Ken Brenner: From Marvin Keller, to Schneider, and Back Again

I came aboard Marvin Keller January of 2016. I didn’t know a lot about the industry as this was the only trucking job I’ve had. It was around Thanksgiving time when I started to feel like I was sitting a lot more than I should be. It wasn’t anything personal against Tammy, my driver manager. A lot of times she would call and tell me that there wasn’t a plan, and I could tell in her voice, she was thinking, “He’s not going to like this.” I started to think that surely there was a company out there that could keep me moving constantly. I ended up leaving January of 2017, a week after my one-year anniversary at Marvin Keller.

Most companies would offer better pay rates and it was tempting to fall into that trap, thinking that they would offer better pay than here. Of course I eventually learned that the reason for the higher pay at larger companies is because they would offer much lower miles. After leaving Marvin Keller, it didn’t take long for me to realize that I had made a huge mistake.

Those other opportunities did not work out as I had hoped, mainly due to the lower mileage. Even though the pay rate is lower here at Marvin Keller, my checks at larger companies ended up being less than half of the checks I was receiving here at Marvin Keller. Those dead miles eventually add up to being a lot of opportunity cost. It was kind of like a “Wow” moment. At those larger companies, mileage is no guarantee. Those larger companies really don’t care if you’re sitting.

During my time jumping around between two large trucking companies, Tammy kept calling me. The last time she called me, she told me that Marvin Keller wanted me back and would do whatever it took. That’s when it got real for me, and I decided, “There’s no doubt that Marvin Keller is where I want to be. It’s where I’ll want to be for a while.” I signed back on to Marvin Keller May 1, 2017.

At Marvin Keller, there will be certain times when I’ll need to sit and wait for a load. But I’ve learned that those times occur at every company. The difference is that Marvin Keller is actively trying to find freight while bigger companies will use their drivers as disposable to their own schedule. Knowing that Marvin Keller wants to keep me moving and get me home on time allows me to be patient when they are trying to figure things out. Based on mileage I’ve learned that Marvin Keller does the best job because they want to work with the need of the driver. That means getting their drivers home on time, and getting their drivers the miles that they want.