Carrier Comparison

Mercer vs. Landstar: What's Actually Different?

A lot of comparison articles make Mercer and Landstar sound almost identical. They're not.

Yes, both companies are 100% owner-operator fleets. Yes, both offer self-dispatch. Yes, both have been around a long time.

But your day-to-day life can look very different depending on which one you choose.

Finding Freight

This is probably the biggest difference.

At Landstar, the expectation is that you're going to find freight. You have access to a massive load board, thousands of agents, and one of the largest freight networks in North America.

In the data snapshot used for this article, there were roughly 115,000 loads available to approximately 7,800 active BCO trucks.

Sounds incredible, right? Not so fast. Only about 11,300 of those loads were direct shipper freight. The rest were generally brokered freight moving through the Landstar network.

That creates both opportunity and competition. The opportunity is access. The competition is figuring out which freight is actually worth hauling.

Mercer tends to provide more assistance through load coordinators and company involvement. Landstar tends to expect you to figure it out.

Some drivers want help. Some drivers want control.

Equipment Options

Landstar offers multiple ways to enter the business. A new BCO can bring only a truck and pull a Landstar dry van trailer at 65% of linehaul plus 100% of fuel surcharge.

A driver wanting to enter open deck can either buy a trailer or rent a Landstar flatbed or step deck if one is available. That allows some drivers to enter open deck freight without immediately investing tens of thousands of dollars into equipment.

Mercer has always been heavily associated with open deck freight and remains one of the better-known names in that space. If your goal is strictly flatbed and open deck, Mercer has a strong reputation.

If your goal is maximum flexibility across multiple trailer types and freight classes, Landstar generally offers more options.

Fuel Discounts

Both companies offer fuel discounts. The difference is scale.

Landstar's fuel discounts are often among the best available anywhere in trucking. Recent examples have included discounts exceeding one dollar per gallon below posted pump prices.

For a truck buying 20,000 to 30,000 gallons of fuel annually, that's real money. Not marketing money. Real money. The kind of money that can affect whether your year was average or exceptional.

Fuel Advances

Most carriers give you a fuel card and expect you to use it. Landstar gives you a fuel card too. The difference is that Landstar treats advances as a business decision.

When you book a load, you can request a pre-trip advance, currently up to 40% of linehaul in the data used for this article.

Need fuel? Take an advance. Need maintenance? Take an advance. Want to manage your own cash flow? Don't take one. The choice is yours.

Some owner operators love that flexibility. Others prefer a carrier that handles more of those details.

AI Dashcams

This is one area where the cultural difference between the companies becomes very obvious.

Mercer is implementing AI dashcams with company access to footage and events. Landstar does not require BCOs to install an AI dashcam.

And if a BCO chooses to install one, Landstar does not maintain access to the footage.

For some drivers, that's a minor detail. For others, it's a major difference. Especially for owner operators who believe that if they're paying for the truck, paying for the fuel, and assuming all the risk, they should also control the data generated by that truck.

Which Company Has More Upside?

In my opinion, this is where the biggest difference exists.

If your goal is to haul freight, make a living, and have a company provide more assistance, Mercer may be appealing.

If your goal is to build a trucking business, develop agent relationships, enter specialized freight, move into open deck, heavy haul, or eventually AA&E, Landstar offers more ways to create opportunity.

That doesn't guarantee success. In fact, Landstar can be brutally unforgiving. Nobody is going to save you from bad decisions.

But the same system that allows a driver to fail also allows a driver to build something much bigger than a traditional trucking job.

That's why you'll find so many long-term Landstar BCOs who have no interest in working anywhere else.