update on marten

marten has cut pay on the longer runs- they no longer pay $50 for late hometime-no more $100 mini trips-every driver will have electronic logs in there truck by june 2010- perdiem pay is mandatory now. I have been a marten driver for almost two years, and ive been treated pretty good, but this new elec. log in my truck is going to take some getting used to. I average 2400 miles a week,they get me home when i want,though sometimes few days late. just get your loads on time, dont ##### about everything, be cool to your fleet manager, and you wont have any problems. now and then youre gonna sit a day or two, and now and then your gonna get a crappy 200 mile load. Thats the way it is. If you live out west you will get the longer loads, if you leave out east, you may get the shorter loads. The shorter loads pay more per mile than the longer ones. The veteran marten drivers are the unhappiest , because they remember when they were running 3500 miles , had all the perks, and you could run your log book the way you wanted. Those days are gone here at marten. but dont worry, every company is eventually going to the E- log.

 

What i meant was that marten does not allow cheating on the logs. But you can still get great miles. I average 2400 because i take home time often, but it works for me. And there are still alot of "perks" like the apu with inverter, holiday pay,no hassle hometime, to name a few.

 

Here's a newer update on Marten.

They now pay for all scales no matter what the weight. They used to pay only on loads that were 42,000 or heavier. We got a QC message asking us to scale all loads, no matter how light. I guess they got tired of sending a forklift out to the scalehouses cause some newbees can't figure out axle weights.

Trucks are in good shape with mainly freightliners and Petes.

Trailers are in good shape. We are required to run through the inspection lane at the terminals, so they catch any problems like bald tires, a lite out, etc.

After two hours in the docks they pay $20.00 hr detention pay. You don't have to jump through hoops to get it either.
If you have trailer problems out on the road, they pay $20.00 hr.

They pay $100.00 a day layover starting the first day.

They don't route you on your loads, you choose your own route. Not once in my 4.5 years here have they ever got on me about the route I take, and I don't always take the most direct route. I take the quickest route for the most part.

They don't tell you where to fuel. Just make sure it's a "J" or a pilot.

I might add something about the trailers. Don't pull a trailer through a scale with a known problem such as a bad or low tire, or a lite out.

If you watch a saftey video on the QC or your laptop/smart phone, you get paid $70.00 month.

The western fleet gets good miles. I can't tell you about the fleets in other areas cause I don't have a clue. I can tell you that when I was running otr with Marten I wasn't very happy with my miles. Hometime could be better on the western fleet. it's 12 days out and two days off. That's not to good Imo. They wanna keep you in the seat as much as possible.

They have what they call "Flex fleet". It's 7 days on, 7 days off. You won't make alot of money, but you get home alot. Maybe you spouse has a good paying job, and you don't need to bring in that much.

If you wanna take a chance on otr you can stay out 20 days and get 4 days off, but they don't allow that schedule on the western fleet. Even with otr, the max allowed time off is 4 days. So if you stay out 6 weeks, you still only get 4 days off.

Vacation time comes they wan't you to clean out your truck, but that ain't set in stone. So far I have never cleaned out my truck at vacation time.

Yeah, they do the per diem pay here.

They got that new mcp 200 QC, with truck navagation. Helps you stay on the truck routes. If you get a hazmat load, it will route you on hazmat routes.

You don't need hazmat to get on here, ( at least not when I started) But they may coax you to get it later on. If I had to do it over, I would not have gotten it cause I only get a few hazmat loads per year. To me, it's not worth the extra attention you may get at the scale house. They do pay $50.00 extra for hazmat loads.

They run solo and teams, and they have some oo's. They don't do the lease thing here.

Apu's on the trucks with inverters to run your microwave, coffee pot,etc..

When its time to take your truck in for maint at the terminals, make sure the inside is halifway clean, and if you got a pee bottle hide it.

Also, when you go thru the inspection lane at the yards they like to take a peek inside.

Hey, did ya all know that skibum really does love Marten? lol.





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How's it going skibum. I think it's still .3 cents.