mercer transportation

Point of fact is they did and will. Right out of the gate my first coordinator did. I was running his wife's freight every 3rd or 4th run (she was an agent). A house number told me to switch him out, I did. Now before the company observer blasts me and claims I was delusional. Two weeks later his board was taken away from him. Agents cut and paste loads, no details. When I began contacting the agents directly this problem disappeared, with a coordinator it was "I'll check into it" and the load is attached to someone else before they can get back to you. Nearly all loads now are CBD. Mercer runs from the same load boards as every other company. I wonder sometimes how many loads are theirs. I didn't jump on this thread to get into a pissing contest. However, being an impressional young man, believing most of the tails about mercer. Milk and Honey, Loads just waiting for the driver. I worked my butt off to get here. Mercer has changed. Over 1000 drivers have left Mercer since I joined. 2000 drivers when I came on, 2000 today. Skateboards will fair much better here than the steps with fcfs. The business has changed. When you check on a forum such as this and it seems too good to be true. It is.

 

your first problem was letting a coordinator run your truck to begin with.

and just exactly who is the "company oberserver"?? of the guys posting on this thread , myself including are all guys leased to mercer.

I also happen to be proactive, I always talk the the agents to get details on loads, I leave that up to no one.

of course a lot of loads are CBD, its not any different anywhere else, many shippers sends the loads out on a cattle call, first one with a truck available gets the load. that should be common knowledge to anyone

you have to be proactive in getting your loads here, you are not going to be spoonfed , the very fact that you let the coordinator run your truck says you weren't sure of yourself or your abilities when ya came here.

I never have a problem getting loads, I run steady, but I don't run hard, don't even try to do that, steady wins the race.

and for many of us, this is the land of milk and honey, best outfit I have ever ran across in 34 years of trucking.

and the 1000 who have left here have no doubt left other places before, I would bet you those same guys have never lasted anywhere very long.

and the first thing I was told when I called mercer is that they were primarily a flatbed company, but most hear that for some reason. so yeah flats will do better than steps, but that is no surprise at all.

and what is this "fcfs" you have mentioned?? are you perhaps talking about first in, first out???


and of course the business has changes, it changes constantly. imagine the changes that have occurred since I started 34 years ago, you have to constantly adapt.

I think maybe you are the one with rose colored glasses.

you have to learn how to make mercer's system work for you and then work within their system. that follows for anywhere you go, by the way.

tell ya what, why don't ya post where ya ya will run and where ya wont run, and where you don like to go and where ya don't like to go?

I have made money here since day one.

 

Easy Skateboad. Most of us know how right you are but don't let him get you so upset.

If anything, he helps bring up some of the questions and concerns which everyone wonders why such a good company has any turn over at all.
And as you know, Mercer system takes so getting used to. Even then it's not perfect.
This morning I seen where an agent, covered up a load so he could have his local company get it. Not supposed to happen, but some agents cheat.

 

Maybe land of milk and honey but You have to milk the cows and watch out for the bee's to get the milk and honey.

 

skateboardman I read in one of your post that you are from GA and you use chris truck repair chris wife is my 1st cuz but what I wanted to ask you is that I am going to buy a truck and would like to sing on with mercer but I been off the road for 5 years due to family reasons how hard is it to lease on with mercer?

 

thank you flightline. most of us are not omniscient (able to know what someone is going to do before they do) When you talk to an oldtimer on the road about Mercer frankly the questions you ask have nothing to do with operations of the company. All I tried to impress in the thread is, not having a mentor to depend on while you run, you have to go by what you are fed during orientation. Boils down to behave, use the load board, and the coordinator because they know what freight and areas to go into or avoid. This allows the coordinator to be a defacto dispatcher. Not a good option. Fortunately when I came to Mercer I had everything Paid for, Thank God, most the bills paid off and all the kids grown up and out of the house. Now, I'm not the sharpest stick in the wood pile, but I do observe and ponder on "why did that just happen" and how to avoid that in the future. Took me almost a year to start to get a grip on it, (still don't understand how I can be 1st position on the board, but when you call the agent or the coordinator your really 2nd, 3rd or 10th.(This is my experience 3 times in california.) guess were I don't go anymore) Had the oportunity to chat with a newbee yesterday. He was telling me that now, Dean in orientation is telling them,"don't get dispatched on future loads, because if one falls out, you are still obligated to be at your pick-up." The reason I stay with Mercer is as a business owner I still hope for the oportunity to make more and believe I can still use them. Don't have to like them. But, I've been wrong before. Won't be the last time.

 

All 48 'cept CA. It's a stepdeck thing you wouldn't understand. And unlike you I did have a couple jobs before I started driving for a single company for two thirds of my life. I loved my first job the way you love Mercer, Unfortunately that factory is closed and torn down. When I was 23 I was much more flexible with situations than I am now. It does not in my opinion help new drivers to go in "eyes open" when the only opinions they hear are yours. with 3000 post in 2 years perhap you are the company observer.

 

I just went to orientation at the beginning of the month and Dean never said that. This week I had four loads dispatched on me.

 

I haven't heard him say anything about the multiple loads situation but one thing I do know is that dean didn't say a lot of things during orientation.

 

Orientation is just what the word implies. It gets you familiar with their system, what they expect from you and what you can expect from them. Orientation is not a school on how to be a successful owner operator. Mercer does not hold your hand. You should already know how to manage money, make decisions, and learn from your mistakes.

Every one of us that feel we are successful at Mercer have some really bad days, bad weeks and bad months, you have to learn and adapt. Learning and adapting has nothing to do with Mercer. It has everything do do with looking in the mirror.