Mercer cuts 200 leased truckers

[Snowman7]

The unemployment issue...most truck drivers do not quailfy for unemployment benefits, due to the crossing of statelines. I know of only a few select companies that will pay unemployment benefits to truck drivers.

Huh? No chit. I never heard that. Dont seem fair to me.

[Orangetxguy]

Huh? No chit. I never heard that. Dont seem fair to me.

Check it out. Most OTR companies do not pay unemployment, because of state lines and FLSA. Companies that have union drivers are different...that would be covered by the union agreement.

For that majority though, driving jobs are usually plentiful and easy to get...so the companies do not and are not required to, pay unemployment. How many drivers see a deduction on their pay checks for unemployment insurance?? Not many.

[chris1]

The state pays the UMC,not the company. The driver just files an out of state claim. Crossing state lines has no bearing on it.

[chris1]

I you had a deduction from your paycheck for UMC,the state would be interested in it as it's unlawfull.

[Orangetxguy]

I you had a deduction from your paycheck for UMC,the state would be interested in it as it's unlawfull.

The employer pays a percentage of payroll taxes as unemployment compensation. Interstate Carriers are exempt from paying that, due to federal and state, EEOC and FLSA regulations. "Local" hourly drivers work under different labor regulations.
When I lived in California and New Mexico, there was a percentage of my paycheck, which went towards unemployment compensation.


About 2%. In WA, ARCO paid the entire portion. When I was laid off, they informed those of us taking the package, that we would receive unemployment for 24 months, uncontested.

Truck drivers receiving unemployment is a state by state decision.
CA does not pay unemployment to Interstate Truck drivers, but they do payout to Intrastate drivers. CA has a form that each individual fills out, while in the hiring process, that sets the percentage of the employee's wage that will be deducted and paid to the state Unemployment Insurance Commission. That individual's "State Income" tax deduction is reduced by that percentage paid to UI.

There is also a huge difference between Worker's Compensation (Injury pay) and Unemployment Compensation.

Worker's Compensation can not be deducted from an employee's pay.

As an Owner Operator, I am required to carry my own "Worker's Compensation" insurance, which is deducted weekly from each settlement.

As an owner Operator, I also carry my own insurance, which cost's me $227 each month, that cover's me if my truck is involved in an accident and is inoperable for longer that 2 weeks, if I am sick and unable to work for longer than 2 weeks, or if I am injured and unable to return to work, for longer than 4 weeks. After each 2 week wait period, I will receive 70% of my last 6 weeks "averaged" settlements. (I pray that nothing major happens until after the economy recovers)

In the case of injury, I will receive 55% of the last 6 weeks average settlement, after a 4 week wait. Any "Workers Compensation" I receive, under my "Workers Compensation" insurance, is not included in, nor does it exclude me from, receiving benefits from my insurance company.

[chris1]

Interstate carriers are not exempt from paying UMC or FUT. No part of FLSA. I've had interstate drivers in CA that have drawn UMC. Other than voluntary deductions the only legal deductions from your check are fed income tax,state income tax,local income tax,FICA and medicare.Anything else is voluntary.(there are some union temporary UMC benefits that can be deducted also.)
In 2008 i paid in excess of 26,000.00 into UMC. If you can show my attorney where i don't have to pay this i'll split it with you.

[chris1]

BTW EEOC only covers discrimination in the workplace. (sex,age race ect)
FLSA only covers federal minimum wage,overtime and child labor.
Neither cover UMC as that is state to state.
The only thing federal in unemployment is FUT,in some cases you are exempt from.

[Orangetxguy]

Interstate carriers are not exempt from paying UMC or FUT. No part of FLSA. I've had interstate drivers in CA that have drawn UMC. Other than voluntary deductions the only legal deductions from your check are fed income tax,state income tax,local income tax,FICA and medicare.Anything else is voluntary.(there are some union temporary UMC benefits that can be deducted also.)
In 2008 i paid in excess of 26,000.00 into UMC. If you can show my attorney where i don't have to pay this i'll split it with you.

Ok...YOU have allowed a state to pay out unemployment dollars to one of your drivers?? That must be something. What were the conditions, that you said yes to CA paying out that comp?

30 years of driving here, and the only driver's I have ever known that recieved Unemployment compensation worked for Ryerson Steel and Boeing, plus Teamster drivers from CF, Roadway, ABF..and the like. As far as OTR drivers.....I have never known one OTR driver whom applied for UI and received it from an OTR carrier. You saying you paid it out is a first for me.
In states like CA, OR and Wa, I have known local drivers, whom did not cross statelines ever, in a truck, whom received UI when laid off due to weather. I have known local drivers whom crossed statelines, such as WA into OR, to do work, whom were laid off, and denied UI benefits, because they crossed that line.

The reason truck drivers seldom if ever receive UI? OTR driving jobs "are" a dime a dozen, just as "drivers" are a dime a dozen.

I have known plenty of OTR drivers that filed for unemployment against former carrier employers, and were denied. The states involved were fairly well represented. CA, OR, WA, ID, UT, WY, NM, OK, TX, OH, ND. Some of the Dow drivers, released in the early 80's, were denied unemployment, for various reasons. My older brother was one of those whom was denied. Dow offered him work as a "Contract Employee". His wife was against him working like that. He turned down the offer...They denied him his UI. There were hundreds whom were treated like that. Laid off as a regular employee, offered work through a Contract Company, declined the work, denied unemployment compensation because of that.
The lazy ones would sit at home for 13 weeks, then re-file, at which time they received federal funds, at about 1/4 of the rate they would have received, had they been laid off from working at a C-store or truckstop. Not even close to what they should have qualified for when they were laid off at Dow.

I have paystubs from the 70's and 80's, before I went to work for ARCO, and the UI deductions range anywhere from $7 a week in WY in 1979, to $58 a week in CA in 1987. At ARCO the UI deductions for 1989 and 1990 averaged $39 a week. ARCO started paying the full UI bill in 1991. I have had UI deductions in WY, NM, CA and WA. All states I lived in.

Now...if that was your contribution to the UI fund, it raises the question(s). How many drivers do you employ? How many non-drivers do you employ? What pay rate do your drivers receive? What pay rate do your non-drivers receive? What is your annual revenue? How many employees are paid on 1099?

All are questions your not going to answer.

You say you paid out over $26,000 in UI money. Was that what you had to pay to the state, due to payroll....or YOU authorized $26,000 in payments? If you authorized UI payments...You are to be commended for doing so. You are one of the very few whom would.

[chris1]

The employer does not detemine when a driver receives unemployment.(except temporary layoff) the state does. If it wasn't a "qualified"firing they are eligible.
The employer can appeal the decision.(some you win,some you lose)
Most decent drivers get another job,some try to sit on their *** and draw UI.
I attend labor law seminars 6 times a year,all states require UI.
As i said before the deductions on your check to a union plan are not the same as to a state.A union plan can/will exempt you from the state.
The states charge .xx% up to the median wage for that state.(if the rate is .03% and the median wage is 25,000.00 you pay UI in the amount of 750.00,anything over 25,000.00 in the calender year is not taxed.)
As far as the number of my employees/revenue,no it is not your business. The only 1099's are to the O/O's all others are W2's.(if you work on a 1099 you're not eligible for UI)
I do have a nexus in CA,OR,and other states.The only time i pay UI to them is if the driver resides in that state,otherwise it's paid to my home base state.

[YerDaddy]

I vote for Chris1 on this argument.

I collected unemployment from TRL after they canned me because someone stole my dropped and loaded trailer. This was in PA and I ran PA, NY and NJ for them.

The decisive factor is whether it is a qualified termination or layoff, not which borders you crossed in performance of your job.

[Pony Express]

I'm leased to Mercer, the story I was told was that they got rid of the problem drivers. Problems with customers, logs, safety and being late etc etc etc.................
I also heard they are not done with the cuts, but that could just be gossip............

[GMAN]

I have a friend of mine who is leased to Mercer and he told me the same thing, Pony Express.

[marcel27208]

I vote for Chris1 on this argument.

I collected unemployment from TRL after they canned me because someone stole my dropped and loaded trailer. This was in PA and I ran PA, NY and NJ for them.

The decisive factor is whether it is a qualified termination or layoff, not which borders you crossed in performance of your job.

Is TRL still around anymore?? i NEVER see any of there trucks anymore.......

[Jackrabbit379]

Is TRL still around anymore?? i NEVER see any of there trucks anymore.......

Are you talking about, The Real Leader TRL? I've seen them recently. Last year sometime. If I remember right, the name was multi-colored.

[Maniac]

Is TRL still around anymore?? i NEVER see any of there trucks anymore.......

TRL the reefer outfit out of the Scranton Pa area was taken over by Prime a few years ago.

[sidman82]

They went out and liquidated most of their equipment. Sold accounts to Prime. *****canned mass amounts off drivers. My old trailer was a TRL trailer bought for $3000. This happened in February last year.

[fastgunslinger]

At the drivers meeting last Wed,Dale said all the layoffs were over for now. If more are needed it would be on a luck of the draw from a hat. The ones that were cut were probelem drivers, ones that were looking for a change anyway,drivers that dont want to drive much,etc. Mercer is a for profit co. If u arnt making money for the co,why keep a person.

[mudawg]

At the drivers meeting last Wed,Dale said all the layoffs were over for now. If more are needed it would be on a luck of the draw from a hat. The ones that were cut were probelem drivers, ones that were looking for a change anyway,drivers that dont want to drive much,etc. Mercer is a for profit co. If u arnt making money for the co,why keep a person.

There are some problems with the logic in what is being said here as far as the reasons given for letting someone go first is if you are not always keeping your eyes open for a better business oppertunity then the one you have now i.e. "looking for a change" you have not got a very good business plan and that is not something that would make a person a "problem driver" but, more of a shrewd business man looking out for his well being.Second the "drivers that don't want to drive much" how do they determin this in times like we have now??IMO that sounds like it would be impossible and here's why,take a load that goes to the West coast where you know there are already a huge number of trucks waiting on the few boards we have and you are now there for several weeks without so much as one load offering does this make you someone that doesn't want to work???Now after you are there all this time you finally start to get load offerings with a rate so low you couldn't get anywhere close to your break even point going to a place you know will deadhead hundreds and hundres of miles to reload once again does this make for a bad driver that doesn't want to drive much???If this guy or gal gets many loads offered to them that will not cover thier costs and they keep turning down freight that will not make them a profit are they a problem??That is the way they are looked at because you see it doesn't matter to all the others above them if they make a profit it matters to them that they haul the load that way they still get thier same percentage from it even though thier cost of doing business has not been affected at all like ours has in this economy.If we are asked to haul for a cheaper rater they (those not owning the truck) should be told they are now going to get less of a percentage of the load and if they don't like it they really are not team players and should be let go.You see none of that is going to happen.
You see I am a for profit company and Mercer comes second.You would think if I am profitable Mercer would have nothing to worry about but,in the real world that has not been the business practice of late.I have been told that things were in the works to change things here and my fingers have been crossed that I will start to see some of these changes and as of now other then the freeze on recrutment and getting rid of some that should have never been hired I have not seen much to brag about.I do want to have a career here but, it is being made very tough when I do everything I can to hold on by staying out for extended times from home and the bills still can't be covered because of the amount of sitting + deadheading + the pittiful rates makes for a sinking ship.Now am I one of those drivers you speak of because I worry about my interests more than I do Mercers??My safety record is spottless,never a problem with any customer,always get the load there on time,way over 2 million miles with no tickets or accidents ever.I have been home once for two days in the middle of Feb. since the last week of November,I was not home for the holidays for the first time in my life, in fact my children went without a Christmas this all together because the money was just not there.I get really flustered when I read a sentence like the last one in the above statement and I just don't get it why is it we are the ones being told we should make someone els more money when we are a huge important link in the chain at least I believe more important then the agents that have way less overhead then we do.Most of them could do what they do from a spare room in thier homes and they are told they will not have to compete with anyone els while we have our whole life savings (sometimes that's what it feels like) invested in all kinds of equipment that needs to be constantly maintained and when we say we can't haul a load for that kind of rate there is another less businees savy contractor right there that will no matter how much it cost him.That has made him my compitition not co-worker yet he just made Mercer money now that's what is called a company man right there and untill the repo man catches up with him he will be making the company a profit and that seems to be IMO all to a fimiliar story not just here but a big problem here.I do believe Mercer is a way better place to be then most companies and that's why it should be way harder to get hired on here and some have slipped through the cracks but for the most part there are a lot of good people here it's just like anything els in life those bad ones really stick out in your mind and lets hope we can get rid of them and have some of the good hands we have lost come back.
I'm going to try to keep hanging on but,I don't know how many more zeros I can keep putting in my log book before I jump that fence to where there are a lot more folks looking for freight to be hauled than we have.

[BigJohn]

There are some problems with the logic in what is being said here as far as the reasons given for letting someone go first is if you are not always keeping your eyes open for a better business oppertunity then the one you have now i.e. "looking for a change" you have not got a very good business plan and that is not something that would make a person a "problem driver" but, more of a shrewd business man looking out for his well being.Second the "drivers that don't want to drive much" how do they determin this in times like we have now??IMO that sounds like it would be impossible and here's why,take a load that goes to the West coast where you know there are already a huge number of trucks waiting on the few boards we have and you are now there for several weeks without so much as one load offering does this make you someone that doesn't want to work???Now after you are there all this time you finally start to get load offerings with a rate so low you couldn't get anywhere close to your break even point going to a place you know will deadhead hundreds and hundres of miles to reload once again does this make for a bad driver that doesn't want to drive much???If this guy or gal gets many loads offered to them that will not cover thier costs and they keep turning down freight that will not make them a profit are they a problem??That is the way they are looked at because you see it doesn't matter to all the others above them if they make a profit it matters to them that they haul the load that way they still get thier same percentage from it even though thier cost of doing business has not been affected at all like ours has in this economy.If we are asked to haul for a cheaper rater they (those not owning the truck) should be told they are now going to get less of a percentage of the load and if they don't like it they really are not team players and should be let go.You see none of that is going to happen.
You see I am a for profit company and Mercer comes second.You would think if I am profitable Mercer would have nothing to worry about but,in the real world that has not been the business practice of late.I have been told that things were in the works to change things here and my fingers have been crossed that I will start to see some of these changes and as of now other then the freeze on recrutment and getting rid of some that should have never been hired I have not seen much to brag about.I do want to have a career here but, it is being made very tough when I do everything I can to hold on by staying out for extended times from home and the bills still can't be covered because of the amount of sitting + deadheading + the pittiful rates makes for a sinking ship.Now am I one of those drivers you speak of because I worry about my interests more than I do Mercers??My safety record is spottless,never a problem with any customer,always get the load there on time,way over 2 million miles with no tickets or accidents ever.I have been home once for two days in the middle of Feb. since the last week of November,I was not home for the holidays for the first time in my life, in fact my children went without a Christmas this all together because the money was just not there.I get really flustered when I read a sentence like the last one in the above statement and I just don't get it why is it we are the ones being told we should make someone els more money when we are a huge important link in the chain at least I believe more important then the agents that have way less overhead then we do.Most of them could do what they do from a spare room in thier homes and they are told they will not have to compete with anyone els while we have our whole life savings (sometimes that's what it feels like) invested in all kinds of equipment that needs to be constantly maintained and when we say we can't haul a load for that kind of rate there is another less businees savy contractor right there that will no matter how much it cost him.That has made him my compitition not co-worker yet he just made Mercer money now that's what is called a company man right there and untill the repo man catches up with him he will be making the company a profit and that seems to be IMO all to a fimiliar story not just here but a big problem here.I do believe Mercer is a way better place to be then most companies and that's why it should be way harder to get hired on here and some have slipped through the cracks but for the most part there are a lot of good people here it's just like anything els in life those bad ones really stick out in your mind and lets hope we can get rid of them and have some of the good hands we have lost come back.
I'm going to try to keep hanging on but,I don't know how many more zeros I can keep putting in my log book before I jump that fence to where there are a lot more folks looking for freight to be hauled than we have.

Talk about hard to read.

[fastgunslinger]

Mercer like any co is out to make money. Thay wont let someone go if that person is making a profit for the co and not causing DOT to look at them(mercer) Chasing the dollar doesnt always work. Steady work and profit works the best IMHO.