Mercer dry van,, how much money can I make.

Dead head.... running empty to your next load

 

John Deere out of GA are some of my favorite loads. They pay really well and the customers are always easy to get along with. Kubota out of GA are cheap unless you want to go to the NE. Kubota out of KS pay decent.

You can ask but no one can answer this accurately. Way too many variables. Your truck may be paid off, mine isn't. You may have your own trailer that's paid off, I didn't. Maybe you have a brand new truck and trailer with very high payments. Maybe you drive in a way that gets you 9 mpg.

Besides these variables there's learning how to be profitable running percentage. Right now the more miles you run the more you make but that won't be the case on percentage. The Idea is the most revenue for the least amount of miles AND least amount of time under the load. It's a big mindset shift that causes most that fail to fail.

 

From April 15th to August 6th I did $59,860. I'm sure some guys did better and other guys did worse. I probably ran about 35-37k miles in that time. There is a lot more money in pulling a flat at Mercer. My rates at Mercer were well below market average during that time frame. But part of that was me cause I have a friend that had a better rate average than I did.

 

I highly doubt many if any Van drivers at Mercer are pulling in $240k a year. The top flatbed earners here was in that range last year.

 

So, I'm at $105k gross YTD. But I didn't work in January or June. Last I looked, I was at $1.68 or 69 all miles....I don't track DH miles, but if I had to guess I'm probably well north of 15%. I'm not scared to throw her in the wind for 2,3,4, or 500 miles.
I'm very picky about where I won't go...no NE, NW or Chiraq. I don't take loads that require me running over 600 miles a day, and I don't do 9pm delivers or 3am pickups. So, I probably leave money on the table.
I book all my own loads, heck my coordinator hasn't called me since June 26th. I think she's forget about me.

 

Actually closer to $180k as that's almost a 4 month time frame.

While I agree with you that no van driver at Mercer is grossing $240k a year, I hope you're not saying I'm lying about my numbers. My numbers would equate to about $180k a year but I bet no van drivers at Mercer are doing that either unless they aren't taking any time off. A guy could do $160k a year with a van at Mercer if the market stays up. Some will do more and a lot will do less.

 

That depends on how good you are at picking loads. No one forces you to run a load at mercer. What that means is you are completely free to go broke.

While i don't pull a van, personally if i work a full week i expect to see 5k after fuel and other immediate expenses such as tolls and deductions for insurance. Anything less i consider a failure. Does that mean i bank twenty grand every month? Nope. I'm to lazy to work a full month.
My goal at mercer is to hit the top ten every year. The top ten in days spent at home.