Questions you wished you ask before joining Mercer

Well starting in the spring isn't a bad idea. We never really realized an uptick in freight from last winter. So if/when freight slows I'm sure it will have a bigger impact on many of us this year compared to last. I did start here last winter and as mentioned I had the freedom to experiment a lot. With that said I would have been fine with a truck payment. A lot of the ole timers here take the winter off or run the UPS acct leaving plenty of good freight for me

 

Me? Originally I got my truck through a LP program with one of the Mega companies. I had finished the lease and paid off the truck a couple of years before I made the switch here. I did just finance a new truck that I'm waiting to take delivery of still.

 

Thinking of going through quality. Don't know if I should go with mercer or malone. Been driving 10 yes but only van and refer. No FB experience. Any info or advice on where I should go? Been on a lease purchase with werner for about 3 yrs and it sucks! Gotta be better than this .84cpm bs.

 

There is. But it's for guys that know how to run their business. If you're a guy that can calculate your costs, and know how to make a profit by getting your loads, Landstar and Mercer are for you. However there are a lot of smaller companies that will allow you to do the same for less % of your pay compared to LS and Mercer.

 

Well that's the thing. I can calculate my overhead but I'm only allowed what's dispatched to me. If I request more miles, I may get it or not. If I turn down a load then I getta ####ty one. My fate is in the hands of a freaking dispatcher. Good learning experience but I think I'm a big boy now and capable of running my own loads.

 

Question is, less percentage of what? Will those small guys pay within hours of delivery? Get fuel discounts of 87 cents a gallon like I got in Maryland Tuesday? Nope didn't think so, and what about tire discounts of 2 to 300 a ire, nope didn't think so

 

Every company has its perks. By saving 10% for example of 200k gross that's 20k. I think with 20k one could afford all new tires every year. Small companies have fuel programs too. It all depends on what a person prefers. Most people bash companies like Mercer, landstar, etc for the wrong reasons. They bash them because they don't know how to operate as a business since they still have the mindset of a driver. For people that like to take more control of their business and need to hold onto a hand, mercer and landstar are good companies before going 100% independent. Some think that they will log on and click on a load where they want to go and have "freedom" in that sense. The successful ones know what to book, what not to book. I like to have more control of my finance, and saving over 20% in gross works for me.

 

Flipflops, I think the point he is making is 90% of what rate? 75% of 3.00 is much better than 90% of 2.00 per mile broker freight. Lots of people think the higher % is the only way to go, not always true. Lots of guys leased to a company with Good rates are averaging more than independants and have much less overhead. I will take 75% of Good rates any day over 90% of cheap broker freight....

Also out of the 20K you mention, if you are a new entrant, insurance is going to run 12-14K per year. Plus 4-5k in fuel savings with the discounts, and savings on a set of tires, all of a sudden your 20K doesn't look so good. Point being, you have to look at the whole picture.

 

you are preaching to the choir, young fellow. I done been there and got the t-shirt almost fifteen years with my authority , running 2 of my own and up to 6 leased on. several of us here at mercer are former authority holders.

your additional 20 per cent in revenue doesn't hold water. take out liability ins, cargo, drug test consortium, broker fees , etc etc etc. and you aint nowhere near keeping 20 per cent additional money, you just think you are or like to tell yourself that. I know my all miles unpaid and paid here is higher that most guys all in rate that are completely independent these days. so before you think you have somehow reinvented the wheel and are smarter than some of us, think again. odds are I was doing this before you learned how to wipe your own behind. if I could make a suggestion, you should study this thread a bit more before opening your keyboard.

but I would like for you to spell out how much of that 20 per cent that you keep, but keep in mind I know and I know spyder and flightline do. you need to find a nother tree to bark up, we already got this coon treed