mercer transportation

Many of us would be happy to pass along info we have learned. The reason you are getting silence is you keep asking about vans. We are mostly flat bed guys, with a few step decks. Trying to give suggestions on the van side would be little more than educated guess work. The basics are still the same, first emptied, first offered type of thing. But freight lanes and good customers and such is going to be completely different.

Seriously, get a flat. It's a better way of life.

 

Will mercer accept a 1995 truck ready for flatbed with a headache rack? Just was retired off landstar

 

does Mercer help with the equipment for flat bed? Like chains straps? The truck I'm buying doesn't have a headache rack is that legal?

 

I read somewhere in the 600+ pages ,that they do and have a store and will let you pay it off from settlements as well... PLEASE Mercertowners feel free to correct me, but I've been hammering through this thread for a week now.. and if I remember correctly they do

 

Yes they have everthing u need for flatbed. Headache rack to tarps.they will go over the minimum equipment u need on a 1 on 1 sitting at orientation.

 

There is a store and they do help. If your going flat then expect to spend about $3k to get started. mercer will front you half of that. So you will need $1.5k cash or card when you get there. The stuff at the store is much cheaper then you will find at a TS. Although you MIGHT be able to find slightly cheaper online. You can call and ask for the list of required equip and buy it online if you want.

The payback for the equipment loan seems to be about 4 months. The headache rack was much cheaper then I have found in any chrome shop. And you will hardly notice the payment. I started here at the beginning of the year. Several people warned me that I was starting during the slow season. I might want to wait a few months to start. Blah blah blah. I'm 3 months old now and by no means an expert when it comes to Mercer. But in those 3 months I have taken 5 weeks off. All but 4 weekends off now (I'm driving this weekend) and somehow I've still managed to gross over $50k YTD and netting over half of that not including what's been set aside for new truck, repair and tax funds. (I don't have a truck payment)

As as for the before mentioned 'high turnover rate' I have no answer. The grass is always greener on the other side? Ppl coming from forced dispatch and expecting someone to hold their hand? One thing I know. I have met more ppl that have left Mercer only to return then I have seen quit since I've been here.

I wouldnt take take my word or the word of anyone else on here when it comes to making a decision that will effect your financial well being. It's your life, your well being. Only you can make these decisions, and at the end of the day you can only blame yourself for making a bad choice.

And sorry, most of this isn't directed at the quote above at all but at the many posters that want us to hand them the holy grail while they sit on their behind to lazy to read all the post here or on the 'why do people fail' thread. We see the same questions over and over. Ppl are given the same answer over and over.

OK I'll get off my soapbox. But I want to make one suggestion to everyone coming to or thinking about coming to Mercer. Make a list of everything you can possibly think of. (Mine was 2 pages long). Call the recruiter and ask those questions. Unlike mega companies our recruiters are in house. If you come to Mercer you will meet your recruiter. I've built a friendship with mine. I have only found one thing that I think she may have lied about. One of my questions was an average CPM paid to the truck. I think at the time I was quoted $1.80 or there abouts. Anyway that was a lie. At least with my experiance y truck does much better then that per mile. And I count ALL miles. DH, trips to WalMart, movies whatever. Anyway that's a lie I can live with.

 

Anybody here have any dealings with American Truck Showroom in Newnan GA? Opinions?

 

That is great!!! I am happy for you, really. Everybody's experience is different and yours is a good example of what can be achieved regardless of the difficulties of trucking. Thanks to you and people like yourself in this thread, drivers like me can make better informed decisions when deciding to make the move. I hope that very soon I will be able to say the same once they find me a trailer....

 

I'm just confused as to why people are making it seem like if you have a truck payment or some what high overhead that you can't make it here.. Im not getting it..I came from a company that doesn't pay nearly as well as Mercer and I paid my truck payment and everything else I had to pay...Van or Flat it's what you make it and if you're a bad business person or can't dispatch yourself you won't make it no matter what you do or where you go. . Just my couple cents