Note 18 - Revenue and Business Segments (Details Textual) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)
Number of Operating Segments	5
Number of Reportable Segments	4
Customer Contract Term	1 year
Contract with Customer, Asset, Net, Current, Total	$ 1,729	$ 1,823
Capitalized Contract Cost, Impairment Loss	0	0
Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets [Member]
Contract with Customer, Asset, Net, Current, Total	1,700	1,800
Dedicated [Member]
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization, Total	$ 34,600	29,600	$ 22,000
Dedicated [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Customer Contract Term	3 years
Dedicated [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Customer Contract Term	5 years
Truckload [Member]
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization, Total	$ 54,000	52,200	57,200
Intermodal [Member]
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization, Total	5,100	5,500	4,600
Brokerage [Member]
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization, Total	$ 1,500	$ 1,300	$ 1,300

Duration of customer contracts.

No definition available.

Name:	mrtn_CustomerContractTerm
Namespace Prefix:	mrtn_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of impairment loss for asset recognized from cost incurred to obtain or fulfill contract with customer.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 340
-SubTopic 40
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=68051541&loc=SL49131252-203054

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_CapitalizedContractCostImpairmentLoss
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount, after allowance for credit loss, of right to consideration in exchange for good or service transferred to customer when right is conditioned on something other than passage of time, classified as current.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118944033&loc=SL49130531-203044

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 3
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118944033&loc=SL49130533-203044

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 8
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118956577&loc=SL49130549-203045

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ContractWithCustomerAssetNetCurrent
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The aggregate expense recognized in the current period that allocates the cost of tangible assets, intangible assets, or depleting assets to periods that benefit from use of the assets.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 280
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 22
-Subparagraph (e)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=115929826&loc=d3e8736-108599

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118932676&loc=d3e3602-108585

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DepreciationDepletionAndAmortization
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Number of operating segments. An operating segment is a component of an enterprise: (a) that engages in business activities from which it may earn revenues and incur expenses (including revenues and expenses relating to transactions with other components of the same enterprise), (b) whose operating results are regularly reviewed by the enterprise's chief operating decision maker to make decisions about resources to be allocated to the segment and assess its performance, and (c) for which discrete financial information is available. An operating segment may engage in business activities for which it has yet to earn revenues, for example, start-up operations may be operating segments before earning revenues.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_NumberOfOperatingSegments
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Number of segments reported by the entity. A reportable segment is a component of an entity for which there is an accounting requirement to report separate financial information on that component in the entity's financial statements.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_NumberOfReportableSegments
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BalanceSheetLocationAxis=us-gaap_PrepaidExpensesAndOtherCurrentAssetsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=mrtn_DedicatedMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_RangeAxis=srt_MinimumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_RangeAxis=srt_MaximumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=mrtn_TruckloadMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=mrtn_IntermodalMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=mrtn_BrokerageMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: