mercer transportation

Confirmed from coordinator that reason for lack of freight is agents getting under bidded...now i don't see nothing wrong with lowering the rates a tad as long as a decent profit margin is there..

but agents refusing to even bother going after frieght because there afraid of rejection is pathetic..even their now telling new hires that you will be able to get $2mi on every load...sounds like bs...

yes it's not hard to obtain those but rates don't mean diddly if they don't go and get freight..my days are numbered here...not putting up with this nonsense very much longer

 

under bidding doesn't shock me. So many trucks entered the market last year. Now they are all fighting to get loads. Demand isn't here like it was last year lol

 

The problem is along with that is some of them are just flat at stop bidding on loads because they don't like getting rejected apparently.. I'm not advocating lowering the rights to make 0 but they need to lower it to where profitability is still out a decent margin but enough to satisfy customers to get these freight because it's getting ridiculous to appoint I've just about had enough of it

 

Oh im not disagreeing things were slow when i was there. Mercer did call me today and asked if i wanted to come back. Told them im good im enjoying my every weekend home

 

If you haven't already start watching other boards. There is a solid amount of good flatbed freight out there and the rates really haven't fell to much. That's just not the case with Mercer's lazy agents. According to the reports I read flatbed freight is at about it's normal capacity maybe off a little but less than 20% due mostly to weather. Last year was record breaking and a lot of inexperienced guys jumped into flat but I don't see that as the problem at Mercer. In my personal opinion Mercer is trying to run on its old reputation while conducting business like a new corporation. The only problem is that the cat is just about out of the bag. Personally I am about through here myself, it's a shame too, I thought this was gonna be the last company I signed on with. Now I'm embarrassed to wear my Mercer swag.

 

Define decent margin?
If they cut the rates enough to get the freight we are going to be seeing under a buck fifty a mile. Is that what you want? Cause that's what it's going to take. Look around this forum and see all the guys wirking the spot market complaining about how bad rates are right now. They can't get two bucks a mile. Shippers are putting their stuff out on the spot market because its getting moved for peanuts. The only way we are going to get those loads is if we match those rates.

 

I disagree the agents don't seem to go after new loads or dedicated routes here. I personally have brought just this past month loads given to me by 2 different companies I hauled for in the past that Mercer has also pulled for, but it was like pulling teeth to get our agents to make a few calls or follow up so that I can get the load even when the shipper has orders from their customer hold load for so and so with Mercer and the agents SCAT code. I run on project 30 so I deal with these agents all the time myself without a coordinator and there are only a handful that I feel put in the work the rest just seem satisfied with the status quo. Some of these agents that are suppose to be Mercer agents are also farming work out to other shippers you call and they ask which company you are with now I don't know if that's Mercer approved, but either way seems like a conflict in interests to me. There is plenty of freight out there and no not every load needs to pay $2/mile, and yes I can run for less money just to cover fuel and tolls to get out of a bad lane, but the problem is when you search a 900 mile radius and all you get are loads 2+ weeks out, or other loads that just bring you into another #### lane for less than $2/ mile well then your agents aren't doing their job. Especially if your at a company with a strong 40+ year reputation in the industry.

 

My coordinator today said that a few of

Many folks are even stating the agents are just refusing to even bid on loads..that is totally unacceptable...

 

You're correct, spot flatbed freight is down but not as bad as other modes of trucking and it's caused mainly by weather. Our guys are still seeing high $2 a mile and $3 a mile freight and they are still seeing some cheap rates also. It will keep getting better as the summer goes along and the weather calms down.

 

I quit 30 days ago and got my final settlement today got ever Penney that I had coming ! Made a lot of money there good and fair co , I just never got the at home feeling, after two years it was time to move on, best of luck to all the Mercer driver's