Mercer or Landstar, yes this again...

Mercer just recently amended their contract to state that if, they don't get paid by their customer, it's their discretion whether they pay their contractors. Just so you know.

 

That has been removed from the contract.

 

How do you know this???

 

Mercer put it out. Call contractor relations.

 

I was also told in January that if mercer doesn't get paid their is no recourse against contractors.

 

Yep, that part rescinded as of today.

 

Glad to hear you guys stuck together to get it rescinded.
Excellent showing of a partnership.

 

Bah. It was rescinded because there are so many whiny crybabies looking for things to cry about. All the crying was much to do about nothing. It was put in their for no reason except to solidify our status as independent contractors. If you follow industry news at all you you would know that in recent years there has been several lawsuits by guys to get classified as employees instead of contractors. No financial risk was one reason cited in the arguments.

Common sense says if you did your job right, mercer was never going to go after money for unpaid freight bills. If they did, they wouldn't have any trucks. We are a full owner operator company, not some mega with a their own driving school filled with a never ending supply of new clueless drivers.

Their entire business model revolves around having top tier owner operators. They aren't going to throw that away over the occasional customer that goes under.

 

That's was exactly establishing risk it sure was a bunch of crying over it.

 

The amendment, as it was worded, had nothing to do with establishing Independent Contractor status. If you read the IRS rules regarding IC status, you'll know all Mercer Contractors are without a doubt independent contractors. We have a 'significant investment' in our business, we select and decline loads, and we are responsible for the upkeep of our equipment. This is a settled issue.

The previous contract already dealt with drivers that screw ups, must pay up. That's standard operating procedure. There was no reason to add to the contract a clause stating Mercer would 'take back money for trips paid, if their customer didn't pay them', unless that was their intention.

If I'm going to assume that risk I expect to be compensated for it!