mercer transportation

you got that right way too much koolaide drinkin goin on on this site and ive been runnin my ### off and still am takin home less than a company driver time to look for a load to louisville and turn in a trailer dont think ive cleared more than 1200 bucks for the week since ive started here in october

 

mercer don't have any freight going over $1,000 miles paying over $2.25 unless it's going to a dead spot

 

yeah yah yeah, but thats one week , nothing to jump off a cliff about over one week. i sometimes get the shakes after a bad week, but the quarterly and yearly numbers work out ok.

and fact is many of the scenario's you quote may very well figure into anyones equation.

everybody sometimes takes a shot in the dark and it doesnt pan out.

my point in any my posts is simply this, the numbers of folks thats post on here is a very small slice of the mercer pie, a crumb if that. of the ones that post here it seems we are either very satisfied or very disatisfied, and little middle ground.

i have seen ebbs and flo's the entire time i have been trucking, in fact the very first truckstop i stopped at in 1979 was seago's mid continent at mcdonough,ga. the topic of conversation at the big round table that was back and just left of the front door was this and its a direct quote"" IN SIX MONTHS THERE WONT BE AN OWNER OPERATOR LEFT IN THE COUNTRY """. the same thing you here now.

how many of you remember the oil embargo of 73??? at least now you can buy fuel even if it is high in price.

you guys can call it drinking kool-aid or whatever you wish but it isnt as bad as you make it out to be, i am simply working the board harder , watching ever expense carefully, driving slower, looking for the lightest loads, etc.

some of you can call us pollyanna's or whatever you wish, but i just dont go around with gloom and doom as my co-pilot, negativity breeds negativity.

and my last weeks numbers from friday to friday were 5317 dollars, 2437 loaded miles and 316 empty miles. expenses of 1700 for fuel, 125 weeks trl payment 800 truck fund (paymnt and maint fund , 100 dollars a day) my normal 800 a week paycheck, leaving the rest going into the truck acct.

the sad news is i will sit in kenly nc this weekend if i dont starve first. i have turned down several loads one was 1.86 a mile for a 4,000 pound piece of pipe to texas 95 miles north of houston on 59, not a good area.

guess i will buy new shiny lugnuts and find a wal-mart to stock up on kool-aid , by the way kool-aid now has flavors in the little squeeze bottles like mio, cherry is my favorite

 

that's not good at all..... wonder why the rates are so low over there? I just pulled up our load board and searched 48' step loads weighing 40k and less, going 700+ miles paying $2.50 mile on the board (that's about $2.10 to the truck) with-in 300 miles of Chicago and there are 112 right now.

 

i think that might be closer to 1.90 to 1.95 would it not, but anyway i just searched same criteria as you came up with 43 loads cheapest at 2.01 a mile to the truck , some as high as 2.70

next question is how many will run chicago to get um?

 

might be the same you reason you say rates are so high at landstar, why do some guys leave landstar?, why are landstar drivers coming to mercer?

it all depends on who ya talk to. there are lots of guys with 4 digit truck numbers at mercer, they have been here a while.

frankly its like this anywhere else, some love it some hate it. some fit and some dont fit. some make a good go of it and some dont.

the reasons are many, what works for one doesnt work for the other.


if one isnt doing well, they dont want anyoe else to do well. if someone is doing well, they dont understand why everyone else isn't doing well.


sometimes there no rhyme or reason why someone doesnt fit or make a go at one company, it simply just doesnt work.

myself, i sometimes wonder how it would be in landstar free for all loadboard, what with my wife be able to check the boards for me regurlarly, not having the restraints of first in first out might be outstanding.


but then i have lerned how to work this system, am happy 4 more trailer payments, yeah baby

 

I'll throw my 2 cents in. I signed on jan 1989. When I was in Louisville some old hand said " I dont know why they are putting more trucks on, they don't have enough freight for the trucks they have". I stuck it out, learned how things work and have made a good living with Mercer. Two years ago I sold out, not because of money, just got tired. Well a year ago bought another truck and here I am. Mercer is not the company it was years ago, they had to evolve. I dont operate like I did in the early 90s, I had to evolve.

This is a bad time of year and its a bad economy. In this economy, it would be very hard for anyone to sign on with a new carrier and make money. Mercer is not for every one, if it's not a good fit then leave its not a black eye on someone that leaves. It means no more, then if you were married to my wife and thought she was a bit...., that woman you think is a bit..... is perfect for me.

Im not going to say Mercer is better than LS or any other company. But I will say we can run how we want, get paid within hours, settlements are very easy to understand, and Louisville does not lie to you (an agent may bend the truth, but just dont deal with him anymore)

From a low 4 digit # to a zip code still happy

 

I know how you guys feel when you need money and end up sitting. Your mind begins to panic, this is a tough business. If Mercer is a good fit you will learn how to run the system and make it work for you. It was much easier years ago. Things should get better for all of us

 

And, don't forget the, "You should just be glad you even have a job!" , and the, "Well, how much do you need to live on?!"

I think they forget how much we have invested in this as far as time and equipment and how much we sacrifice in quality of life and health. I like to think that is worth considering. Many are still thinking too much like company drivers.

 

and some cant remember being a company driver it was so long ago.

and let me ask this, the ones who arent happy?

what do you think is the reason you guys arent getting the loads you want?

and by the reasoning enough revenue isnt being generated, what is a reasonable amount of revenue per week?

i ask this because a list of reasons has been posted thats others have supposedly told you why , so i ask of you. what is your reason why its not working?

its plainly not working for you, have you figured out why?