Questions you wished you ask before joining Mercer

For loaded miles I'm at 1.78 per mile avg. haven't did the math to include DH. I only been here 5 months. Yes you have to bring your truck. And from my understanding agents have lots that you could go to but I'm not sure on the specifics

 

Thats not too bad considering the state of the market this past year, are you dry van or flatbed?

 

Flat of course. And also I've taken two weekends off per month and a week off each month except Sept when I ran the whole month this is living in Florida where it's tough coming out

 

I'm trying to get a better idea of how you are dispatched on a load at Mercer.

Is there an internet load board you look at, and then when you find a load you want to haul, you call your coordinator? Or do you always just contact your coordinator, and they offer you different loads and you choose what to take from those offerings?

If theres nothing near you that satisfies you on the board, can your coordinator find something off the spot market for you?

 

In a nut shell, we can use our board, or the coordinator. With few exceptions, every load gets pot on the board. Dedicated routes for example don't got the board. you cab select the load from the board, or call your coordinator, or call the agent. But remember, we use a first empty first pureed system here, just because you see a great load didn't mean you will get it. The trick is learning not to tie yourself up on loads you won't get and miss the ones you would of gotten. you can only select one load at a time and can't try for another until that one had either been grabbed by a guy ahead of you, or dispatched to you.

Yes, it's technically possible to get a load off the spot market public boards, but it won't ever happen cause of the stipulations in our contact.

 

One cool thing I like is just because you turn a load down, that does not move you to the bottom of the board. I have been leased to outfits that would move you to the bottom, not Mercer, the longer you're empty the higher you move on the board no matter how many loads you turn down.

 

I think that's a point missed by many. It's why I never understand why someone will say "I looked on the board and there was a load for $1.25" or that their coordinator offered them a load paying crap. Who cares? Pass and move on. They are just doing their job, it's what we pay them for. It's funny how nobody complains when a coordinator or agent calls offering $3 on 1000 miles.

 

How does detention pay work at Mercer? Is there a standard pay and system for detention or does it differ from load to load?

And what are the fuel discounts like? Is there an app that shows what your fuel discount is at truck stops in your area or route and does the discount work at specific truck stops?

 

The fuel discount is similar to an app. You can look up the current cost by either state or route#. We get a discount at all the major chains, and a few independent stops. How much I'd a discount varies by region and location. Basically in areas that gouge the cash price of fuel we get a huge discount, in areas that it's more competitive, the discount is not much.

Detention varies by customer. Some customers are willing to pay it, others are not. The only"policy" on detention is, when they collect, they pay us.

 

You can see the discounts via the web. Anyone can see them, there is a link on one of the mercer sites. You just have to follow the directions and click the link.

Discounts vary from .00 to sometimes over a buck.