mercer transportation

i will keep that in mind bayou.



no jobs for me. im grabbing my rifle, shotgun and my 4wd and im heading into the bayous to live the wild life. lol

 

Some one mentioned getting a REAL Job,what an awful thing to say. Have you no compassion for a soon to be ex owner operator?.

 

That is my problem, not being able to take and go on a wim when I have want. Dont hav to worry about that anymore. Real jobs suck. LOL
I think like my wife told me " you can't work for someone else after being your own boss".

 

Did I read in one of these treads that Mercer executives are cranky because of the low #s of new emission trucks in the fleet ?

 

From the "Mercertown Blog"

EPA/CARB. If you are going to stay in this business over the long term, you need to have a business plan in place to upgrade your tractor. Anyone with a 96-06 engine without a particulate matter filter retrofit will be out of California by January 2014. You need to be working towards a 2007 engine or newer. It's no longer a matter of simply not going to California. Last Friday the EPA , in the first major regulation since the election, imposed a new air quality standard that reduces by 20 percent the maximum amount of soot (particulate matter) released into the air from diesel trucks, smokestacks and other sources of pollution. The EPA monitors motor carriers, including Mercer, through their SmartWay program. Pollution formula numbers from older trucks, as well as excessive fuel consumption compared to miles travelled because of speeding or idling skews Mercer's score. We expect to see the EPA continue to get tougher on this in the next four years. Many observers see the CARB stuff in California as the model of where the EPA is headed nationally. Drivers should be closely following new technologies, especially diesel electric hybrids and CNG (compressed natural gas) powered engines. Several manufacturers are working on combination diesel/CNG units. Cummins is pretty far along on this technology. As the EPA toughens these standards, expect all motor carriers, including Mercer, to have tighter maximum age requirements on tractors. We are monitoring these developments closely;

http://mercertown.com/blog/

 

thqt blog is written by the safety guy.

 

I do not beleive they are pushing to get rid of the older trucks. Heck they are still taking on older trucks. The saftey guy just like to suggest how to be better and more compliant. No doubt to run Callif. in the future we need newer trucks but who says we need Califorinia.

 

Len doesn't know these truck engines from a truck owner's perspective. That's not his concern, so it's outside his professional area to suggest to drivers they buy an 07 engine.

2007 to 2009 are very costly, problematic lemons. Owners and mechanics know it too well. I'll run my 99 Cat until something as reliable or better comes around. It takes time to refine an engine, and the regulators changing the rules all the time makes it hard for engine builders to refine one type.

 

You all realize getting new trucks won't be a problem, right? I mean, we'll get another rate increase because of these regulations, and another one when the revised hours of service rules go into effect this summer. Add that to the ones we got when the CDL became a requirement, when background checks for hazmat were implemented, and when TWIC cards were required, and the increases from the driver shortage. Come on now, too much negativity here. Look at all the money it's put in our pockets from these changes that have been made. Seriously, show of hands here, who isn't making way more money than they were ten years ago?