Honest Question

I'm doing good, but that's all a relative term based on individual circumstances.

 

Do your due diligence of research, driver. I haul OD/OS flats when asphalt isn't flowing, but I wouldn't trade my tank without a GUARANTEE of same/similar/better money. I thought Mercer is lease and or O/O . . . I may definitely be wrong. Much info on here; use the search engine repeatedly, and good luck! Be safe~
ps: the guys on here that haul flats and make a ton of money are the OS/OD amazing guys. Look them up. Here's a couple: @w.h.o , @TripleSix and there's tons more. Then again, a lot of the regular skateboarders love their jobs, as well. All you need to know lies within.

 

Lots of time we see someone asking about being an owner operator and buying a truck. It's as if a person buys a truck, money will automatically roll in. That's not the case. Same thing goes with these various companies.

"Should I sign on with this company? I spoke to a Brand X driver and he tells me that he is making money."

Just because you sign on with a company does not guarantee success. There are no guarantees for any owner operator. I have some friends at Landstar that have been there for decades. I've had friends go to Landstar and lose their shirt. I've had friends that run for Mercer for years. I've had friends that went broke at Mercer.

See, the money isn't on those load boards. If you're one of those drivers that is sitting there watching the load boards, you will never see the money. So how do you find the money? At Mercer, I don't know. Never ran for Mercer. Each company has their direct customers and freight and freight lanes. Each is different. What works at Landstar won't work at Mercer.

At my company, we don't have agents(brokers) offering freight. We have load planners and dispatchers. So, we have less of the 'good ol boy' system. We still have the 'good ol boy' system....just to a lesser degree. Sounds good right? Well it can make it harder to find the money. Here, in order to get the money, you have to have the right trailer and be in the right area on the right date. No one is going to tell you where the money is at. Why? Because some drivers will just sit there and wait 2 weeks for the money to appear. So, your travel agent isn't going to tell you, and another driver isn't going to tell you. You have to be lucky and sit in the right place at the right time with the right trailer. Sitting sounds like fun, doesn't it?

OSOW is a different game at every company. It a more straightforward way to make money. There's no sitting in the right place at the right time. It's YOU, having proven time and again that you have the know how and the ability to always come through with the load, getting calls and emails about money loads. It's like moving up the ranks in boxing. When you're brand new, they're not going to show your fights on PayPerView. You have to work at it, make a name for yourself as being serious, with good skills.

"So Six, how do you make a name for yourself when no one is willing to give you a shot to show what you can do?"

First of all, be diligent on every load. Whenever you play, bring your A Game. Second, I always tell drivers this, but they cannot grasp it. If they offer you a challenging load, regardless of the money, TAKE IT! What is a challenging load? When starting out, it's anything over 12 ft wide and anything over legal height and anything over 93000GVW. Don't worry about the money. We are not looking at today, we are looking at tomorrow. It's like the new fighter looking for the tough fights. Want to be on TV tomorrow? Win that tough fight today.

Years ago, I had a new driver that I met while he was in orientation tell me about this load from Garland Texas to Downtown Austin. Overheight. Wasn't paying enough money for the headache, but paid decent. I told him to take it. The next load they offered him paid stupid money to pull an overheight to BostonMASS. The more they know your name, the bigger the loads get and more per mile you make.

 

You ask an impossible question when it comes to Mercer. But let me start with, you got a random call or put in an app and got called back? Maybe you tried a random recruiter and "they" asked you about Mercer? Mercer recruiters do not cold call anyone. Now one of the quality guys here answered your question. But for every quality guy that does well I would guess 5 fail. But that generally has to do with lack of business sense.

I personally do good here but that doesn't mean you will (no insult intended). And right now is a hard time for someone to try and learn a new system. Can it be done? Absolutely! Is it a good time to do it. Not really. As you said rates in general are down. Does that mean there are no good looks? Not at all, in fact for the year I'm averaging just shy of $4 a mile. BUT I know my lanes, customers and agents. Call a recruiter and you might hear the fleet average is closer to $1.5 (a guess I really don't know right now). It would be easy for me to say yes anyone can do well here but truth be told a lot of people are struggling here and for that matter everywhere. As mentioned, do your due diligence. Find some Mercer drivers and talk to them. Better yet find some quality drivers and have long talks with them. I wouldn't touch quality, it's not for me so I wouldn't be the best to ask. But it's your career, business and life. Do the research.

 

OP, great posts by the two above, highly-respected drivers. Hope you come back and heed the advice that's been given.
Good luck.

 

I thought Mercer was finished with Quality?

 

two well said replies, I have been successful at Mercer for three years, But I am always looking for that learning experience.

Safe travels

 

I got that from your post. My concern really isn't about the Quality truck. Like I said it can be done pretty easy. My concern was about making the switch to Mercer and FB when the industry as a whole is having a rough go at it. FB lanes and Van lanes are not the same. I'm not sure where you are right now so I can't compare how the system at Mercer is to the system you are use to, but I know it is a lot different. I also know rates as a whole are in the gutter. That goes for flat, Van, OD, intermodal, tanker heck you name it. I respect that you want to go FB. And please don't get me wrong because I would love to see you go FB and come to Mercer. I would also love for everyone to be wrong and freight and rates pick up in a month and this down spell to be over.

I will not say don't come here. I honestly think it's the best place to be. I just caution on making the move right this second. Take your time and keep doing what you are doing (getting info on Mercer, for that matter let's make a real study out of it and look at places like LS, TSH and any others that are even remotely similar to Mercer and do FB) and you will know when the time is for you to make the plunge.

I wish you the best and hope that you find a home either here or someplace else that you can enjoy and never regret. Good luck Sir.