Women In Trucking and Dock411 Offer App to Rate Shippers

Women In Trucking Association and Dock411 are working together to give professional drivers the opportunity to be better prepared when picking up or delivering a load. The app offers details that include the information a driver can access before he or she arrives at the dock.

Women In Trucking (WIT) Association’s mission includes removing obstacles that might keep women from entering or succeeding in the trucking industry. One of those obstacles often mentioned by drivers is in not knowing how to prepare for a pick up or delivery. This includes everything from directions to the facility, whether pets are allowed, if Wi-Fi is available and any challenges involved in backing into the dock.

The goal of Dock411 is to make a driver's stops faster, easier, safer, and less frustrating by showing them details about their stops before they get there. By simply entering the dock address into the app, a driver can read what the company and other drivers have written about it, including details like dock door location, yard hazards, photos of the facility, the ability to park overnight, whether pets are allowed, and up to thirty-five other items. After the stop, drivers can add details about their own experience.

Shippers are encouraged to enter information about their facility by completing an online form. This will help speed up the loading experience and can eliminate unnecessary delays from driver or dispatcher miscommunication.

The most recent version of the Dock411 app includes three questions requested by the Women In Trucking Association specific to female drivers: "Were the personnel helpful?", "Were you treated like a professional?", and "Were the restroom facilities adequate?".

“We are happy to be working with Ellen Voie and Women In Trucking to provide this information so the organization can better prepare both female and male drivers for their warehouse facility experience,” said Dan Serewicz, Dock411 Co-founder. “We believe this will work to improve the industry by removing unexpected surprises from the pickup or delivery operation.”

TruckDriver.com
Carrier of the Month
Marten Transport, Ltd.

Founded in 1946,  Marten Transport has reached its high level of success by focusing on providing excellent career opportunities for professional drivers like you.  As one of today's leading national protective service transportation companies, Marten Transport is able to offer company drivers excellent opportunities for growth and stability.

According to CEO Randy Marten, the company's success comes down to its people.  "When my father started Marten Transport more than 60 years ago, he developed a philosophy that still guides the way we do business today,” Marten says. “Treat your driving force and customers with the respect they deserve, and success will come naturally. It's a philosophy that has served us well, and as long as I'm in charge, that's the way it will continue to be.”

Roger Marten founded Marten Transport in 1946 at the age of 17, delivering milk and other dairy products. His routes were primarily in the Modena, Wisconsin area where he was born and raised. Driving for the Modena Co-op Creamery, Roger purchased his first truck route with a $400 loan from his mother.

 In 1956, the first tractor-trailer combination was purchased, and Marten began hauling petroleum for Bauer Built of Durand, Wisconsin. Marten's volume doubled after the acquisition of Mondovi Trucking Co. in 1959. The following year Marten added a tandem axle tractor to its fleet.

In 1962, the Land O' Lakes drying operation in Mondovi closed, creating a need for a milk transporter. Marten secured a contract to haul the products, purchased two tractor-trailer units and began what would become a long-term, profitable relationship with this dairy cooperative.

Having experienced some regional success in the early 1960s, Roger began to develop his interstate carrier business. His initial focus was on serving customers in the Midwest and on the West Coast. Roger made a decision to secure his company's roots by planning a small office complex and service terminal on the property that now houses the current corporate headquarters in Mondovi.

In 1965, a one-bay garage (in Mondovi) became Marten's first terminal. That same year Roger's son, Randy, joined the company, initially assisting with equipment maintenance and dispatch. Dry vans were also added to the fleet to expand Marten's service to include dry milk products.

By 1972, six new trucks had been added to the fleet and Marten began hauling milk to Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio, expanding the company's long-haul milk transport business. In 1976, Marten purchased Hiawatha Produce of Winona, Minnesota. This acquisition was the start of Marten's long-distance hauling of perishable foods in refrigerated trailers.

Marten opened its Ontario, California terminal in 1985 to better serve customers on the West Coast. In 1986, Marten began trading on the NASDAQ National Market. That same year, Marten named Randy Marten President, the company exceeded $50 million in revenue for the first time, and built a major expansion to its Mondovi headquarters.

Electronic Data Interchange (or EDI) was implemented in 1987, allowing for more efficient flow of information between Marten and its high volume customers. In 1989, temperature-sensitive transportation service became the company's primary focus and the Aurora, Oregon service center was opened.

In 1993, Marten surpassed $100 million in annual revenue, but it also suffered the tragic loss of company-founder Roger Marten. After his father's passing Randy Marten assumed the primary leadership role for the company. During that year, Randy oversaw the completion of a 15,000-square foot corporate office expansion, the addition of a new terminal in Jonesboro, Georgia and the implementation of a satellite tracking system.

The company made a strategic decision to begin hauling 53-foot trailers in 1995. The new equipment allowed Marten to position itself for maximum market flexibility. It also purchased a maintenance facility in Wilsonville, Oregon, near Portland and grew its fleet to more than 1,000 tractors.

In 1996, Marten reached three historical milestones; it opened the Roger Marten Community Center in Mondovi, celebrated 50 years in business, and 10 years as a publicly traded company.

In March of 2000, Marten moved from the Jonesboro, Georgia terminal to a new facility in the town of Forest Park (in the Atlanta metro area). A new state-of-the art video conferencing platform was added in 2001. The new technology allowed Marten to extend training, driver seminars and orientation classes to its terminal locations.

In 2002, Marten introduced its own in-house video production department. Using state-of-the-art digital equipment and computer-based non-linear editing, Marten began to produce customized training materials, radio ads and video productions to address specific needs. The department has further evolved into New Media Development, where it now supports the company's efforts through the creation of technological, promotional and instructional resources.

An 11,000 square foot expansion was added to the corporate headquarters in 2004 and a new terminal opened in Indianapolis, Ind. A plan was set in place to add more then 160 jobs during the next three years. Randy Marten was named Mondovi VFW Citizen of the Year and earned a Lifetime Achievement award from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Company revenue and net income rose to all-time highs.

In the past several  years, Marten has been recognized for its ongoing commitment to be the best. The company has been named one of the 200 best small businesses in America by Forbes magazine in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010. Company CEO, Randy Marten earned the distinction as a regional winner of Ernst & Young's prestigious Entrepreneur Of The Year award for Transportation in the Wisconsin Region ('05).

Marten was selected as "The Best Place to Work" in the area by Chippewa Valley B2B magazine and also earned the Grand Prize for Safety from the Truckload Carriers Association. But beyond the awards, Marten continued its push forward, by introducing Intermodal and Logistics divisions to diversify its offerings to customers.

Marten has enjoyed phenomenal growth in recent years. Because of the company's strong client base and numerous advantages for drivers, Marten has not only withstood economic ups and downs, we’ve continued to thrive.  By opening new terminals, launching new regional runs and adding new trucks to its fleet, Marten expects to continue its winning streak far into the future

With more than 60 years of experience Marten Transport continues to push forward. The company has grown from a small, regional carrier into one of today's leading national protective service transportation companies. With terminals in Wisconsin (corporate facility), Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kansas, Marten serves customers across 48 states and Canada. Today, the company that started out as one young man's dream, employs more than 2,400 people as it carries on its founder's philosophy of "Expecting the Best."

Marten Transport believes their drivers are the best in the industry. The integrity and professionalism they exhibit on a daily basis has earned them elite status among temperature protected freight haulers in North America.

Women In Trucking Association
Announces its June Member of the Month
Susie De Ridder (Lyons)

Susie, a Fredericton, New Brunswick-based company driver with Armour Transportation Systems, knew from an early age what she wanted to be when she grew up. Even as a little girl riding along with her truck-driver dad, there was no question that driving a truck is what she was cut out for.

After graduating from Fredericton High School in the late 70s, Susie sought out a local trucking company to work for. She learned the business inside out, first from an office desk, and also out in the yard where one of the company’s seasoned mechanics took her under his wing and taught her to drive “the old-school way.”

Her dad was behind her all the way from the beginning, but her mother took a bit more convincing. She was worried about her little girl moving away and driving to strange parts of the country on her own; it was the potential dangers of the job that concerned her, but it never crossed her mind that Susie wouldn’t be able to do the job.

In 1984 Susie headed for Toronto to launch her career as a truck driver, and after getting a couple of years on the road under her belt, she headed west – and south – to California where she spent the next 15 years working for US-based companies hauling dry vans and reefers across North America. For years, Susie hauled strawberries from California to the Toronto Food Terminal, so you might say she got “home” at least once a week.

There’s never been a day that Susie has regretted her career choice. It’s not all sunshine and roses, but Susie takes the big-picture view. “Sure, I’ve had my share of bad deliveries and I’ve made a wrong turn or two, but I always look ahead to positive. After all, out of the thousands of days and the millions of miles I’ve driven, what’s one bad day?”

There’s one wrong turn that Susie won’t soon forget. She was delivering in the Los Angeles area, and a mix-up in directions took her down a narrow street where she was stopped by a gang of young men walking toward the truck, the leader with his gun out. After much pleading and life-flashing-before-the-eyes moments, they finally let her go, no harm done. Susie often wonders if the fact she was a “helpless” female got her out of that tricky situation.

In 2001, Susie moved back to Ontario and worked for a company that sent her on the road in a custom-built 1987 359 Peterbilt, a favorite on the show truck circuit. Its distinctive 320” wheel base and 147” hood turned a lot of heads and earned her a spot on a coveted Cat Scales trading card.

In 2013, Susie moved back to Atlantic Canada and has been working for Armour Transportation Systems ever since. She loves her job, and puts a great deal of effort into promoting a positive view of the trucking industry.

In 2015 she won the People’s Choice award in WIT’s I Heart Trucking contest for her photograph entitled “Susie tearing up the blacktop from coast to coast” and her “Trucks are for GIRLS” entry was first runner up last year.

In addition to being a WIT member, Susie is the Atlantic Canada board representative for the Women’s Trucking Federation of Canada.

She takes every opportunity she can to encourage women to consider a trucking career, especially young women as they begin to make career choices. She recently wowed students at her old alma mater when she accompanied her company’s recruiting staff to FHS’s career fair, and there’s nothing she loves more than promoting the industry at Touch-A-Truck events and truck shows.

Susie has seen many changes in her 35 years on the road, and misses some of the old ways; the pace of trucking has sped up and there’s less time to socialize with others as the ‘mom and pop’ diners disappear. And when they do stop, drivers are more likely to grab a take-out meal than sit at the counter and chat.

The smartphone has replaced the CB in many instances, not necessarily a good thing, according to Susie. The CB was a safety net, when you could rely on other drivers for local traffic reports, weather conditions and directions, or when you might need help roadside or even a friendly voice to keep you company on a lonely stretch of highway.

But Susie doesn’t spend much time longing for the “good old days.” Trucking is her passion, and she has no intention of hanging up her keys anytime soon.