mercer transportation

Speaking of coordinators,
Met two former mercer guys on site today as well, both had been with mercer 10+ years. Big nice doghouse Petes.
One guy Left in 2002 an the other left last year. One went to Bennett an the other started his own authority. But their reason for leaving was due to their coordinators finding other jobs. They said that their coordinators pretty much ran their trucks an spoiled them an when the coordinators quit, their money started looking funny.

 

Drug consortium and collection fees. That's only a couple hundred a year. Load board fees, that's a grand a year at least Fuel cost is gonna be higher due to us having deep discounts. Again, probably only a 10 to 20 cpg gallon difference if he has a natsc account much higher if he doesn't, it adds up fast, figure a couple hundred a week if you are running hard. Money spent on factoring so2 to 5 percent, or waiting a month to get paid. Insurance. With my authority my total insurance bill was just under 15k. With mercer it is just under 1500. Tire discounts, probably about 1500 to 2k per year. Ton mile tax in ky, ny oregon and nm. Ky alone is 500 a year if you run there often. Those are the additional cost plus the ifta just off the top of my head. Taken singularly it's not that much, but add them all up and its about 20k a year.

But the biggest factor for me is time invested. I had hundreds of hours spent every year chasing money, filling out broker packets, tracking miles and filing ifta, searching for freight. Negotiating rates. On and on and on.

Side note, you seem to be hung up on this 1 load that the independent billed 68 dollars more than mercer did. At another customer we are the one with the higher rate. A lot of times I'm loading beside an independent that's getting the same, or nearly the same as i am after mercers cut. You gotta look at things with more of a big picture outlook.

I would suggest that you get home, take a few days off, have a drink, breath a little, and take a good honest look at what you could do different, within their system, to get your numbers up to where you want them to be. Maybe it's running a different lane, maybe it's pulling different product. Maybe it's staying out a little longer or dead heading a little farther.

And maybe it just comes down to the way you want to operate is not a good fit with the way mercer operates. Nothing wrong with that. I always say there is no such thing as one size fits all and just because mercer is a great fit for me, does not mean it will be for the next guy.

 

I actually respect this reply more than your others. One of the very few unbiased quotes you've made. But back to authority. My insurance was 8400 a year.
I have a MasterCard that I used for fuel so discounts ranged from 4-15 cents off pump price. It also shot my credit thru the roof by using it as a fuel card.
I didn't factor loads much because a lot of my customers paid within 2 weeks.
Drug consortium an all that other compliant crap was 350 a year.
I don't buy tires every year becuase I barely ran 1500 miles a week. A set of tires will last me 2+ years.
I was no where near 20k a year on expenses.

 

I don't go to Oregon an honestly I just started running in ky since being with mercer. There was no need to go there when there is so much money down south. I'm used to running two loads a day where as now I'm not doing as manny loads but I'm driving more miles an deadheading more miles an staying out even longer. I haven't been home in 3 weeks so I don't have an issue with staying on the road to make money. But I'm not gonna stay on the road an gross 2k a week. That's absurd

 

By Tuesday of each week I was already 1500-1800 grossed out. That leaves 3 days to gross another 2000-2500 an more times than less I've been able to do that even with a little gravy on top some weeks

 

Passenger side of engine.
That's CM870
If you're doing it your self Pete you have to take the alternator and a/c bracket off in order to get the water pump out.

 

Were my other posts typed with bias, or were they read with bias? doesn't matter.

From last thursday loading to unloading today i have grossed ttt just over 5k. And it's on 2529 miles. About 250 of those were dh. Another 130 was bouncing out to a better place to spend the day and night Monday cause, well newport news is disgusting. This was on 3 loads. Loaded and ran thursday. Had Friday Saturday and Sunday off. Unloaded early Monday, reloaded lunch time Tuesday. Delivered and reloaded Wednesday. Delivered and bouncing home today so add another 150 empty miles to the total. That's a typical week for me with the exception of so much down time. But hey, freight was slow so i made the best with what was available. I also spent just under 600 on fuel. So 4400 after fuel 4 full work days, 2 partial work days(monday and today) and 3 consecutive days off duty. Also keep in mind i could of done a lot better if not for easter and if i didn't get home my wife would kill me.

If you think those numbers suck, just reactivate your authority cause you won't ever be happy here. If you think they are good enough, all things considered, there is no reason you can't do better. It just takes time, patience, and a willingness to adapt. Adapting was the hardest for me. I'm hard headed and i do not like change.

 

That's the thing that is hard to figure out about Mercer. It works well for some and not at all for others. I think the coordinator makes a lot of difference, or maybe having a wife watching the board for you. I don't know, it really is no different than Landstar I guess, works well for some and not at all for others. Love or Hate it seems.

 

Coordinators make a great of difference here!...I found that out really quick. When my coordinator is not working her back up guy floods me with great loads. But whenever she's at work I have to assist her with doing her job plus mine.
An I know you can easily ask for another coordinator but before I hurt her feelings I'll just go back to doing what I was doing before I got here. It's not that serious an who's to say I won't get yet another terrible coordinator

 

Back in the old days before the contractor web. A trucks coordinator made all the difference.

That was one of main reasons for the web. It was to level the playing field between old coordinators and new, between old trucks and new.

Us old hands with great coordinators were not fans of the contractor web. But in the long run it was a great move.

Some do not believe this, but new trucks have the same opportunity to get into the top 10 as the older trucks do.

It all depends on if Mercer is a good fit for you, and how good you are at adapting and learning the system. Now, if you work your butt off, a new truck can be a top revenue producer