Cover Story

Tim Ridley - Marten Transport, Ltd.

The trucking industry has countless driver success stories about which it can boast, and Tim Ridley’s deserves high placement on the list. From his start as a professional over-the-road driver to his current position as a terminal manager with Mondovi, WI-based Marten Transport, Ltd., Tim credits faith, commitment and hard work with the steady career advancement he has enjoyed.
     In 1984, the athletic young man was working in Phoenix as an electrical engineer, but he began to hear the siren song of the open highway. “Driving a truck had always been a childhood dream of mine,” he says, “and it kept calling my name.”
     Tim moved to Atlanta and began driving flatbed freight over the road. He knew right away that he had made the right choice in becoming a professional driver, but he soon switched to a motor carrier that pulled temperature-controlled loads. “I believed that refrigerated freight offered additional challenges and responsibilities for the driver, and that appealed to me,” remembers Tim. “I also liked the sound of the trailers!”
     With several years of experience behind him, Tim was ready to run with a top company, and he quickly chose Marten.
     “Those blue Marten trucks are the prettiest vehicles on the road, and I could see that they were driven with pride,” says Tim. “It wasn’t easy to get on with Marten because of their high standards—it still isn’t—and this gave their drivers and owner-operators a real sense of respect. I was sold.”
     Tim ran with Marten as a company driver for two years, and then he took a brief hiatus to perform service work with his church. Once again, however, the trucking lifestyle proved too strong to resist, and Tim decided that this time he wanted to drive as an owner-operator—leasing to Marten, of course.
     After running his own business for over six years, Tim had become a master of the open road. He set high expectations for himself and accumulated an impressive one million safe driving miles during this period.
     The folks at Marten recognized Tim’s enthusiasm and attention to detail, and they brought him in-house as a driver recruiter in 2003, soon promoting him to recruiting supervisor. For Tim, the progression was a natural one, because he was ready to give back to the industry that had done so much for him. “I helped hire countless drivers as a recruiter with Marten, and my years behind the wheel played a big part in my success,” he says. “I could share the inside story of my driving experiences, and I built my reputation on honesty and communication.”
     This integrity catapulted him into the position of terminal manager at Marten’s Forest Park, GA facility, and his industry knowledge has earned Tim guest appearances on Dave Nemo’s popular trucking program on XM Satellite Radio Channel 171.
     As for the future, Tim’s goal is to continue making Marten the preferred choice for the nation’s top drivers and owner-operators. When taking a break from his work responsibilities, Tim enjoys weightlifting and spending time with his wife, Maricel, and their son, TJ (Timothy III).
      The staff of Over the Road and Pro Trucker magazines would like to wish Tim continued success with Marten Transport, Ltd. If you’d like to learn more about company driver and owner-operator opportunities at Marten, give one of their recruiters a call at (800) 395-3331, visit their Web site at marten.com or see their ad on pages 30-31 of this issue.