mercer transportation

i am with ya. i really WANT to be doing better. i live in tx so.its twice as bad when i go home but i am not willing to stay away from my family for months so it is what it is. apparently for as much time as i spend in tx at the house it would appear i do better then a lot. just takes me a load to get out of the hole from being home a week then have to get into the midwest. i really wish i could run west coast, long mi trips but every snow bird in the country is out there so it doesnt make sense. giving up my 48 state and canada permits may be a better idea. its not that much cheaper though

 

i will say this though wideload in the past 20 years in trucking ive hauled steadily for 8-10 different customers 1 on 1 no middle man and never i mean never have any of them ever questioned an increase because of the price of fuel. the begining of the week i would go online get the national average off of the dept of energys website and charge accordingly. not once was it ever questioned. now granted alot of those customers expected me to finance thier transportation costs for months on end before i seen a check and that was one of the reasons i gave up and came here but i see what your saying

 

yup its hard waiting 30, 60, 90 days for checks. been there, done that nervous walk to the mailbox many times. our main customer cut us a check on delivery but we had to wait for our return loads. the cash customer basicly paid fuel and expenses for both directions but we waited for the money to live on.

its sad what we have come to accept as the norm.

 

Hey I live in Indiana and I haven't been doing any better lately.
I think it's the industry overall but I'm sure it's gona get better. But easy for me to say when I don't have a trk or trailer payment.

 

Because of the size of our company and the way we do things it is a little bit different. For the most part our system is set up around going out from the Midwest and returning to home (and our highest paying freight) as quickly as possible. With the exception of maybe 2 contractors, this is the way my drivers and contractors prefer to run. We are very focused on doing the same thing over and over. We have a much smaller customer base than Mercer. In addition, we may only serve certain lanes that customer ships to. For example, we work with a steel company in Ohio that ships all over the country, but usually only haul loads to Chicago/Northern IN or Eastern Iowa. Choosing to work for our company is essentially making a choice to run this way.

We might have two drivers in the same area on the same day, but loads are usually tendered based on proximity as most rates will be similar. The only times there would be several drivers loading out of the same place would be out of Iowa/Illinois or out of Baltimore when we are hauling a lot of loads out there. Because of the size of our company, we know what most of our drivers/contractors like to do and where they like to run. For example, I have quite a few contractors that prefer not to go east of Ohio. So they might have choice of a load to MN, IL or IN. Rates are similar for all customers and are based on the expected rate coming back from said area and the type of trailer required for the load. It would be similar if I had 3 trucks in Baltimore on a given day...first guy would get a choice, second guy would take what's left. On the way back it is mostly booking the best possible load we can for the contractor. Company drivers are rarely given a choice, but we do try to keep drivers running where/how they want. For example, I have several drivers that want to leave every Sunday morning and maximize miles/pay. I have other drivers that prefer full weekends at home. The drivers that run long all the time tend to get first crack at those loads.

Long story short, choices are offered when available. Other than that our contractors rely on us to book the best possible load available for them. They are free to refuse any load, but we don't generally book loads that the driver would refuse. The way our system works, sitting is not generally attractive, but it does happen sometimes. Generally, our drivers/contractors do not sit more than 24 hours or we are working together to decide where to bounce for the next load. We want all of our guys to succeed, so we try to help them make good choices. For example, if a contractor has had a couple short week or a week with a long bounce, we would probably try to get him on a longer load where it is likely to have a good return load.

We are trying to expand our footprint and system a little bit, but we move pretty slow. We have one contractor in Florida and another in PA. They are both top notch guys that I don't have to worry about. I would like to add a few guys from other areas to capture some opportunities that are out there for us. I have a little different outlook than what Mercer seems to be doing. I know what a contractor needs to make to be happy with our company. If I can't get him that type of revenue and profit, it is a waste of both our time. Our contractors made between 1.75-2.00/mi on all miles (loaded or empty) and $165-205K in 2012.

Sorry for the long winded response.

 

hey, i thank you for the long winded response. it explained your operation very well. if i ever leave here i will give you a call. or if you happen on to a deal to or out of savannah,ga let me know , we can talk.

 

kmx7022, that was the best explanation of your ituation you have posted yet. it helps greatly to understand your frustration at the moment. its going to take a little time to wean yourself away. i went thru the same thing, i had authority for 14 years and hauled exempt commodities ( and some other things)for 3 years before i got authority.

 

kmx, how much longer til you got the initial startup costs paid, most times its 90 days, after that it gets better. things will pick up the next week or two

 

dang it man, went to wal-mart got the orange kool-aid that stuff is good! gona mix orange and cherry this afternoon , gonna call it change .

 

He went to ATS, think he is on his 3rd load now