I get out of the truck for good. I smoke, and as such assume the next driver is allergic to tobacco residue, and this works very well.

As for bumping your head while driving, either your seat isn't properly adjusted, or you're too tall to drive anything Marten has. I know at least three drivers who have T600's that don't have this issue, all 6'5" or taller.

BTW, a little secret, something I learned many years ago when I first started driving. If you are a new hire, and you start off by making demands for specific equipment, you won't get it. Complain about what you do get, and you'll be in that rig for a long time. The only equipment request I've ever insisted upon was a rig that wasn't down all the time with mechanical or safety issues, about the only thing that both I and whatever company agree is an appropriate and reasonable request for new hires to make. If I can't earn a comfortable living and keep my bills current because the truck is always in the shop, the company can't make money from that rig either.

Another secret, learned when I first enlisted in the US Army many years ago, and I'm sure many military veterans will back me up on this... Never believe a recruiter, or anyone else who makes money off of getting you to sign up or hire on.

 

What an overly simplistic and hateful point of view, one that is completely unsupported by facts, or even common sense!

 

Wow, where do you get these alleged facts from? In what way does tobacco residue "foul up" the AC system?

BTW, from what I've observed, maybe a third of drivers actually smoke. That's on par with the overall population.

And, OTR companies do care, or at least this one. Hence why I clean my truck regularly, and do a complete scrub-out every quarter as well as when I change trucks. I can be fired if I don't.

Oh, and I don't know what company you drove for, but here at Marten, quite a few in the office are either former drivers, or friends/family members of current drivers.

 

Like slamming people trying to pass on some constructive advise based upon the realities of the job market, especially the current job market?

Fine, I'll keep my "opinions" I'm "always posting" to myself, and you and the other super-trucker types who are better than everyone else can have at it. I thought I could help by contributing, but obviously my "opinions," based on a few decades in the job market, are not welcome here.

 

Marten has no miles, they have just signed a contract with the rail yards and are putting a lot of the good runs on trains. This keeps some of the drivers busy but the rest of us no miles. We sit in between loads sometimes 3 days for $125 layover and a 500 mile run. From 6/21 to 6/25 I will have ran 510 miles. I would quit but since I have to pay chid support, which I do every month, I can be held in contempt if I don't another job. By the way of the 18 Marten drivers I talked to in the past two weeks we are all in the same boat. Very few of us are getting the miles but yet they put 12-20 loads a week on a train to California I have a friend who runs the rails over there and I get all the loads that they are sending on trains.

 

They just signed a contract?
Your a little late on that one they started using the rail back in '05.Nothing new I have for the most part been getting my miles but then again im a o/ther than low miles during Memorial day weekend I have been getting 3500-4200 a week.Maybe it's your fm.

 

Having picked up or delivered rail loads, I personally would not be comfortable taking them myself. They're not worth the hassle, especially the lengthy delays and too much time between pickup and delivery. BTW, Marten has been putting loads on rail since I started with them over three years ago. They also use the rail for logistics, to get empty rail trailers to where they need them. I would also put the numbers of loads that go by rail at 5 times what you claim, from what the rail runners tell me about their work loads (I'm friends with a few of them). They get a salary for a reason, because they spend more hours sitting in customer docks than driving, and deal with hassles most of us are not willing to put up with.

As for getting only 510 miles between 6/21 and 6/25, I call BS. Today is 6/24, and you posted on 6/23.

BTW, I'm averaging 2700 miles a week (since April). This seems to be on par with the drivers I'm talking to. While I might wish for another 1000 per week, in this economy I'm counting my blessings. I have a lot of friends who work for other companies, and in other industries, that aren't working at all, and haven't for quite some time now.

 

I throughout the past 30 years have drove for marten 3 different times, personal reasons made me leave each time, I dont believe in burning any bridges with whoever I work for. Marten has always treated me well, and never asked me to run past my 70 hours, any doubts in the dispatch minds were quickly dealt with by the logging dept, I dont believe Marten would want you running over if they knew about it. There is no perfect job out there people, times are tough for everyone, mistakes are made, but if you decide to quit, do it the right way. GOOD LUCK, BE SAFE

 

I love your posts, reminded me of my Marine Recruiter in 1970, said "you like palm trees don't you?" "well, Paris Island is full of them", and you like girls don't you, well, Paris Island is where the woman marines train. You get the point. I've used AmorAll on this stinky truck and it really helped, AmorAlled the heck out of it. As far as bumping my head, it's climbing into the drivers compartment from the back, got to get use to the step up, oh joy. Marten has been keeping me too busy to worry about my stinky truck, at least it's dependable and runs great and that's what counts most. These 3 am appointments are tough but at least I can sleep while they unload me. Nighty Night.