Mercer

The don't suggest nothing when it comes to deadhead... Like tomorrow when I empty here in Iowa... I can be put on one of the lists in California, deadhead to California, then load out of California... That would be stupid of me to do that, but I could do it if I choose to.

I deadheaded out of Laredo with a load there I could have loaded the next day. It was a decent paying load, but only was going to Amarillo. I prefer to keep moving instead on sitting for that weekend. I went to San Antonio with the hopes I would get a PA bound load out of Selma... But another truck bumped me off that load... So I bumped "notarps" & took the load out of Corpus.

My deadhead out of Iowa to Chicago last week was also my choice. I had a load right their weighing 44K & by the time I ran that load I would have averaged $1.17 per mile. I deadhead to Chicago to pick up a load weighing 19K & averaged $1.19 on that one. 2 pennies don't seem like much in the short term, but in the long run it adds up. Plus you have to factor in the higher fuel mileage & the savings on fuel by running lighter.

Well if you wouldn't have play with the Houston police.... You probably would have bumped me. But nope.... You had the play with the bears!

Brave young soul that I am... YES! That is the first time out of 10 years driving that I went there. It wasn't as bad as the stories I hear. And I parked overnight at the transfer station on the border.

 

SO Redd is thr $1.14 mile is that paying your bills to? Also do they hav a restrictions on what trucks you can have. Did not see it on there website.

 

I am not paying myself a flat dollar amount. Instead I figured out my fixed cpm for the bills associated with the truck. That includes my truck payment, trailer payment, trip pak, prepass, accountant, base plate, 2290, insurance, & all the other little misc things associated with the truck. I then figured my variable cpm which is mainly fuel. I estimated that at a cost of $2.65 per gallon & a average mpg of 5.5 which I'm exceeding.

I did the same thing with my bills at home. Mortgage, vehicles, phone, cable, electric, blah blah blah. I then added the numbers together & came up with $1.14 per mile on a 2500 mile week. Ofcourse the fixed costs per mile would be higher if I drove less then 2500. And it would be lower if I drove more then 2500. So far I'm doing better then 2500 miles, but I'm going to keep that as an average right now. If I get to ####y & try to change my numbers... That is usually when things go into the crapper for me.

As far as I know they have no restrictions against make/model/year of truck. As long as it passes DOT inspection it would be fine. I did hear some chatterr among drivers while I in orientation that Mercer was going to get away from the the big large cars.... But at the same time I looked around & saw my 379, A western star, 1 W900, 1 FLD, & 2 Classics getting leased on. That isn't counting all the Classics, Western Stars, W900's, or the what seemed like 100's of 379 passing thru the terminal that week.

The 2 oldest trucks I saw that were leased on so far is a 1973 W900 & a 1972 Pete 352....

 

I personaly just became one of "them"... One of those drivers that refuses to tarp.. I now don't even carry them.. My back has given me all the problems I care to have.. Tarping is just not worth me hurting myself any more.. Solution.... don't even carry any.. Mercer does not seem to care 1 way or the other..

 

Well at one time i was going to go with Mercer btu that was befor i had to get off the road 8 yr's ago. For now i do have a job (that sucks). but i am looking to get back on the road soon but i have to go and get my cdl agna.

 

I came off the road twice... One thing I made sure I did was to keep my CDL. That way I always had something to back up onto....

 

So i guess flat or step is were the $$ is with Mercer?

 

Flat, Step, & RGN is all I've ever done. I've only been leased on here a couple weeks. So I can not honestly tell you where the money is at. All I can do is show my numbers.

As for van's... I'm not seeing much for van freight on the mercer load board. I also heard that they aren't leasing any vans on currently. But I'm just a driver... To get clarification on that, you need to call them & ask.

 

well it all depends...I have seen some high $$ stuff on constogas and RGN's but that freight is not as pelntiful......the DH is defiantely down for us at Mercer and that has made a big difference in the prev. company that DH was a big part of their game plan ....the dispatcher would always say well at least it will pay the fuel.......he got a paycheck and we only paid for fuel.....the age of the truck is not as improtatant as the looks and condition of the truck.....and as far as we know there is not an age limit.....

 

thats right.....gonzo......my husband jokes he only takes loads hen I am there to tarp ...but he is out there tarpin' as I type and I am home on Grandma duty .....life is good........