Richard Barnet is a small business owner who finances trucks to drivers. He also has been driving one of his trucks for Marvin Keller as an over-the-road Owner Operator for about a year. Richard owns five trucks that he finances and leases to other drivers. Because he is a business owner and also drives his own truck for our company, we have come to learn that Richard is a hard worker. It comes as no surprise that he has recently been growing his business by hiring another dr

Today I had the chance to speak with a student driver about the trucking industry. The student had just completed our personal training program and was excited about starting on his own. His background is from a family of experienced truckers, so I was interested in seeing what he had to say about how the industry had evolved since he was a child. Being fairly young and having the option to pursue further education after graduating High School, I was excited to hear his insig

We have been talking awhile now about the International Roadcheck Enforcement Safety Event that is coming up in June. We call it the Safety Blitz. During June 6-8 there will be frequent roadside, DOT inspections with a special emphasis on cargo securement. We created a Pre and Post-Trip Inspection Checklist for your convenience. Truck Interior/Exterior Any body damage, Any interior damage Under Hood Overall condition, Oil level, Radiator condition/coolant level, Hoses and con

Marvin Keller has drop lots in areas across Illinois where we keep trailers. We consider these lots a part of company property so everyone should try their best to make sure each lot is kept clean and organized. Wayne Lucas brought to our attention that the Effingham lot had ben unnecessarily messy recently. He reported that he had spent awhile picking up miscellaneous trash that others had left. We thought that this act was highly honorable and helpful to everyone, and we wa

Last week we rolled out the Hazmat Campaign, sending out a few brochures with a list of tasks to complete to earn a $200 Safety Bonus. It has been brought to our attention that the Word Search in the campaign brochure has a typo. The mistake is for the word PLACARD, which cannot be found in the Word Search. Please take note of this! We apologize for the confusion. In completing the Word Search, leave out the word PLACARD. Thank you Rashod Wilson for bringing this to our atten

We are proud to announce our new business relationship with Smucker's. We started doing business April 3rd, 2017 carrying 13 lanes a week, making them a mid-sized customer of Marvin Keller. Since we started servicing them we have seen a reduction in broker freight. Smucker's is commonly associated with food products like peanut butter and jelly, but we have been delivering pet nutrition products such as dog food, dog treats, Meow Mix, Pup-Peroni and Gravy Train. We also deliv

In light of our recent Hazmat Campaign where we tell all our drivers to put two straps on the back, we wanted to highlight one particular load that Steve Von Behren recently brought to our attention. In this picture above you can see that there are unsecured barrels located above the set of barrels that are properly secured. Steve snapped this picture to express his concerns about the potential danger of having one of these barrels roll out onto someone who opened the door. I

We want to make sure all of our drivers are prepared for the International Roadcheck Enforcement Safety Event that is coming up in June. CVSA has an annual roadcheck that we call the Safety Blitz. The time period for the Safety Blitz is June 6-8, and during this time there will be much more frequent roadside, DOT inspections with a special emphasis on cargo securement. Inspectors will be primarily conducting level-1 inspections which is the most thorough inspection possible.

In light of our recent Hazmat Safety Campaign we wanted to commend Allen Fitzgerald for adhering to our high safety standards. He was able to attain a defect-free DOT inspection in Lafayette, Missouri this past week. The inspection was a level 1 which means that his entire truck and trailer was checked thoroughly. Allen passed this level 1 with flying colors, receiving zero violations. The reason Allen was able to pass this inspection was because he conducted a thorough pre-t

A few months ago Randall Perry suffered the misfortune of having his truck destroyed by fire. Struggling with the financial burden the fire left him, Randall continued to seek out options for purchasing a truck. He eventually approached us about our Lease Purchase Program and eventually signed on as a participant. The Lease Purchase Program was a great fit for Randall’s situation because the program is meant to offer a helping hand to those interested in starting their own tr