Correct. The revenue in a cargo van or Sprinter is simply not enough to split between an owner and a driver so that either one make any livable wage. With a van you are much better off owning your own and just doing it.
So, you're not going to heed my advice above and you're gonna do this anyway. OK. First, you don't need your own authority in a van, especially if you sign on with a carrier, because they already have their own authority. Second, unless you ALREADY KNOW where your freight is going to come from, you won't be bidding on your own loads at all. There aren't any loads out there to bid on for a cargo van, unless you ALREADY KNOW where to find them. There are no publicly accessible load boards for expedite cargo van freight.
If you're going to do this, you need to buy a van, and if it's a used one then have a mechanic go over it with a fine toothed comb and replace anything that's likely to fail within the first 6 months, then insulate it like crazy, outfit it for expediting, and sign on with a carrier and take everything they offer you for 6 months. At that point you'll begin to have an understanding as to how the industry works, which loads are good and which are bad, and where freight comes from.
Keep in mind that most people who enter expediting in a van or Sprinter are not in this business a year later. And it's because they are unprepared when they enter the business, either because they failed to secure a decent emergency fund before starting, or because they didn't understand the industry and it turned out to be very different from their expectations. For example, after all expenses including operating expenses and maintenance and repair, you're going to take home about $25,000 a year, and that's being out on the road for about 50 weeks a year (kiss your future ex-wife and soon-to-be single mom goodbye). The
Rule of Thirds always applies. You already have a 50/50 feedback from current customers. The insurance cancellation rate for vans should give you a good headsup about the failure rate.
The situation of having kids at home is not one to lightly dismiss. When you're gone even three weeks at a time, your wife begins making decisions, right now, on the spot, that you two currently make together, including important decisions about the kids. Your role as a decision maker will become quickly marginalized. You're gone for three weeks, and during that time your wife is, in every way that matters, a single mom. Then you come home for a weekend or a week and want to step into the role of decision maker, head of the household, and you ain't it anymore. She makes a decision without consulting you, you don't like that, friction ensues, she looks forward to you getting your next load, lather rinse repeat three weeks later. Might as well line up a divorce lawyer right now. "Oh, no, that won't happen to us!" Yes it will.
