mercer transportation

yes when i played foodltball and worked out everyday i was also considered obese by bmi standards. one dr even put morbidly obese on my med records at that time. i am fully convinced my bones and organs weigh as much as they said i should weigh

 

the eobr that mandate called for doesnt exist at this point, the mandate calls for biometric sign on. the electronic recorders installed now dont meet the mandate as it is written.

but one thing to remember the owner of the eobr has access to edit logs, the big boys with em now can edit the log.

if a one guy with his own authority can edit, a new business model may develop. instead of leasing your truck to a company, you simply contract to a company who would then pay a higher percent since you have authority.


guys like mercer would sort of morph into contract brokers, if you will.


but you know , the guys over at CHICKEN LITTLE TRUCKING have been saying the sky has been falling since i started in 79. its gotten real stormy a few times but it hasnt fallen. life will go on and we will adapt, always have and always will.

 

I haven't been in the game quite as long as skateboardman, but in my 15 years in trucking I constantly hear how this change or that change is going to cause unbelievable problems. Do I like all the emissions crap on my trucks? NO...but we are making it work. I think EOBR/elogs will be the same thing. It will be a little bit challenging to switch over, but after some growing pains it won't be that big a deal. I would estimate all but the biggest cowboys in the industry are probably compliant 95% of the time, and a little planning would account for the remaining 5%. In addition, an industry wide change will force shippers to load trucks in a timely manner. There won't be anyone left that can wait all day to get loaded then drive all night to get it there. This is one change that I really feel will bring rates up. There will be a lot of stubborn old hands that flat out refuse to change and leave the industry. Everyone that is left will be a little less productive. Things will still need to move, but you will have fewer drivers that are capable of driving fewer miles. In other words, you will be shrinking that capacity of the national fleet. What do you think that will do to rates? You can't control the fact that things will change. You can choose to adapt or to resist.

I think skateboardman is on to something in regards to the potential for a new model. I think it will have less to do with EOBRs and more with the issue of independent contractors. The current administration has a bulls eye on the back of the independent contractor model. They want everyone to be employees, with health insurance provided by the company, paying payroll taxes, and all the better if they can raise union numbers in the process. I am not sure how it will all play out, but the weakest leg in the independent contractor model used by trucking is the question of the primary nature of the business. The test asks if the independent contractor provides a service to the company that is outside the scope of the company's normal line of business. In my opinion, Landstar has done a good job preparing for this issue with their various layers (BCO, Agent, etc.). I see more companies trying to create this to continue using contractors. If this fails, the inevitable would be o/ops getting their own authority. I guess we will see what happens.

 

i was told there is 33 in orientation right now. also the last guy my cordinator got was about 200 above my truck number. thats in 3 months so i dont think its as bad as some people are making it seem. its a bit high but this is also the time of year a lot of guys leave when things get slower

 

I have a question for you.
You said the numbers are about 200 above your number since you signed on.
You are not sure how many have left, correct.
Do they have the freight for that many trks. or are they just taking on trks. to build up the numbers?

If the latter then you have to fight every time it would seem looking for lds.
Just curious

 

last montg was real bad for me. in part due to my mistakes but not all. this month its back to business as usual. i have been running steady back to back loads since i left out after christmas. worst case deliver one morning, load the next morning.

 

also the largest number of trucks leaving are new guys who leave after a month or two and i have no idea how many of those 200 are still here. when i went to orientstion there was two or three trailers available that each had one or two payments made on them. twp to three a week is a pretty high amount

 

Actually I've heard the numbers are up 400 in the last 3 months. And freight has been slow for the last 2 months. But not out of the ordinay for winter.
No doubt in the winter months, drivers tend to jump ship moreso.
Wideload: didn't you come in a class of about 35-40 drivers? and they just brought in 100 last week. I'm sure quite a few between when you come in and last week. Little bit scary but it will level out and I'm sure they have their reasons. I just hope it because of anticapated freight.

 

thats what i am saying flightline. i heard 100 also but my girl said it was actually 33. i think its truckers exagerating things a bit.


my number is in the 13750's the last guy she picked up is 13950's. it is possible thry will break 14k by the end of te second class this week.

my class was the first big class but i think there was still only 30. i signed my lease oct 15th

 

Here is my opnion on the situation, I know they are wanting to grow, they sent a news letter out about it I believe before you came here wideload, it said something about referral bonus's and sign on bonus's, said they needed more trucks for anticipated growth. I myself do not and have not since the letter seen the freight (quality paying freight) for a bunch of extra trucks, that being said, right now it is my opinion they are putting on so many to just keep the numbers we had the same, I don't believe we have grown our numbers by much, if any from last summer.