How many skids for a van ?

[PinballWizard]

I have a 2007 Sprinter. I have a really nice 60" custom sleeper in it. That leaves me with 8'6" of cargo space. I'm happy with it, I like it alot actually, and I stay busy and I like the company I work for. With that being said, this is my question.
Everytime I'm sitting at a truck stop, someone always wants to look at my Sprinter and ask questions about it. Everyone says oooohhhh and ahhhhh when they see my sleeper setup with all of its electronic gizmos. Then when they realize I can not haul 3 skids, they look at me like I'm an alien and have just sprouted a horn out of the top of my head. From what they say, its like there is no way that I could possibly be in the expedite business and not haul three skids. Its almost like that unless you can haul three skids, freight doesn't exist and I'm just out driving around for fun. Now, Just about everything I have hauled has been 1 skid. And even that, it is usually just a small box sitting on a big skid. Then when there are two skids, they are usually not full. Many times I haul single skids that are very tall and get better pay for that, sometimes there are two really tall skids, better pay for that also. But, is there really some magical jump in freight volume when you jump over the two skid limit ???? I find it hard to believe but what does everone here have to say ?

 

[OntarioVanMan]

I can remember only twice having 3 48x48" skids. Most of the time it's the height thats counts. Theres so many configuration of skids as long as you make dispatch aware of this to maximize your investment. Yeah your going to loose some load opportunities but as long as your happy and making what you need. Don't worry bout it and enjoy the fruits of your labour.

Good Luck Ken

 

[CharlesD]

I would echo the other response. I have a 2007 as well, the extended version, but I only gave myself about 40" for my sleeper, which is big enough for me since my bed is only 24" wide. I did that specifically so I would have enough room for three skids because the carrier I signed on with told me at the outset that having enough room for three skids would benefit me.

With that said, most of the freight I haul is around two skids, but I usually get about one a week that is longer than 8'. I have had quite a few loads that were around 10', odd sized skids or long carpet rolls. So for me, I'm going to stick with 12' in my cargo area, but if you're making enough money with what you have, then don't listen to what the other folks say at the truck stops. The nice thing about these new Sprinters is that they're long enough to fit a decent sleeper in without having to sacrifice too much cargo space.

 

[Moot]

How many skids for a van?

You will certainly be limited with A.B.S.

 

[TJ959]

I have a 2005 Sprinter and it is set up to take three skids. I still have enough room for a folding sleeper with all the things I had in my old FL70. Most of my loads are one or two skids but once or twice a month I get one of those three skid loads. I think the extra room gives me a little better chance getting loaded when other guys are sitting. If I'm wrong, don't tell me, I'm enjoying the warm feeling of security.

I do think a comfortable sleeper area is very important,as much as we van guys sit. I don't get a lot of satisfaction by being manly and freezing to death. I have my heat, microwave, tv, DVD-VHS, and laptop. Half of succeeding in this business is staying out there and being available. Anything that makes that easier seems like a good investment to me.

 

[greg334]

umm... three skids? How much weight is that?

 

[cheri1122]

I believe three skids weigh sixty pounds, and anything on top of them is extra.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

I remember 1 load of 3 skids each skid was 100 lbs 3 separate orders total=300lbs. Sorry just had to add it up for the not so gifted!*L*

 

[dhalltoyo]

Yes!!!

Weight! Weight! Weight!

My carrier requires a scale ticket that proves the empty weight of the van. Next they subtract that empty weight from the GVWR of the van. The remainder is the actual maximum cargo capacity for that van. My carrier has never asked me to haul, nor have they offered me, a load that exceeds my maximum cargo capacity.

If a carrier assigns a Sprinter to a load that exceeds the maximum cargo capacity it would seem that they would share the liability in the event of accident resulting from an overload.

Of course, the O/O has the right to refuse the load, but there is shared responsibility. I don't have to buy drugs simply because they are available, but we do arrest and prosecute the drug dealers.

I suspect it is only a matter of time until we see some legal action regarding the overloading Sprinters, because so many folks in the transportation industry are aware of this practice.

 

[greg334]

David,
You know many people don't understand the theory that if you overload something that was not intended to be overloaded, you shorten the life of the vehicle.

In another post, someone was asking about a leaking roof on their sprinter, well this is one thing that is caused by torsional stress on the sprinter by either overloading it or placing the load in the wrong place in the van. Sprinters are wonderful things but they are not cheaply made and they have limitations.

I can't see why anyone would take a chance with a $40K vehicle to make a few dollars.

Also just to throw this in, the sprinter is assembled here, the body comes in as "body in white" or as a "knockdown kit" with a serial number stamped on it and the options and drive train are put in when it is here. There is no welding to the body because this would be considered a US manufactured vehicle and it is not. It is cheaper for them to do this and it has been practiced for a long time.

 

[Turtle]

Most expedited loads are two skids or less, or more than 4 skids. Three just isn't the magic number that many recruiters would like you to believe when discussing how to outfit a van. They'll tell you that being able to haul three skids will benefit you, and that's true, but only to a point. It benefits them a great deal more in almost all cases. Some carriers will even charge the customer the straight truck rate, then pay you the van rate, be it the regular van rate, or the higher "Sprinter" van rate. But more importantly, 3 skids on a Sprinter keeps the carrier from having to waste a perfectly good straight truck on a 3-skid load, thereby saving the truck for a larger load that they may have had to otherwise turn down.

When you get a 3 skid load, you may have gotten that load ahead of other vans, but it's rare that you would haul a 3-skid load versus no load at all. You're simply swapping one for the other. Of course, there have been times where I was, like, #9 on a board where, 1 or 2 loads a day go out, and I suddenly got a load that gets me out of there, because I'm in a Sprinter. That's a case where I swapped no load at all for a tall, Sprinter load. Same circumstances happen with 3-skid setups.

But look at all the short wheelbase Ford E-350's out there being driven by aliens with horns growing out of their heads. How do they do it?

They get zero sleep when they have 2 skids on board, that's how. Just a like a Sprinter driver gets no sleep when hauling 3 skids and a fold-up bunk. For a long, long time I drove a short wheelbase E-350 and had one too many Friday pickups for Monday delivery, with no place to sleep while loaded.

If 3 skid loads were more prevalent, and if they paid significantly more than 2 skid loads, then it might be different, but when I got this Sprinter, one of the reasons I got it, in fact, was my number one priority of having a permanent bunk. When I wanna go to sleep, I wanna go to sleep.

I'm in an '05 Sprinter, long and tall. I've got a space in the back that's 49" wide and 9 feet long for cargo, and the rest is mine, including shelf space up along both walls in the rear. I have a 30" bunk that lifts up for storage underneath, 28" between the bunk and the back of the seats for gettin' dressed and movin' around room, and a desk of sorts where the passenger seat used to be. So my "sleeper" is pretty much everything from the dash to the rear of the bunk, or about 90 inches total.

If you can't get good rest out here, if you're uncomfortable out here, it wears on you. It wears you down, eats away at you, burns you out. There are people who brag, and lie, about getting a good night's sleep slumped over the steering wheel, or across the front seats with a Coleman in the middle to prop up their butt. These are the people who go home every weekend (shocking). These are the people who don't last out here.

I'll give up the occasional 3rd skid in exchange for being comfortable enough, well rested enough, to actually be more available for those much more frequent 1 and 2 skid loads. And, I'll make more money. That's not something I carelessly or casually toss out there, either. I've looked into it long and hard over the years, talked with the people who book the loads, seen the figures, and know where the cost benefit comes out. If you're with a mom-n-pop that markets your 3-skid Sprinter, that's one thing, but if you're with most carriers, you can safely assume that the ability to haul 3 skids will get you somewhere in the neighborhood of 4-6 additional loads per year that you would not have otherwise had. That's it. All the other times you hauled 3 skids you would have otherwise gotten a 1 or 2 skid load, anyway. It benefits the carrier far more than it benefits you.

For me, the prospect of hauling an extra load every other month just couldn't quite justify the prospect of not being able to sleep while loaded with 3 skids, which could easily happen 3 or 4 times a month. And not being able to get a few hours sleep while on a 900 mile run could be a serious problem.

Every now and then I'll have someone look at me kind of astonished when they see I can only haul 2 skids. Doesn't bother me a bit.


Slow and steady, even in expediting, wins the race - Aesop

 

[OntarioVanMan]

I suspect it is only a matter of time until we see some legal action regarding the overloading Sprinters, because so many folks in the transportation industry are aware of this practice.

In Ontario, the dispatcher can be fined now, as well as the driver and carrier for log book violation IF the dispatcher knew the driver was out of hours.

 

[fastman_1]

Where I'm out it goes by weight up to 2500# pays B Rate If its Heavier Dispatch Puts the Offer on The Table and it's up to me if I take it or Not, I have my GMC Set up to carry 3000# With out a Problem, Now How many times have I done it, Twice is 5 Years,






































Owner/Operator since 1979
Expediter since 1997
B Unit Semi Retired
Somedays are Diamonds and Somedays are Stones
Home is Wherever you Park.
The Price of Freedom is Written on the Wall.

 

[TJ959]

The empty weight of my Sprinter will still allow me to load 3000# without overloading. I have been offered heavier loads but I refuse them. It seems to me that Sprinters are built lighter (flimsier?) than most one ton Chevy or Ford vans. Overloading them can only cause very expensive issues in the very near future.

 

[RLENT]

At my previous carrier I was required to have everything from the back of the seats in our Sprinter clear for long loads - that gave me around 13' 10" clear IIRC - I have hauled 3 (or more) skids quite a few times ..... although it didn't always pay extra.

The most I've ever hauled was 8 skids - these were broken down off the pallets and packed into the vehicle and then the pallets were wedged in wherever we could fit them in order to re-palletize at the consignee. Of course, since it was all injection-molded plastic autobody trim, it weighed next to nothing compared to the volume - maybe 1200 lbs for the entire load if that - Sprinter packed completely full.

Out of the 158 loads that I ran at the previous carrier, 20 of them paid a "C" rate (over 2500 lbs or possibly under that weight but too long or tall to be considered a "B" load) Out of that number probably less than 1/2 were actually something other than a "local" (less than 100 miles) - so the number of runs of any distance (where the higher rate made a significant difference in revenue) were fairly small.

Since leaving that carrier, where I was always deadheading back home after almost every load, I have installed a 36" bunk .... which leaves me 9' of clear cargo area - enough for two 54" long skids. If I'm going to actually be living out on the road for extended periods I need to have some room to do so - I gotta be able to get decent rest - and sleeping in the drivers seat just wouldn't cut it. Been there, done that. I'm with Turtle on this - ya gotta be able to live out here with some small modicum of comfort.

I have E-Track mounted along the sidewalls about 24" high - if I really, really wanted to I could carry something longer than 9" by placing shoring beams/load bars in the sidewall E-Track - which would allow the load to clear my bunk - provided that the item was not all that tall or heavy.

 

[MSinger]

> I believe three skids weigh sixty pounds, and anything on
>top of them is extra.


Good one, Cheri!!! Oho you funny girl, you make me laugh!!!!








2002 GMC Savana 3500 DRW 15' cube 10,000 GVWR "Old Yeller"
former Penske truck

 

[Moot]

Are we talking a class 8 van or one of those obsolete cargo type vans? There is a difference.

 

[Packmule]

MOOT.....YER KILLIN" ME!!!!!!
Good one LMAO
Danny

 

[RLENT]

Nah .... it's one of those eurovan thingies ..... Can you say Farfegnugen ?

Ooops - right country .... wrong brand .....

 

[hondaking38]

when i was with panther i hauled 3 skids about once a month... with my new carrier 3 skids have been half of my loads.. surely i dont get the miles as i used to but they pay quite a bit more...as an example i hauled 3 skids at 900 lbs, from detroit to talahasse al 757 miles for $1126.70 which is a great rate for a sprinter...but the load coming back was cheaper..so it boils down to about the same..