BigCat
Expert Expediter
But those are registered as rv in most cases. His sprinter still has cmv plates and dot numbers. That's just like me using a non dispatched straight truck to move.
CV and a tear drop camper
- Thread starter jjoerger
- Start date
But those are registered as rv in most cases. His sprinter still has cmv plates and dot numbers. That's just like me using a non dispatched straight truck to move.
What are CMV plates and why would a Sprinter have them since a Sprinter isn't a CMV unless it's placarded? I've got a Sprinter. Why don't I have CMV plates? Also, what to DOT numbers have to do with anything? I've got DOT numbers on my Sprinter. Had them on my Ford E-350. Doesn't make me a CMV.
As for you using your non dispatched straight truck to move... you can do that. A lot of people have done that. That's what the "Not for hire" signs are for. If you're "not for hire", even temporarily, then you're not a commercial motor vehicle engaging in interstate commerce.
Panther has the same requirement and I'm guessing so do most of the larger expedite carriers. When in doubt, read your contract.
There are two ways to expedite. Live in the tin can with a mattress, cell phone, and old computer. No Espar, no air-con, nothing. Or just get off the road "punk out" and become a dispatcher and sleep in a regular bed every night. There is no amount of creature conforts that are going to make the chirping alarms, slamming doors, and loud music bumpin through the parking lot any more prestigeous.
You are a driver living in a van. You are merely one step up from a homeless guy. You work for your money and get paid to travel. The homeless guy just walks around bumming spare change and beggin for rides. lol. Don't over-complicate the simple things of expediting. If you want to feel like a human just get a nice hotel room on the weekend like I used to do. I went 6 years with nothing more than a mattress, sleeping bag, cell phone, and GPS. Man up and cut the camper talk!
You are a driver living in a van. You are merely one step up from a homeless guy. You work for your money and get paid to travel. The homeless guy just walks around bumming spare change and beggin for rides. lol. Don't over-complicate the simple things of expediting. If you want to feel like a human just get a nice hotel room on the weekend like I used to do. I went 6 years with nothing more than a mattress, sleeping bag, cell phone, and GPS. Man up and cut the camper talk!
You really don't have to live in such basic conditions... i have my van set up very comfortable... 1st thing i did was to make a bed that folds up against the wall...i am NOT sleeping on the floor...i have a/c and a built in generator... heat in the winter...20" flat screen...microwave.. its all on how creative and handy you are...I have everything you would have in camper..
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This is one thing the Sprinters have over those of us who drive Chevys and Fords. If you get the big one, you've got room. Fourteen feet between the seats and the back doors, room to stand up in and so on. It's possible to make a cozy cave right behind the seats and still have room to get two pallets on. In my Chevy, everything has to be able to be folded and stowed in the most compact manner, in the big Sprinter you might hardly ever have to stow the bed.
Some rough math on the cost of pulling a small trailer. You drive 100,000 miles a year at a cost of 22 cents/mile, that's $22000. A trailer cuts your mileage by say 15%, you just added $3300/year.
You buy the trailer for $5000 and pull it for 5 years, that's half a million miles which I think would do it in, cost $1000/year. Maint on trailer $250/year, Insurance maybe $200/year.
$3300 + $1000 + $250 + $200= $4750 and I probably overlooked some other costs such as camp site fees and additional tolls.
$4750 / $60 a night would buy you 80 nights in a Red Roof type motel per year, maybe more if you used the National Logistics CP discount.
Cost and upsetting the THE BIG CAT are two of the reasons I entertained and then dismissed the notion of pulling a camper.
You buy the trailer for $5000 and pull it for 5 years, that's half a million miles which I think would do it in, cost $1000/year. Maint on trailer $250/year, Insurance maybe $200/year.
$3300 + $1000 + $250 + $200= $4750 and I probably overlooked some other costs such as camp site fees and additional tolls.
$4750 / $60 a night would buy you 80 nights in a Red Roof type motel per year, maybe more if you used the National Logistics CP discount.
Cost and upsetting the THE BIG CAT are two of the reasons I entertained and then dismissed the notion of pulling a camper.
purgoose10
Veteran Expediter
I was going to say about the same thing. Get a Cargo/Ultra or Sprinter and have it all for the same amount of money. Can't believe this going on like it has.
Blizzard you are tough man. I don't think I could have made it w/out more than a mattress.
I don't drive a van but it seems to me that motels make more sense than a camper. That would allow me to tow my boat! Then I would have something to do and would not be as bored as I am now!
I like my Cargomax and a Sprinter would be the same. The way I have it set up I have 14' of personal space when empty. When loaded, we're generally running straight through anyway, so no space is needed. I havent tracked it but, I would guess that 90-95% of the time, I have a bed even while loaded. As far as personal comfort, I am much happier in the Cargomax than I ever was in the straight truck. The profit is close "per mile". Keeping freight on the van can be more difficult though.
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