mercer transportation

My local work hurt me too. It amazes me that most places don't count it. The skills I picked up local made me a better driver but because I didn't sleep in the truck it didn't count for some reason.

 

Did you get the card with a list of every agent? It folds up to business card size to fit in your wallet. anyway, it has an asterisk or something similar beside every agent that has truck pay ability. They have truck parking. The truck pay part didn't apply to us, it goes back to the days before scanning was available. A lot of broker trucks still use it tho. But any agent that can process paperwork and cut a check on the spot, had a big enough lot to allow for truck access. They also have a supply of log books, and other paper work. And most of them will take you out for lunch just like in Louisville. Making friends with agents is never a bad thing.

 

It's all about the insurance companies. Most local guys don't rack up a lot of miles, and most of their day is spent handling freight. You would think they would put more emphasis on city driving and backing into docks a dozen times a day, but for what ever reason they think miles going down the interstate and 4 lane us routes are more important.

In my opinion they got it back wards. Any money can drive on a straight line across Nebraska. It takes more skill navigating the skinny streets of Chicago and Boston all day, every day.

 

Only other thing I could somewhat understand is mountain and winter driving but some local guys deal with that

 

I'm not sure if it plays a factor, but in general, local trucks are also a lot shorter, and pull shorter trailers.

 

My first local job was 48ft trailers with 70 inch sleepers. I really don't get it either

 

That can be true but I pulled everything from day cabs with 28 ft pups to pulling doubles with a sleeper cab. There is something to be said about the ability to jump in any combination of tractor and trailer and being able to get the job done. That seems to be lost on otr companies and/or insurance companies.

 

Alot of companies want otr experience because they want drivers who have experienced being gone from home for long periods. I've done both and have gained a tremendous amount of experience from both. I think each job teaches some of the same experiences, but some that's alot different as well. not trying to down grade local drivers at all but otr is a different animal all together. Just my thoughts lol

 

Yeah but most of us don't exactly fit the narrative on how to make money here. We do things a little different. So don't expect an invitation to that luncheon. Lol

 

I wonder if it's a hold over from last year when everyone needed drivers. Every truck they get on is worth 50 k a year to them????