Let me start out by saying that I currently drive for Crete Carrier and highly suggest you consider applying with them or Shaffer Trucking if you feel you must pull a reefer. Just click the link in my sig and it will take you to Crete's site. You can then click on Shaffer Trucking at the bottom of that page to go to their site if you prefer to pull reefer.
I want to stress that what follows is just my opinion based on my personal experiences as a company driver at Marten Transport for 14 months from 3/05 to 5/06 and that I hold no ill will towards them.
My #1 complaint about Marten is they had HORRID communication and seemed to prefer to keep the driver in the dark. ie my fleet manager wouldn't know or at least acted like they didn't know what was going on and pass the buck onto the load planners which are like the mighty Oz...behind the curtain and you can't see/talk to them.
I haven't had such problems at Crete so far. The communication here is wonderful! I don't have a FM for one because we have a totally different system here and usually if I do feel a need to call dispatch about something they're always friendly and helpful.
At Marten, I got tired of being dispatched loads that were hard or even impossible to deliver on time due to HOS, but when I stood my ground and said no I would get what I like to call 'penalty loads/runs'. That's when they sit you for ages or they feed you a steady diet of overnighters. With that said, I want to also say that the HOS changed 10/1/05 and it really made it hard to legally run reefer due to so many live loads and unloads and no longer being able to freeze your 14 hour day by going in the sleeper. So that did play into it. But I refuse to run illegal, so I wasn't a good fit for that. They are in trouble with the DOT and I've heard from friends that are still there that safety is about to 'clean house' soon. They're having trouble keeping drivers I'm told.
I don't know how it was at Crete before 'the accident', but I can tell you how it is now. You run legal or you run elsewhere! Some like to cook their books, I don't. I make good miles and good pay running legal. If you like to cook your books, don't even bother applying with Crete. You WILL get caught. Crete companies are using electronic logging across the board now. It's not paperless like at Werner, but your paper logs better match the electronic ones!
I just read what I've posted and I don't like the way I'm coming across, so I'm going to change gears here...
There are basically four MAJOR things a driver looks at when deciding on a company. You can put them in any order you want and you will be able to find a company to match your first two but you'll most likely have to compromise on the last two. Mine in order are:
1) Benefits
2) Pay
3) Home time
4) Equipment
1) Crete's benefits are better than Marten's pretty much across the board.
2) Crete's mileage pay is not only much higher, they pay practical route miles. Not to mention I don't deal with reefer, cold storage, inflexible appointment times etc A LOT more drop and hook here.
3) This is one Marten beats Crete on. Marten is 1 for 5 out and you can bank them. They also pay $50 for every day home late if you followed proper home time protocol. Crete is 1 for 6 out and they only really want you to take 4 if it's not including vacation time, but if you're knocking down the miles while you're out they're good about an extra day here and there. No $50 late home pay, but then I'm ALWAYS home on time or early so...
4) I guess you could say Marten has the edge here...sorta...they do have a lot of different trucks, but I had a Columbia at Marten so it wasn't much of change for me.
There are all sorts of intangibles.
No truck washes at Marten. One a month at Crete.
Can read your Qualcomm while going down the road at Marten. Not @ Crete! (Don't even try the turn the key off trick, new software catches that trick 100% of the time now.) :shock:
Can fuel anywhere on the fuel list whenever at Marten. With Crete you just need to go through the hassle of getting a new fuel solution is all.
I could go on and on, but you get the point. If you have a specific question, feel free to PM me and I'll do my best to get you an answer.
I've been with Crete now for five months and am really happy for the most part. At five months with Marten, I'd almost quit several times and was looking for a new job. :cry:
Even with saying that, there were some good things about Marten, but not enough for me to stay.
Here's a link for you to check out Marten. Rod is a good, honest guy and his site is NOT a recruiting scam. He explains it in one of his posts on the site, but basically he ended up filling my current bosses job when she left Marten to become a terminal manager here at Crete. Best of luck with your decision.
http://www.martenreview.com
