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Companies Marten Transport Ltd

Marten Transport (MRTN): executive pay, fiscal 2025

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CEO total pay$1,154,303CEO Randolph Marten · source
Say-on-pay support99%Latest vote · source
CEO vs. named peers25th pct.Of 4 peer CEOs

CEO pay, last three years

  • $1,179,648FY2023
  • $1,197,381FY2024
  • $1,154,303FY2025

CEO total pay was $1,154,303 in fiscal 2025, down from $1,197,381 in fiscal 2024.

FY2025: salary $801,483 · bonus $0 · stock awards $342,998 · option awards $0

Executives and directors

Frequently asked questions

Who was the highest-paid executive at Marten Transport Ltd in fiscal 2025?
As disclosed, Timothy Kohl (Former Chief Executive Officer) was the highest-paid executive at Marten Transport Ltd in fiscal 2025, with total compensation of $1,497,969.
How does Marten Transport Ltd's chief executive pay compare to its disclosed peer group?
As disclosed, Randolph Marten's total compensation ranked at the 25th percentile of Marten Transport Ltd's disclosed peer group.
How did shareholders vote on Marten Transport Ltd's executive compensation?
As disclosed, 99% of shareholders supported Marten Transport Ltd's executive compensation in the latest say-on-pay vote.
How much does Marten Transport Ltd spend in total on board compensation for fiscal 2025?
As disclosed, Marten Transport Ltd reported total board compensation of $783,594 for fiscal 2025.

Answers are drawn only from the figures disclosed in this brief and cited to their location in the source filing. Where a figure required for an answer is not disclosed, that is stated rather than estimated.

Full detail

Every table from the filing. Open any section.

Summary compensation table
Named executive officerSalaryBonusStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentivePension / NQDCAll otherTotal
Timothy Kohl$553,863$0$314,902$0$0$0$629,204$1,497,969
Former Chief Executive Officer
Randolph Marten801,4830342,9980009,8221,154,303
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
James Hinnendael431,4500172,76200011,006615,218
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Douglas Petit392,9030168,1430009,498570,544
President
Adam Phillips305,8270129,9840005,395441,206
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Randall Baier295,9620125,7960006,778428,536
Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer

A dash means the company reported no figure in that column; 0 means it reported zero. Figures are as printed in the filing, without adjustment.

Three-year trend — total compensation per named executive

Named executive officerFY2025 totalFY2024 totalFY2023 totalΔ FY2024→2025
Timothy Kohl$1,497,969$1,098,903$1,083,236↑ +399,066
Randolph Marten1,154,3031,197,3811,179,648↓ −43,078
James Hinnendael615,218607,418597,664↑ +7,800
Douglas Petit570,544590,753581,830↓ −20,209
Adam Phillips441,206457,419381,877↓ −16,213
Randall Baier428,536443,885355,600↓ −15,349

Prior-year totals as disclosed in the corresponding proxy; deltas are computed values with the derivation shown in the register.

Incentive-plan design — the Compensation Discussion & Analysis

The company's compensation philosophy focuses on attracting, motivating, and retaining key employees by aligning executive interests with stockholder value through long-term, equity-based incentive compensation. It emphasizes a 'team' approach where compensation is primarily tied to overall company performance rather than individual performance, with a significant component of variable pay based on actual results to ensure competitiveness and sustainable growth.

CEO STI target (% of salary)—
CEO LTI target (% of salary)—
Independent consultantGrant Thornton LLP
Clawback policytrue
Anti-hedgingtrue
Anti-pledgingfalse
Equity grants and outstanding awards

Grants of plan-based awards — fiscal year 2025

ExecutiveAwardGrant dateThresholdTargetGrantedMaximumGrant-date fair value
Timothy KohlPSU2025-05-06————$314,902
Randall BaierPSU2025-05-06———9,913125,796
Douglas PetitPSU2025-05-06———13,250168,143
James HinnendaelPSU2025-05-06———13,614172,762
Randolph MartenPSU2025-05-06———27,029342,998
Adam PhillipsPSU2025-05-06———10,243129,984

Vehicle mix — grant-date fair value by award type

Named executive officerTime-vested (RSU)Performance-vested (PSU)Options / SARs% performance-vested
Timothy Kohl$0$314,902$0100.0%
Randall Baier0125,7960100.0%
Douglas Petit0168,1430100.0%
James Hinnendael0172,7620100.0%
Randolph Marten0342,9980100.0%
Adam Phillips0129,9840100.0%

% performance-vested = PSU grant-date fair value ÷ (RSU + PSU + Options), a computed value with the derivation shown in the register.

Outstanding equity awards at fiscal year-end 2025

ExecutiveAwardShares unvestedExercise priceMarket value unvested
Adam PhillipsOption60016.93—
Randall BaierOption60016.93—
Douglas PetitOption60017.36—
Adam PhillipsOption60017.36—
Randall BaierOption60017.36—
Randall BaierPSU17,919—203,918
Adam PhillipsPSU18,415—209,563
Douglas PetitPSU29,080—330,930
James HinnendaelPSU29,881—340,046
Randolph MartenPSU59,325—675,119
Director compensation
DirectorCash feesStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentiveAll otherTotal
Ronald R. BoothIndependent · Audit (Chair) · Nominating/Corporate Governance$77,250$57,105———$134,355
Robert L. DemorestIndependent · Lead Independent Director · Audit · Nominating/Corporate Governance75,58257,105———132,687
Kathleen P. IversonIndependent · Audit · Compensation (Chair)72,25057,105———129,355
Patricia L. JonesIndependent · Compensation · Nominating/Corporate Governance (Chair)66,66457,105———123,769
Larry B. HagnessIndependent · Compensation · Nominating/Corporate Governance60,00057,105———117,105
Jerry M. BauerIndependent · Compensation · Nominating/Corporate Governance60,00057,105———117,105
Thomas J. WinkelIndependent · Not standing for re-election · Departed during FY29,2180———29,218
Randolph L. MartenEmployee director · Board Chair—————0

Board fee structure and ownership guideline

Annual cash retainer$45,000
Annual equity retainer—
Per board meeting fee$1,500
Committee chair fees (audit / comp / nom-gov)15,000 / 10,000 / 10,000
Stock ownership guideline—

Total cost of the board

ComponentFY2025
Cash retainers and fees$440,964
Equity awards (grant-date value)$342,630
All other compensation$0
Total cost of the board$783,594

Computed as the sum of the director compensation table rows above; inputs and formula shown in the register.

Peer group, and who names Marten Transport as a peer

Companies that benchmark against MRTN

7 companies name MRTN as a compensation peer

Each company listed discloses MRTN in its own benchmarking peer group, as disclosed in each company's most recent proxy statement within the last two proxy seasons. Two companies are therefore absent by design: one that named MRTN in an earlier year and no longer does, and one whose own most recent disclosure is older than the last two seasons.

Disclosed peer group — fiscal year 2025

The compensation peer group as the company disclosed it in its own proxy — the reference set behind the percentile above.

Peer reciprocity

The companies Marten Transport Ltd names as compensation peers that name it back in their own disclosed peer groups.

Chief executive pay against the peer group

Most recent fiscal-year chief executive compensation at each disclosed peer, taken from that company’s own proxy statement.

RankCompanyFYChief executiveSalaryStock awardsOption awardsNon-equity incentiveTotal
1Werner Enterprises, Inc.2025Derek Leathers$974,077$4,200,000$0$745,106$6,048,549
2Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc.2025Adam Miller950,0003,242,667—803,1305,011,329
3Covenant Logistics Group, Inc.2025David Parker753,02100100,0001,794,678
4Marten Transport Ltd2025Randolph Marten801,483342,998001,154,303
5Heartland Express, Inc.2025Michael Gerdin1,050,0000001,070,362

Each peer’s compensation is from its most recently filed proxy; fiscal years differ by company. Each peer’s figures come from its own filings; the subject company is highlighted. Peers whose chief executive compensation is outside our coverage universe are stated as such, never left blank.

Incentive design against the same peers

CompanyAnnual incentive payoutLong-term vehicle mixPSU measures include TSRCompensation consultant
Marten Transport Ltdnot disclosednot disclosednot disclosedGrant Thornton LLP
Covenant Logistics Group, Inc.not disclosedRSU 50 · PRSU 50not disclosedPearl Meyer
Heartland Express, Inc.not disclosedRestricted Stock 100not disclosednot disclosed
Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc.not disclosedPRSU 60 · RSU 40not disclosedPearl Meyer
Werner Enterprises, Inc.not disclosednot disclosednot disclosedFrederic W. Cook & Co.

Read from each company’s Compensation Discussion and Analysis: annual incentive payout as a percentage of target, the disclosed long-term vehicle mix, whether performance-share measures include a total shareholder return component, and the retained compensation consultant. “Not disclosed” appears only where the company’s filing does not state the item.

Say-on-pay history and pay ratio
Meeting yearMeeting dateForAgainstAbstainSupportOutcome
20262026-05-0571,852,429722,63251,94899%Passed
20252025-05-0675,486,694835,78137,14898.9%Passed
20242024-05-0770,379,466718,35525,12498.99%Passed
20232023-05-0273,998,332814,63484,69598.91%Passed
20222022-05-0370,851,716625,423111,35699.13%Passed
20212021-05-0470,077,915369,50592,14699.48%Passed

Rows are labeled by annual-meeting year, with the meeting date beside each; the vote held in a given year acts on the prior fiscal year’s compensation.

Say-on-pay — history, company’s computation

Meeting yearMeeting dateApproval — company’s computation
20262026-05-0599%a
20252025-05-0698.9%b
20242024-05-0798.99%c

a. Voting standard not stated in the filing.

b. Voting standard not stated in the filing.

c. Voting standard not stated in the filing.

Approval percentages are the company’s own reported computations under its own stated standard, not recomputed by Velarion. Where a company does not state a standard, none is assumed.

Insider trades since the proxy

No insider equity transactions reported since the proxy statement.

Sources (33 citations)

Each figure is listed with the filing it comes from, where it appears in that filing, and the value as printed. Any figure can be independently confirmed against the source.

  • Section 01, Timothy Kohl. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-17. Section “Executive Compensation”. As printed: 1,497,969. View filing ↗
  • Section 01, Randolph Marten. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-17. Section “Executive Compensation” · page 26. As printed: 1,154,303. View filing ↗
  • Section 01, James Hinnendael. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-17. Section “Executive Compensation”. As printed: 615,218. View filing ↗
  • Section 01, Douglas Petit. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-17. Section “Executive Compensation”. As printed: 570,544. View filing ↗
  • Section 01, Adam Phillips. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-17. Section “Executive Compensation”. As printed: 441,206. View filing ↗
  • Section 01, Randall Baier. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-17. Section “Executive Compensation”. As printed: 428,536. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Timothy Kohl PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-17. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Randall Baier PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-17. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Douglas Petit PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-17. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, James Hinnendael PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-17. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Randolph Marten PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-17. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 03, Adam Phillips PSU. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-17. Section “Executive Compensation” · grants of plan-based awards table. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Ronald R. Booth. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-17. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 134,355. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Robert L. Demorest. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-17. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 132,687. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Kathleen P. Iverson. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-17. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 129,355. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Patricia L. Jones. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-17. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 123,769. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Larry B. Hagness. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-17. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 117,105. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Jerry M. Bauer. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-17. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 117,105. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Thomas J. Winkel. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-17. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 29,218. View filing ↗
  • Section 08, Randolph L. Marten. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-17. Section “Director Compensation”. As printed: 0. View filing ↗
  • Section 06, 2026 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2026-05-11. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 99% (votes for as printed: 71,852,429). View filing ↗
  • Section 06, 2025 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2025-05-12. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 98.9% (votes for as printed: 75,486,694). View filing ↗
  • Section 06, 2024 vote. Form 8-K, filed 2024-05-10. Item 5.07 · say-on-pay result. As reported: 98.99% (votes for as printed: 70,379,466). View filing ↗
  • Section 01 trend, Δ column (computed). Computed. Δ = current-FY total − prior-FY total per named officer.
  • Section 03b vehicle mix (computed). Computed. RSU / PSU / Options grant-date fair values summed per officer from the grants table; % performance-vested = PSU ÷ (RSU+PSU+Options).
  • Section 09b board cost (computed). Computed. Cash 440,964 + equity 342,630 + all other 0 = 783,594, summed across the director compensation table rows.
  • Werner Enterprises, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-31. CEO total compensation as printed in Werner Enterprises, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 6,048,549. View filing ↗
  • Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-02. CEO total compensation as printed in Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 5,011,329. View filing ↗
  • Covenant Logistics Group, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-10. CEO total compensation as printed in Covenant Logistics Group, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 1,794,678. View filing ↗
  • Marten Transport Ltd (subject), Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-03-17. CEO total compensation as printed in Marten Transport Ltd's own proxy. As printed: 1,154,303. View filing ↗
  • Heartland Express, Inc., Section 10b CEO total. DEF 14A, filed 2026-04-02. CEO total compensation as printed in Heartland Express, Inc.'s own proxy. As printed: 1,070,362. View filing ↗
  • Section 10a, Heartland Express, Inc. reciprocity. DEF 14A. Heartland Express, Inc. names Marten Transport Ltd in its own disclosed peer group (read from its most recent proxy). View filing ↗
  • Section 10a, Covenant Logistics Group, Inc. reciprocity. DEF 14A. Covenant Logistics Group, Inc. names Marten Transport Ltd in its own disclosed peer group (read from its most recent proxy). View filing ↗
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