Mercer Pay

According to someone I spoke with at Mercer not long ago, flats pay the truck around $2/mile and vans pay about $1.61/mile. Mercer pays a percentage of what the receive on the load. Each load will pay a different rate. Loads may pay well out of one area and not so much out of another. You will need your own truck and trailer with Mercer. I think they may rent or lease you a trailer if you don't own your trailer. Rates can vary widely according to where you run and what you haul.

Your expenses will also vary from one owner operator to another. If you own a new or newer truck, your operating costs may be higher than an owner operator who has no payments or an older truck. Maintenance may be higher on an older truck than a new one, however the DEF trucks seem to be fairly high maintenance.

Most everyone who comes to this forum, or other trucking forums and has never owned their own truck want to know exact numbers. I understand that, but everyone has different operating costs. I can break down some of the costs and have on another thread, but it is still a variable. The only way to know your exact operating costs is by using historical data. In other words, you can only get exact operating costs after you have owned and run your truck for at least a year. OOIDA has a spreadsheet that you may find helpful. It can be downloaded from their website. It will give you an estimate of operating costs. You can plug in your own numbers and see if things will work for you. If you are interested in leasing a truck to Mercer I would suggest give them a call and ask to speak with a recruiter. They will be able to answer your questions concerning current average revenue. Keep in mind that it is only a fleet average. Some will do better and others will do worse.

Owning and operating your own truck, whether you lease to another carrier or run your own authority, means that you are in your own business. You are responsible for finding loads, taking care of maintenance and paying the bills. Mercer does have dispatchers, as I recall. But, you make the decision as to whether you want to take a load that is offered to you. You need to know your operating costs. That can be difficult starting out. You need to know how far the pick up is from your current position and what it will cost you to get to the load. You also need to have some understanding about freight lanes. If the load is going to a poor freight area, then you need to have enough money going in to deadhead out to a better freight area. So, having some knowledge of freight lanes is very helpful. Season of the year can also impact freight rates. As we get into fall and winter, open deck freight typically slows, while vans increase due to the upcoming holidays. Most segments of the industry slow down just before Christmas and until after the first of the year.

One word of advice I would offer is to have some money saved to get started and don't buy too much truck in the beginning. It is much easier to survive a slow economy if you have low equipment payments and having money in the bank can get you back on the road when you have a major breakdown. Good luck.

 

I have called Mercer in the past. If you call recruiting they may be able to tell you what the overall average rate per mile is for the fleet. When I called, they gave me those numbers for van and flatbeds.
I called years ago, so my numbers wouldn't be current.

 

When I called last week I was told for the month of July, flats averaged $2.01/mile loaded and $1.67 total. Van was something like $1.49 loaded and $1.41 total. I'm guessing van has a lot less dead head.

 

I had a quality truck for 2 months and it never got on the road. Went to regions bank and laid out my business plans and they financed a truck for me. If you have any questions about the quality stuff let me know. I spent 3 months working with the director of leasing there when my company decided to become an approved carrier with them.

 

I should clarify that I'm not at mercer right now. I go to orientation on the 31st. But the quality stuff is pretty much the same everywhere

 

I have a couple of close family friends that are higher up at mercer. Their recruiters don't BS. I'll PM you tonight with info on quality.