Mercer

I met my first Mercer driver with a crappy attitude yesterday.... The man was negative as all hell... Telling me that their wasn't no freight & he didn't know why he was still with Mercer.... Telling me he has been sitting empty since Monday.... Blah Blah Blah.

I guess it didn't help when I told him that I was offered 4 loads in transit & then refused 5 before accepting this one going to Iowa....

 

yea I know but maybe his truck is too heavy or he doesn't have tarps....and doesn't have this or that or won't take loads to here or there...you never know......

 

That's what I figured.... He has his preferences & expectations set to high...

 

I just wanted to let everyone see my current numbers. I'm sure there are going to be some that see them with disgrace & scream cheap cheap cheap... But I want all of you to remember... These numbers are paying MY bills, not yours. As long as my bills get paid, that is all that really matters to me.

Now... On a 2500 mile week, my operating costs are $1.14 per mile. That covers all my expenses with the truck, trailer, & the maintenance account I have set up. Plus it covers all my personal expenses at home. I also have that operating cost based off from averaging 5.5 mpg with this old CAT C-15 that I'm traveling with.


WEEK 1

Friday 7/31/09 left Louisville, KY to Sellersburg, IN Loaded going to Shevlin, MN.

Total hub miles= 955 Revenue paid to truck=$1515.12 cpm=$1.58

Total miles include all my empty miles & also included in the cpm. I unloaded this load on Saturday afternoon. I spent the rest of the weekend with some great company. People I've known for years & haven't seen for years. I couldn't get a accurate mpg since I didn't have a full fuel up before this load.

Monday 8/3/09 left Shevlin, MN to Duluth, MN loaded going to Owensville, IN.

Total hub miles=1007 Revenue paid to the truck=1040.58 cpm=$1.03 MPG= 5.849

Some will see this as cheap freight... But you also have to include all my empty miles over the weekend running around visiting people from my past. Also, it is going to roll into my weekly average & balance out. Plus, I wasn't sitting...

Tuesday 8/4/09 left Owensville, IN to Louisville, IN reloaded going to Laredo, TX. Then deadheaded to San Antonio, TX after delivering in Laredo.

Total hub miles=1582 revenue paid to the truck=2010.54 cpm=$1.27 mpg=6.179

These numbers include deadheading back to San Antonio, TX after delivering in Laredo. I think it was 175 miles. Plus the 150 miles I went empty to even pick this load up.

That wraps up week #1.

Total revenue=$4566.24
Total miles including all empty miles= 3544
Average cpm=$1.28 (above my current costs of $1.14 on a 2500 mile week)
Average mpg=5.99

WEEK #2

Friday 8/7/2009 San Antonio, TX to Corpus Christi, TX. Loaded foing to Hampton, IA

Total miles=1405 paid to truck=$1913.61 cpm=$1.36 mpg=6.01

Monday 8/10/2009 Hampton, IA to Spring Grove, IL. Loaded going to Hampton, VA.

Total miles=1257 paid to truck=$1499.72 cpm=$1.19 mpg=6.789

I should also be getting around $500 for detention on this load. The crane showed up 7 hours after my appointed unload time. I did not include that in my numbers. I will alter it to show the correct figure when I know I've recieved the detention.

Total revenue= 3413.33
Total miles=2662
average cpm=$1.28 (above my costs on $1.14 on a 2500 mile week)
average mpg= 7.00


YTD
Revenue=$7979.57
Miles=6206
average cpm=$1.28
average mpg=6.20

So yeah, Some may look at those numbers & be disgraced. But in the end, it's my bills that are getting paid. I would like to see an average of $2 or more. But in reality, waiting for that average isn't going to do nothing but make me sit for days with no revenue. Also factor in the empty miles. Hampton, IA to Spring Grove, IL was over 300 empty on the hub. Laredo to San Antonio then to Corpus empty... Over 300 then also. Those empty miles are all included on my numbers above.


Anyhow, The economy is in a slump with no rebound anytime soon. I'm impressed that I'm paying the bills & will continue paying the bills as others sit around screaming cheap.... Yep, it may be cheap. But I'm generating revenue & doing my part to stimulate the economy!

 

Thank you for posting those numbers. Is is a safe bet to factor 20% deadhead when doing your cost per mile with Mercer, or do they have a sugestion on deadhead miles?

 

Glad to see your doing good so far REDD. Hopefully things will keep going good for you. As you said some may scream cheap but they're not paying your bills you are.

 

yup it don't take much to get ya on the sit and wait list lol

 

Hey yard bird you stole my load! I had my name on that IA run.... Glad to hear things are going well for you. I had a truck problem and put my truck in peterbilt in baltimore. Spent a day there and loaded and now I have the same problem. Gotta kick this off Monday and they want me to bring the truck back to our yard. They have a shop there and if they are going to overhaul this they like to use the peterbilt there. Said they overhaul one in a day or 2. My buddy told me they have a couple empty trucks there now. Not sure if I will wait it out or swap out.

Will have to see what the deal is. Might be worth waiting for and they can probably rebuild one quicker than I can move out of one. Then again I am sure I can do better than purple.....

 

Redd glad to se the #'s lookin' good for ya......you were brave enough to go to Larado.....now last winter was BADDDDD...no two ways around it..but one weekend down at Baytown a bunch of us we hanging out on the back row and they all were talking about the # of rounds they had had since the first of the year 8-9 was the average....this was sometime the end of Feb first of Feb Feb 6 according to my load notebook ...we kept quiet and I came back to the truck and looked it up we had hauled 11 loads......but often times the steps will set longer waiting for a better paying load..... also we are only 98 wide we have missed loads by not being 102....sigh.....I promised him a new trailer when I got the Pony paid for..........maybe next spring

 

Dang it driver,,, I weigh 34000 empty... tarps??? What the heck would I do with those???
Current load.