LTL Policy

Most of you are frequently using the Contractor Web, and preselecting your own freight.  Something that we have not discussed is our LTL (partial) load policy.  As you look for and commit to LTL freight in the Contractor Web, please keep one rule in mind.  Anytime you attempt to put a partial load with a truckload that you have already loaded, you have to call the Agent that your original truckload belongs to.  They have to give you permission to put another load with the material you have already loaded.  For example, say you load in Ohio with a load that goes to California.  You went in expecting a full truckload, but upon loading you find that the shipment is only 25 feet long.  You get on the contractor web, and find a 15 foot partial in Iowa that you can load tomorrow.  You have to call the agent that the Ohio load belongs to before you can commit on any other freight to go with it.

Some of our customers request “Exclusive Use” when we move a load for them.  This means, that they don’t want any other product on the same trailer as their product.  Some customers also have the right to drop the rate of their shipment to a ltl rate, if they find we put something with it.  Most of the time, when you call the originating agent, you will be allowed to put freight with theirs, as long as you agree to deliver the original load within the required delivery date.

You have to make that phone call though.  If you don’t make that phone call, and you are dispatched on any ltl freight, it can be taken back from you.  I hear from drivers a lot about this issue, and they usually tell me that Mercer doesn’t want them to make any money.  Fact is, we do want you to haul extra freight.  It makes all of us extra money.  But we have to play by the rules of our shippers, so that we can continue to get freight from them.  It is an easy call to make, and it will usually go in your favor.  We have been enforcing this rule on coordinators for years, and now that you have control on the contractor web, you will have to acknowledge it as well.

ILLINOIS PHOTO RADAR

I received the following information from my friend Justin Seyl at US Legal Services. If you run in Illinois, please be aware of this:

“Illinois will begin using photo radar in freeway work zones in July. One mile per hour over the speed limit and the machine will send you a nice $375 ticket in the mail. Beginning July 1st, the State of Illinois will begin using speed cameras in areas designated as “Work Zones” on major freeways. Anyone caught by these devices will be mailed a $375 ticket for the FIRST offense. The SECOND offense will cost $1,000 and comes with a 90-day suspension. Drivers will also receive demerit points against their license, which allows insurance companies to raise insurance rates.

“This is the harshest penalty structure ever set for a govermental unit involving PHOTO speed enforcement. The state already has two camera vans on line issuing tickets 24/7 in work zones with speed limits lowered to 45 MPH. Photos of both the Driver’s face and License plate are taken.”

This is serious stuff, folks. Don’t forget, if they photograph your Mercer Illinois baseplate and send it to us, we are legally obligated to identify the driver.  Justin doesn’t seem to think there is much chance of beating these things in court even though his firm is generally pretty good at doing that. When I drove across Illinois last week,  I set it 5MPH under the posted, turned up the XM, and enjoyed the boring scenery. I strongly suggest that everyone do the same.

Mercer Contractor Web

We have been receiving several calls per day from contractors needing the website address for the contractor web.  I would post it on here, but we get so much traffic from people that are not contractors here, so I can’t.  You can access the Contractor Web from any computer at any time.  Please keep the email that Libby sends to you, saved in your inbox.  That email contains the link to the contractor web, and your password.  No matter what computer you are at, you can access your email account, open the email, and access the Contractor Web.  Email accounts are not specific to any one computer.  So if your computer crashes, then you can log into that email account from another computer and easily access the Contractor Web.