[Lewis friend]

Yes, hi. If there are any Marten drivers in the house, would you please:

1) List/describe what kind of reefers do you have? Brand, type and most importantly if there are the whisper type. Please list percentages.

2) At what times do you deliver. Please list as on a percentage basis. Do you often deliver in the middle of the night? How much drop and hook.

3) Are you getting good mileage? I, personally, would define good mileage as 3000 or more miles per 7 days, which, when you think about it is pretty generous ----3000 in 5 days would be something else!


Please be completely honest and don't sugar-coat anything. If there is objectionable information, this would not nessesarily turn me off from marten; I just want to know exactly how it is.

[kips41]

Didn't we have this dicussion on a previous thread: referigated companies.

1. they are big company & keep a pretty new fleet of trailers so they will have some of the latest and greatest stuff . When you are tired enough you can sleep with the reefer running.

2. What differerence does it make whether it is 3pm or 3am??

3. Probably just like the rest of the big, trucking by the numbers companies: 120 to 140k per year. Ya know don't whine, do as you are told and your dispatcher will be happy and give you miles.


I know that they will not pay for scale tickets they put $1.50 on your settlement for each load. That is not enough to cover the amount you will spend scaling heavy reefer load.

Told that they will not reinburse for trailer washouts, now I find this hard to believe but more than one person stated this so I would check it out.

[mikey4069]

If your good driver and never late and know how to work your log book you will get tons of mile with them. Not as many d/h with reefer as you would have with dry freight . but over all marten is good company.

Originally Posted by kips41

2. What differerence does it make whether it is 3pm or 3am??

You're joking right?

I know that they will not pay for scale tickets they put $1.50 on your settlement for each load. That is not enough to cover the amount you will spend scaling heavy reefer load.

Told that they will not reinburse for trailer washouts, now I find this hard to believe but more than one person stated this so I would check it out.

I've been hearing alot of this crap on these forums: no layover pay, detention pay...no reimbursements for scales, washouts, etc. Why anyone would agree to pull for such carriers is way beyond me. Pretty soon these guys are gonna start paying out of their own pockets to fuel the bossman's truck. That is if they don't already.

[wrangler69]

Get over it already CFM! :roll:

[Crackaces]

I do know that Marten pays HHG miles rather than Practical (or better yet Hub) miles. Typically there is a 10% - 15% difference. So .. .30 CPM HHG is comparable to say .27 practical. So be careful when you compare. :idea:

There are lots of drivers that either enjoy the experience or can put up with grocery warehouses. :twisted: If drivers could not .. we would not eat ... 8)

The good news is ... that we have to eat. Some drivers like reefer's because when Van freight is slow .. refer freight is still moving. Marten is a very large company with lots of contracts. I talked to two Marten drivers who were pretty happy with the steady miles.

As far as noise ... I wear a set of Bose headphones when reefer's park next to me .. I assume these would work with the unit directly behind me ... :wink:

So .. I have glad the some drivers do refers .. I love ice cream .. :P

1. Freight is steady
2. Length of haul is typically longer

Bad news

1. Grocery warehouses .. this means sitting hours sometimes sleeping sometimes awake .. Drivers often record 30 minutes on-duty in their log even though they just spent 6 hours waiting. (OK do not preach to me about logging as you do it etc. I am just stating what Refer drivers do to make a living ...)

2. Fueling, PM'ing, and Checking the refer. If you are a light sleeper the refer can wake you up.

3. Also .. you have extra things to think about before you arrive at the shipper like pre-cooling the trailer to a specified temp.

Somebody needs to clarify this new policy of Marten Transport to not reimburse scale tickets or washouts. Refer trailers are heaver and there is weight toward the front from the unit and fuel. So every load should be scaled. This thing with not paying for washouts does not make sense. Many shippers will not ship their foodstuffs unless the trailer is sparkling clean. Washouts are a way of life for the refer driver. I can not see Marten having any drivers to drive the trucks with such a policy.

[coalregion]

Originally Posted by kips41

Didn't we have this dicussion on a previous thread: referigated companies.

Originally Posted by kips41

Didn't we have this dicussion on a previous thread: referigated companies.

You probably did, but Lightnin' Lewis may have been signed in under Chad Sexington, Colonel Toon, Ron Kneisley, or any other of his Nome De Plume's, so forgive him if he doesn't recall...

[TK THE TRUCKER]

Originally Posted by Crackaces

Somebody needs to clarify this new policy of Marten Transport to not reimburse scale tickets or washouts. Refer trailers are heaver and there is weight toward the front from the unit and fuel. So every load should be scaled. This thing with not paying for washouts does not make sense. Many shippers will not ship their foodstuffs unless the trailer is sparkling clean. Washouts are a way of life for the refer driver. I can not see Marten having any drivers to drive the trucks with such a policy.

Marten tightened up their washout policy shortly before I left back in May. To many drivers were being lazy and going to get a washout when all was needed was a good sweeping. I can see why a company would be stingy on a trailer washouts at $25- $35 a pop, sometimes over $40. I myself wasn't interested in driving out of my way or waiting in line to get a trailer washout. I carried a gas leaf blower with me and when a trailer needed to be cleaned I got up in there with the blower and picked up the big chunks of wood and then blew out the rest. Took me 5 minutes to clean my trailer. It didn't work really good when the floor was wet but neither did a broom.

As far as scale tickets they pay a flat rate of $1.50 per trip whether you scale or not. The trucks and trailers have air gauges and after getting used to them I never scaled a load under 41,000 or so. Because it got to the point where everytime I did I didn't need to move anything and just wasted $8.50. I would check every quarter to see how I made out on scale money. Sometimes I paid a little and some times I'd make a little. Not to mention that some of the big customers I'd visit a lot like Annieseur Busch, Proctor and Gamble, etc have scales on site so it wouldn't cost anything.

Like I've said before I had a good experience at Marten but that was me. It's different for each person and lots of variables come into play. While one person enjoys the company they work for and thinks it's a good company another person hates them and can't wait to leave. I talked to a lot of other Marten drivers while I worked there. Some would say that they love this place and and are never going to leave while others would name off everything they hate about them. It's just the ways it is at these companies. A few things that helped me was a good attitude, a good work ethic, and a good fleet manager. If I was missing one of those I probably would have been unhappy working there or anywhere for that manner. Hope this helps a little, T.K. 8)

[kips41]

Originally Posted by ColdFrostyMug

kips41 wrote:
2. What differerence does it make whether it is 3pm or 3am??


You're joking right?

No I am not joking, that is the reason these carriers have night dispatch.

If he wants a daytime driving job needs to pull oversize or go drive little old gray haired ladies to the doctor in the Medical Transport Van and he can work doctors' hours.

[Slowpoke98908]

Originally Posted by Lewis friend

Yes, hi. If there are any Marten drivers in the house, would you please:

1) List/describe what kind of reefers do you have? Brand, type and most importantly if there are the whisper type. Please list percentages.

2) At what times do you deliver. Please list as on a percentage basis. Do you often deliver in the middle of the night? How much drop and hook.

3) Are you getting good mileage? I, personally, would define good mileage as 3000 or more miles per 7 days, which, when you think about it is pretty generous ----3000 in 5 days would be something else!


Please be completely honest and don't sugar-coat anything. If there is objectionable information, this would not nessesarily turn me off from marten; I just want to know exactly how it is.

Looks like Marten is having some problems right now


Inspection Selection System (ISS-2) Recommendation*
(As of January 26, 2007)
Carrier Name: MARTEN TRANSPORT LTD
US DOT #: 74432 MC #: 103798
ISS Inspection Value: 97
ISS Recommendation: INSPECT
Basis for Recommendation: Safety


Driver SEA is 94.88
Equipment is 24.70
Safety management is 89.37

Scoring is 1 being the best and 100 being the worse

Closed Enforcement Cases Download Data
Investigation
Completion Date Investigation
Number Source of
Enforcement Violation
Section Number Violation Description Counts Settled Amount Settled
1 10/19/2005 WI-2005-197-US0563 Compliance Review 382.211 Using a driver who refused to take drug / alcohol test 3 $17,160.00
2 9/27/2002 WI-2002-153-US0384 Compliance Review 382.305(i)(2) Failing to notify employer of traffic convictions 6 $11,280.00

Hazmat Review Violations
Hazmat related violations (acute, critical & severe)
that were discovered during the last review Download Data
Primary Federal Regulation Secondary Federal Regulation Violation Description Violation Type
177.817(A)
Transporting an HM shipment without a proper shipping paper C

Driver Review Violations
Driver related violations (acute/critical) that were discovered during the last review Download Data
Primary Federal Regulation Secondary Federal Regulation Violation Description Violation Type
395.8(E)
Driver Review Violations
Driver related violations (acute/critical) that were discovered during the last review Download Data
Primary Federal Regulation Secondary Federal Regulation Violation Description Violation Type
395.8(E)
False reports of records of duty status C

Drivers are getting lots of tickets and one driver even violated a out of service order.

Looks like to drivers are pulling the company under.

http://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/SafeStat/Car...432&WhichForm=

They just had an audit so I imagine there will be a crack down.