CV and a tear drop camper

jjoerger

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
US Army
Last night at the local Walmart I saw a Ford E350 CV pulling a Little Guy tear drop camper. It was not being used for expediting but it got me to thinking. Would any carriers let someone pull one of these around with them?
They only weigh about 1000 pounds and have 85 pounds of tongue weight.
Her's a link for Little Guy
Little Guy Little Guy 5-Wide Platform Teardrop Camper Trailer
 

BillChaffey

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
US Navy
When you go to pick up or unload, do you leave it outside the gate or inside in the Comapany parking lot? or just "jack knife" it and hope no one runs over it with a fork lift.:confused:
 

jjoerger

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
US Army
You vannies got way too much time to think up wacky ideas...j/s.;)

Actually we own and drive a D unit.
I just never had a chance to look at these cool little campers before and thought they would make a nice way for a CV driver to have a place to sleep when they have a load in the van or at a campground.
 

LDB

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
For not too much more penalty in weight you can stand up, cook, heed mother nature etc. in one of these.

Casita Travel Trailers - America's Favorite Lightweight Travel Trailers | Lightweight, Aerodynamic, Durable, Easy-to-Tow, High-Fuel Efficiency

I'm not versed enough in the regs to know about logging if pulling a camper. The GVW of the van would still be below 10,001 and the loss of cargo capacity would be only the amount of the tongue weight I think. You'd just have to be sure you'd be withing the GCW limitations.
 

ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
You could address the toungue weight issue by adding a lift axle between the back of the van and the front of the trailer. :)
 

greg334

Veteran Expediter
Actually I don't know if I should say this but I don't care - panther has someone running about with a little camper trailer. Seen him/her at one pickup leaving, it was a while ago. Just a couple weeks ago he/she passed me up on the way home on I75, just tooling along at 75 like nothing was wrong.
 

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
This topic had been bantered back and forth for years in here...all us newbees have thoughts about re-inventing the wheel...dragging a camper just is not practical....
 

LDB

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
It would be nice but it would be a lot of work also I think and maybe more than offset the benefit. I guess if someone shopped and cooked/ate all their meals the health/money benefits would offset the mpg penalty and the comfort/rested level should be worth something as well but still seems too much potential hassle.
 

jeffman164

Seasoned Expediter
Iv'e pulled my jet skiis behind me a couple of times while on a pick up and delivery FUN run !! The secret if you must know - Don't ask - just do it !!!!!!
 

fastrod

Expert Expediter
Actually I don't know if I should say this but I don't care - panther has someone running about with a little camper trailer. Seen him/her at one pickup leaving, it was a while ago. Just a couple weeks ago he/she passed me up on the way home on I75, just tooling along at 75 like nothing was wrong.

You might be surprised at how many are doing something like this. Think about this, person running a window van with no markings and freight in the van pulling a small travel trailer and completely invisible to DOT.
 

pkoelle

Active Expediter
I think the general attitude here is "bad idea" from the veterans & "give me a good reason that makes it a bad idea" from the people open minded enough to try something new. Bottom line i see is that its much more comfortable & economical hanging out in a camper than in a CV. As long as you don't cross weight thresholds DOT will care less in most states. The only real concern is the carriers policies & frankly CVs are better off independent & dealing with multiple brokers anyway. You're an unmarked van pulling a camper. DOT won't give you a second glance....except maybe in Ca.
 

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
I think the general attitude here is "bad idea" from the veterans & "give me a good reason that makes it a bad idea" from the people open minded enough to try something new. Bottom line...
Bottom line is, it ain't a new idea. Very few ideas that people come up with haven't already been tried by someone else. Without looking, I'd guess there are 10 or 15 threads on the use of camping trailers here on EO over the years.

The reasons it's a bad idea are, too many shippers and receivers won't let you on the property with a camping trailer. You can get to a shipper for an ASAP-right-now pickup, for example, and they won't let you in, and now you've got to go find a safe place to drop the trailer, which can take hours. You've blown the pickup and lost a customer. If your leased on with a carrier, they've lost a customer and you're likely to lose your lease. Another reason it's a bad idea is that people will steal your trailer in a heartbeat, especially when they see you drop it and quickly leave without securing it. Precious time can be wasted obtaining permission to leave an unattended camping trailer, even for a short period. Then that short time can turn into hours and hours if you are unexpectedly delayed for hours at the pickup or delivery. Then there's the sheer joy of having to go and unhook a trailer, go make a pickup or delivery, then come back and hook the trailer up, all in the pouring rain or in the middle of a blizzard.

All of the above has already happened to people who thought they had just the kewlest idea ever. All of the above are also reasons which have been given in past threads to the same kewlest idea ever.
 
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Brisco

Expert Expediter
All of the above has already happened to people who thought they had just the kewlest idea ever. All of the above are also reasons which have been given in past threads to the same kewlest idea ever.

And....to finish it off..........IF it were a Viable Option that would work out, Drivers all over the place would be talking about how well pulling an "RV" behind their CV has worked out for them.

Over all these years......and discussion after discussion about it......how many drivers do we have here today, or have had in the past, have shared their positive experiences when it comes to pulling an RV behind a CV???

NONE...................
 

cannedmeat27

Expert Expediter
I'm looking at moving out of state. I was going to rent a small uhaul trailer and tow my car. I was looking to tow it with my sprinter. Does this mean I will have to log just for that trip?
 

paullud

Veteran Expediter
I'm looking at moving out of state. I was going to rent a small uhaul trailer and tow my car. I was looking to tow it with my sprinter. Does this mean I will have to log just for that trip?

No, as long as you are not loaded it is personal use.

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paullud

Veteran Expediter
I'm looking at moving out of state. I was going to rent a small uhaul trailer and tow my car. I was looking to tow it with my sprinter. Does this mean I will have to log just for that trip?

It doesn't matter, you are allowed to use the vehicle for personal transportation which is not considered commerce so it is not regulated. That is the reason you will see an old tractor pulling a camper and they have "Not For Hire" on the side.

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