mercer transportation

Mercer, Landstar or any of the big O/O companies are the reason the rates have dropped into the toilet the last few years. It's part of their business strategy to have more trucks than freight, so they can have more areas covered. They really don't care if the rate is low and their O/O are going broke, after all 25% of something is better than 100% of nothing to them. Volume (market share)is what their after to make up for the low rates.They also make tons of money off of trailer rental fees, insurance premium mark ups, ComData fees, W/C and permit fees, ect. Think about how much they make just off ComData fees, 2000 trucks buying fuel every other day or so, ComData fee to the big carriers is less than 20 cents per transaction, the carriers than charge their O/O $1.50 or more. Also, do you really think they are passing all the fuel discount on to the O/O? Think again, they're not !! It's just a game of smoking mirrors, so to speak. Don't even get me started on how they skim off the top of the freight bills using 'Logistics" companies, which they own. BTW: I worked for years as an analyst, auditor checking the 'books'.

 

My buddy said different about Mercer but mind you he worked for them like 6-7 years ago so i'm sure it was different then... If its that bad I don't want a part of it cause the cost to operate a truck is higher than the wages that bring it in... sad thing is most companies are that way and I know i can't operate under $2 a mile not with fuel being $3.98 per gallon... i'd rather do it all myself and pay the extra taxes and fees and know what kind of freight i'm pulling, have it all layed out in front of me, than to have someone do it for me like lease purchase.. screw that

 

That makes 2 of us. Nothing runs my blood pressure up faster than a lying a&% dispatcher/coordinater,trying to get me too haul loads I cant make money on.

 

That's not Mercer, that's what the federal government does for the first year. You can have up to 200 CSA point before Mercer puts you OOS. They also have safety course at Louisville that you can take to lower your "Mercer" CSA score. Meaning you may have a DOT CSA of 200 points, but if you took a bunch of the Mercer safety classes, Mercer may only recognize 100 of those. It's possible to have a negative "Mercer" CSA score.

 

Mercer uses TCH unless they help you with a repair then they issue a comcheck. Yes you pay a small fee for usage...so? They don't use TCH for free either. T/A fuel discount is 1.5 cents over cost. How much room do you think they have to lie to me? Mind you I've read landstars fuel book. 2.5 cents over cost at TA.
Swift o/o l/o drivers don't get a discount they pay retail and swift keeps the difference. Now thats who you may be thinking of. Swift alone has 18000+ power units. Let alone the 3 other trucking companies they own. It's not right at all but you can get your own fuel card and not use swifts.

I don't think Mercer supports cheap freight but, they will post cheap freight loads. Why shouldn't they or any other company? If a customer called and said they wanted a truck to haul a 48k rock from NC to PA at .99 cents a mile. I wouldn't say no. I would inform them that it may be hard to find a truck for that rate but I will be happy to put it out there for you. Because I would want to build a relationship with them and hey you never know they may come to realize that they need to come up a bit higher. Its good business on the client side to deal with them and be professional.

I have 2 trucks at Swift and 1 with Mercer. Soon to be 3 with Mercer next month. I do agree that there are companies driving down rates. Indeed! Swift flatbed is a big culprit for that. I booked a load recently that I always hauled for swift and yup it's cheap. I'm calling a $1.71 p/m cheap btw.

Swift forced me to have w/c and I caught them over charging me and my guys and they fixed it. I couldn't beat swift's w/c rate. Mercer doesn't require w/c but their rate is far less than swift. Which makes it completely unbeatable by me.

Your not forced to rent a trailer from anyone. You can buy one or you can rent from the outside of the company. Swift is 100% power only.

If I could as a business person provide a service to my drivers I would especially if it helped my business.

I have my own insurance I can't speak for landstar but at Swift and Mercer you can have your own. Swifts rate I beat. Mercer's rate I cant beat but I still have my own on principle. I just feel better having my own. Both companies are self insured.

I'm not trying to argue. I'm just trying to keep it fair. Your post was not entirely accurate in my opinion. If I took your post out of context I apologize in advance because I didn't go back and read everything.

I only know what I know. Compared to most here I know nothing. my .02 worth.

 

YUP!! I'm currently -35

 

Showoff

 

Thats exactly the kinda #### we as o/o are talking about. If ANY shipper ever called me and asked a rediculous proposition like the example you just laid out here, my only response would be,........ I DONT DEAL WITH THIEVES!!!!!.........and whats even more sad, is thats whats going on EVERYDAY in this business.

you must have never heard that good ol owner op. slogan, say"NO" to cheap freight???????????????

 

Can't say about Mercer, but I know here at Landstar, we have more capacity than trucks. I'm doing very well, moving plenty of loads and making well over $2 mile to the truck for all my miles running a platform trailer. i have no clue how the van side is doing, but I'm sure it's not good just like all the other 3 million drivers who pull barns.

 

Honestly and I'm not trying to be a jerk or a know it all. Yes January was slow but I kept moving. I made some mistakes by chasing good paying freight but I still didn't sit because of a lack of freight or low paying freight. I'm baffled by these posts I'm reading.

Last week Wed to today

180 mile dh p/u NC to NY 569 miles @ $2.37 9k 2 straps ,smoke tarp
240 mile dh p/u PA to MA 479 miles @ $2.89 19.5k 8ft tarp
300 mile dh p/u PA to CT 589 miles @ $2.87 2 stops 7600k no tarp
128 mile dh p/u NY to PA 255 miles @ 2.18 46k no tarp
124 Mile dh p/u MD to VA 215 miles @ 2.88 12k I deliver tomorrow. no tarp

then
13 mile dh p/u VA to FL 819 miles @ 2.06 estimated @30k. 6ft drop. This one picks up Friday delivers Monday. I will take a 34 at home and leave Sunday mid day for FL. Man I got it tough!!!
4 mile dh p/u FL to OK 1011 miles @ 1.71 esitmated @ 15k no tarp. 3 stops last 2 are 5 miles apart.
still searching the next load after this which delivers wed next week.
it ain't the best but I think it's quite the opposite of what these negative posts are saying.