Mercer Transportation Co., Inc. - Louisville, Ky.?

Mercer requires you to have TWIC.

 

They will get you one provided you can meet the requirements, half the class didn't have a TWIC

 

Having a twic will save you some money. I haven't pick my card up yet, but got a load from a north carolina port yesterday and had to pay for a escort.

 

Ga port in savana, had sign out front "no twic card=no entry"
Sure glad I had mine

 

Mercer will not get your TWIC Card, What they will do is , when you're hiring on. They will put you in a van, take you too the TWIC Office , then you fill out the paperwork, take your picture and then you pay $ 150.00 for the card, it has to be either a credit card or Check..

 

Well the ones in the class I was in who didn't have a TWIC were clueless about how to get a TWIC card. Sorry if I didn't lead you through the process step by step. Maybe I should mention now that you don't actually "get " the card the same day , you have to wait till your information is processed by the government and at a later date the card is actually ready for you to pick up. MERCER can't do that for you!!!

 

Mercer Transportation... Every owner operator or company driver that either leases their equipment on with or drives for, will usually be either a love or hate relationship.
I've had the pleasure in reading post on this thread that some of you guys are very happy with Mercer and that's great.
Mercers turnover rates... I know what mercer tells us, but , I know that since I hired on in 6/2012 and there was 2500 trucks leased on at the time I signed on. There has been over 600 more trucks leased on according to the truck numbers that I've seen in recent weeks.. That equates to an average of hiring on 20 new trucks a week..
I pulled my truck and trailer from Mercer yesterday.. I would like to write about my experience that I had there..
First of all, Mercer will pay you and you don't have to worry about getting paid !!

Now, My trailer is a Low Pro Step Deck.. my truck/trailer empty weight is 34,500 lbs. So Flatbedders can stay a lot busier because they can scale the 45K to 48K loads that I can't.

I had an agent call me from Seattle, Washington, he had an oversized load to cover and I was the closest truck available , it had a decent rate on it, so I took the load, dead headed 1300 miles and $ 900.00 in fuel cost. When I got back to Seattle, the shipper would not release the load due to the customer had not paid for it. So all totaled ,I was out 2 weeks of time, 1300 miles , fuel and expenses and would not even pay for truck ordered, not used.
Tarp Charges: Mercers favorite quote is ( All Inclusive ) which equated to free Tarping The tarps are not free when you buy them and I don't sweat for free.
Loading Partials: My biggest Gripe !! I own my truck and trailer, Mercer don't and neither does the shipper.. I've loaded several loads and had 20 to 30 feet of open deck , Mercer will not allow you to pick up a partial, they will tell you to ask the Agent for their permission, then the response will be ( your load is paying truck load rates ) $ 1.52 a mile to the truck in todays economy is Cheap Freight..
Appointment Times: The last time I checked, there is not a reefer parked on my fifth wheel.. I'm accustomed to setting my own pick up and delivery times..
Daily Check Calls: between 8am and 10am mercer demands a check call to let them know where you are at..( my opinion ) just another way to track you.

Free Advice : If you're looking at leasing on with Mercer, either you go over your equipment or hire a ASE mechanic to go over everything ( Believe Me, Mercer Will ) I've seen a few nice shinny and polished trucks that wound up spending a couple of grand or more to pass Mercers DOT Inspection.
If you don't have a headache rack or chains, binders straps, ect. you can buy them at Mercer, But keep in mind, its not cheap, you will need at least 50 percent up front and Mercer will finance the rest at $ 50.00 a day ( Payment ) weather you have a load or not.

Be Safe and that Best of Luck !!

 

The Savannah, GA port will only let you in 5 times even with a TWIC card. Then u have to have A GA port ID card as well.

 

and is that why you pulled you truck from mercer?

you had a truck to heavy to pull many of their loads

you dh 1300 miles to get a load out of seattle? I wouldn't take a chance like that honestly, and doesn't sound like it was mercers fault.

if I take a tarp load, I see the rate it pays per mile upfront and that has all charges figured in. I don't take one because it has a tarp charge. but if that is a concern I ask that question before I commit to the load

taking a load for a 1.52 and hoping for a partial is grabbing at straws, I have found its almost always stated on the load info if exclusive use or not. banking on putting partials with a 1.52 load aint the way to go for me.

on the appointment times, if I get one that I cant meet , I simply call and tell them that wont work and I cant make that and it has to be reset. they always do so. but again most times you se the pickup and delivery times in the load info screen before you accept the load.
so if you take load where the pickup time is impossible to meet or if delivery is impossible, simple don't take the load. if the shipper is late loaded by 5 hours, I call and say delivery may be late by 5 hours, never had anyone give me trouble over this.

and we don't get tracked by any other means at all, they are dependent upon letting customers know where there is by a phone call on our part, and you have a problem with this?? everybody I have ever drove for or leased to over the last 34 years expected check calls, what the big deal??

and if ya come there and don't have equipment , they do expect you to pay half upfront and take out the rest at 50 bucks a day. they basically loan you money for equipment they sell to you at cost and they expect you to pay it back. imagine that!!!


so you were there roughly a year and half, didn't learn to ask the right questions on loads, and don't like to make check calls, but they did pay exactly as they said they would. I hope you find somewhere that suits your style, the hard part is finding someone that doesn't care where the truck or the freight is at least one time a day.

I think you rolled the dice to much and it kept coming up snake eyes. especially on that seattle deal.

 

My reply to this poster, I have read a ton of his posts here on this thread, I am very happy that you're so successful at mercer. I'm also very happy that you"re constantly raking in over 200 Grand year after year... It seems to me that you're doing a lot of bragging , which personally I don't believe about half of it. I fully understand ( Mercers ) system.
In 2013 , there was quite a few people that left and went to Bennett, Admiral Merchant, Landstar Ranger. The same guys had been at Mercer for 20 plus years. We all can't be Mercer mega super trucker as you.
As far as the 1300 mile DH , I asked the Booking Agent 5 times if he was sure that he had the load, it was an Oversized load that paid just over 8K , so it was worth the trip.
Also you can't compare your Flat bed freight to step deck freight or RGN freight, because you can't haul any of it. Apples & Oranges....
Your Partial load Comment. I had sat in Barstow, Ca. for 7 days, when I emptied out, I was like 72 on the load board. By picking up a LTL , the revenue to the truck could have been perhaps doubled.
So inclosing, before you pass judgement on someone ( Snake eyes ) go buy yourself an Rgn or a Low Pro step and if you are still making over 200 grand a year to the truck, I'd be happy to lease back on and Pay for your tutoring.