mercer transportation

Well guess we didn't get layover. 3 of us got to a customer and the loads wasn't ready. They shouldn't of been picked up till 2moro. I Was lucky and out of the 3 mine was done today so after waiting 7 hours i got my load. Not sure if the other guys will be loaded today or not.

 

that puts things in perspective. You should have detention, then the layover is for the overnight it is not intended to be a days pay. Typical customer will do all they can to not pay any of it of course because there is nothing that (they think) says they have to. And every carrier is afraid of losing customers if they force the issue on detention, layover, TONU, and any other accessorials.

How many of you have looked right on our contractor web page at the list of accessorials they have listed? Just try to get paid for any of them and see how that works out. The competition to race to the bottom on rates so someone else doesn't get a load is the issue.

 

Which is why I may not last long term as an O/O. I won't move my truck just for the sake of revenue. Like the load I'm loading now, broker called me and offered $300 less than what I wanted to move the load. I countered with my rate and they tried to split the difference. I turned it down. I'm not moving the truck unless I get what I want. Now keep in mind, the rate I wanted was a couple hundred less than what I really wanted but I have what I want and what I'm willing to haul for and both are profitable to me. We hung up and he called back about 5 minutes later and gave me what I told him I would run it for. I'm not in a race to the bottom with rates, pay me or I'll sit or just go home.

 

That's how it should be done. The carriers and O/O have the power to increase the rates but there are so many thousands that have no business sense and worry about someone else getting the freight. That's how the mega's think, they get tens of thousands of trucks and then proclaim a driver shortage. If all those trucks had drivers half of them would be sitting, but there would be a truck around every corner so when a customer called they'd get there quick. That's their (failed) philosophy.

 

I don't know what has failed about their philosophy..... Swift/Knight, JB Hunt, Schneider, XPO- all megas, and all got solid financials.

 

Which is pretty much how these flat bed rates look.. I rather sit home or go home then to strap or chain or even tarp a load that's less than 2.00 . And that's my minimum on a good day my other than that I'll sit home or sale my truck and get out of the business

 

I didn't say their financials had any problems. It's their process that is ruining things, causing the churn of drivers as they just hire them and spit them out. No reason to retain drivers when you can get the next one cheap. H1B visa applications are supposed to be for jobs that there are not enough citizens to fill. We all know there are plenty of qualified drivers, then just don't want to put up with how these companies treat them.

One reason their financials are so good is because of how they minimize labor costs. They have big money and can lobby government for changes that help them, even though they do not make up the majority of drivers or carriers out there.

Economics seems to be a two edged sword in this industry. We are told Supply and Demand is what keeps our rates down, too many trucks competing for the same loads. Yet, miraculously, we have a massive driver shortage requiring an invasion of foreign drivers to fill the roles our citizens cannot. So, at the same time we have:

1. too many trucks - rates go down

2. not enough drivers - but if we don't have enough drivers how do we end up with too many trucks?

3. conversely, if we don't have enough drivers as has been proclaimed for 20+ years now, how does supply and demand account for such a slow wage growth?

 

I have seen RGN loads lately which have shocked me. I won't pull a flat for what those have been paying. Seriously 1.34/mi for an RGN?

However just because those loads are posted does not mean Mercer solicited them, remember many of those loads are sent to our agents daily as cattle calls and they just put them on the board. The people that take such loads are the problem. Like many have said, if it doesn't pay enough to have a reasonable profit turn it down, then wait or deadhead home.

Look across TTR and see the questions from those wanting a truck or to get authority from people that have no idea about running a business. They have no plan, and know nothing about trucks, the daily life or a driver, what the true costs are, etc. But they want a truck and that is all that matters to them. They treat owning a truck as a job, not a business. The vast majority of truck owners have no business education whatsoever. While that is perfectly within anyone's "rights" it has hurt the O/O community in the long run.

 

I've been saying for years there's a huge surplus of drivers, nice to finally know I'm not alone.

So many of these drivers are conditioned to go chase miles for pennies. They go buy trucks and do the same thing.

 

Plenty of us feel the same way. What is the FIRST question almost all drivers ask about a job - "How many miles will I get?"

That particularly applies to those looking to buy their first truck. To me at least, that shows a complete lack of business awareness.