Pulling a really small camper

[highway star]

We point out the potential problems you could encounter and that makes us negative? You see a cargo van on it's 5th day of sitting and you think you'll work all or most of the time? You really should research the forums with an open mind.

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[CharlesD]

Sounds like a case of wanting to have your cake and eat it too, wanting to have all the niceties of a big comfortable sleeper without going the straight truck route and having to log. Like others said here, if you do that your most likely going to be over 10k and have to log anyway. If that's the case, you'd be better off with a straight and way more freight opportunities.

 

[Ragman]

There is always this option.

 

[EnglishLady]

What is it

whatever it is I would not want to sleep in the top bunk

 

[tenntrucker]

Sounds like an upcoming Fox news story about a major traffic crash.

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[rainbowwar24]

I have been reading a lot on here. I know there is no gauantee of work, I know that. I am sitting here right now in my house, with no job yet today. But if I am sitting, out on the road, for days at a time,why not be as comfortable as can be. I just want to do things a little different than 99.9 % of you. What is so wrong with that?? When I shut it down for the day, I will close my van door, hit the generator button, open up the camper and have a place that I can call home, away from home. I am very mechanically inclined, and will do whatever it takes to make it as easy as possible to do my job. I worked at the Sprinter Van plant here in Charleston. We used to get the Expediter Sprinters there. Really nice set up. But waaaaay too much money. But I see them out there everyday running down the road. Which made me think, now how can I do that, and not have to live in the van, but with a twist??? When I pull up to the gate at a site, I will say Hey buddy, I am here to make a delivery, here is my manifest/job sheet and my badge. He will say, what the heck you got on the back there?? I will say that is my sleeper!!! I cant afford one of them there high dollar Sprinter vans with all the bells and whistles!! LOL!! He will either let me in, or I will just un hook near by, go drop my load or load up and go back and hook up! Will I run into problems..I am sure I will. I will deal with that when the time comes. If it comes to be too much of a hassle, I will figure something else out. Have a great day!! P.S... I do not think I have to worry about delivering to a NUKE plant!!!! LMAO!! Thats a good one!! A truck can go in with a 53' trailer, but my little camper/trailer might BLOW UP!!!! LOL!! Call out the National Gaurd!! LOL!! Well, I gotta go. I finally got a job to go do at Boeing!!

 

[Freightdawg]

P.S... I do not think I have to worry about delivering to a NUKE plant!!!! LMAO!! Thats a good one!! A truck can go in with a 53' trailer, but my little camper/trailer might BLOW UP!!!! LOL!! Call out the National Gaurd!! LOL!! Well, I gotta go. I finally got a job to go do at Boeing!!

I have had 2 loads going to a nuke power plant in the last 2 weeks. It is really not that uncommon. I have had several in the last 12 years. Maybe I missed his point somewhere.

 

[xiggi]

Here is my 2 cents. Expediting has been going on for several decades, if pulling a trailer with a van was a viable option you would see people doing it already, there is a reason they are not.

Some other thoughts as to how your idea will affect things important in expediting success.

Being on time is very important, towing, finding a place to unhook, getting things secured to move, and rehook is going to make you late at times. This will be an unavoidable fact. Late a few times you start getting less offers.

Fuel costs are very important to success, cube vans are some of the worst fuel users to start with, add a trailer it will be even worse.

Complaints to your carrier count against you and will in the long run hurt you. You will get complaints from shippers, receivers called into your company because of your setup. It might not be often but when you get more than your fellow drivers it will be noticed.

Insurance costs will be higher, maintenance costs will be higher, fuel costs will be higher.

On another note, they say a buck a mile all miles. You do know that most likely means loaded miles? I have to seriously doubt those figures. I would do my best to try to find some drivers working for that company and talk to them about rates. They might have a few customers in their home area they get those rates for but when away from there when having to use bid boards and compete against all the other vans out here I have a feeling you will be hearing excuses why they cannot get you a buck a mile.

 

[jerry-jones]

Buy a r-v and pull a empty trailer and put the freight inside the empty trailer or you can pull the van with the r-vyou will be better off lol

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[highway star]

I do not think I have to worry about delivering to a NUKE plant!!!! LMAO!! Thats a good one!! A truck can go in with a 53' trailer, but my little camper/trailer might BLOW UP!!!! LOL!! Call out the National Gaurd!! LOL!! Well, I gotta go. I finally got a job to go do at Boeing!!

I was a little puzzled by this odd response as well, but it just illustrates how much he still needs to learn about expediting. I've been to several nuke plants and they're just one example of the places we go to that have lots of rules concerning the trucks that come to their facilities. Military bases is another good example. I once moved a military item that didn't involve me going to a base, it was from one supplier to another. Among the rules, they required a "clean" box, which meant they had a list of things that couldn't be in there along with their freight. The example given to me was a motorcycle or scooter, as we have a couple of drivers that have these.

You can LOL and LMAO at us all you want, I get it. You have this idea and you just want to hear how great and creative it is. Instead, you're hearing about how it isn't as practical as you think from folks that have done this job for a while, in my case for over 12 years, 8 of those in a cargo van, and it frustrates you. Your reaction does bring up a question, how old are you?

 

[BigBusBob]

Rainbow.... You're aggressive in your thoughts, ambitious to a point. That's ok in some cases. You've been "expediting" along the coastal area's of the South Eastern U.S. for a couple years. You've gotten away with pulling in and out of gated facilities of all kinds with basically very little credentials- a load manifest does not grant you access to as many points as you might think.

I've been on the road doing all various kinds of freight work... 18 wheelers, expedited freight, refrigerated work, and of course as the name implies- Tour bus work.
I've been driving commercially for nearly 15 years. I too have driven throughout North America, like many of the people, who regularly frequent this great and informative website and Open Forum. What people suggest on here should be taken to heart.

What you are attempting or thinking about doing is driving many more miles I think.
Your mileage will more than likely be affected, I'm not saying it will or it won't- simply saying it would not surprise me if it was affected. Pulling a small trailer that has living amenities within it, behind a freight hauling vehicle??? Think about it. Seriously.

Whether you drive outside of the South Eastern US with this set- up or not is besides the point... The notion of taking a van hauling HazMat or 2 heavy pallets of who knows what on them and then hooking up a small trailer behind it and hustling thru the night to get to a pick-up point 500 or 600 miles away is not really sounding like a great equation to me- but that's just me.

Let's just for giggles and farts put an example out there... You got your van and trailer, you're up in Atlanta with a load drop. You get a call to pick up in Ktown and run it to Cleveland. it's raining, and 45 degrees out at 4 Pm. There's a front coming across with rain/sleet mix and bringing temps that are in the 20's behind the system. Let's just say hypothetically that you make it fine to Cleveland. Then you get a call to run to Detroit... now this is more than likely not going to happen- but it could. it might not be Detroit- it might be an hour outside of Detroit. Now that system is in full force and you got winds blowing off the Great Lakes... Lovely! Roads are icing up and you're watching that trailer wiggle in your mirrors- you can't refuse the load... you could- but it's a load paying well and you're promised a load south out of Detroit.... But how far south? Maybe 200 miles? then they might send you further west... or straight east to "ride along" with that lovely system you experienced below the lakes. How's that trailer doing now?

My point is... there's a reason guys don't pull trailers.
You said you're mechanically savvy... go get a stripped Sprinter that has a long wheel base and one that is tall. Hunt down one that perhaps needs some work- tires? maybe some mechanical stuff, paint? maybe it's got some cracked glass? snatch one up at rock bottom price and fix it up on the side- install your own custom sleeper (with a shower!!) and what ever other bell and whistle your heart desires. You could continue to work in the South East while you fix your Sprinter up- be home regularly while you're making you're re-invented wheel. When you've got it all complete and ready to go then roll with it. Sell your van and have some start-up money for fuel and an on the road repair fund and/or Emergency fund.

Or... go get your trailer, roll it in the mountains or jack knife it on ice and then ask yourself again why Expediters and Truckers don't pull RV's behind them?

I've occasionally drive a 45 foot private coach pulling a 10 or 15 foot cargo trailer... but... I've got a Jake Brake, electric trailer brakes, and plenty of weight and horsepower to be able to control the trailer... plus the wide track of the bus to help stabilize every thing.

A van, loaded with freight... pulling a narrow (And Light) trailer behind it....
no jake brake, no wide track vehicle pulling it, no dual wheels.

You're running with out a log book I'm guessing, you're rolling along and by shear luck you get stopped by CVE... Commercial Vehicle Enforcement... For? Speeding? improper lane change? They check you out and find you're hauling freight- You're up the creek. Simple as that. They're going to have a field day with you. Then your carrier is going to as well when you report it. Don't report it you say? Not a good idea, because their safety and compliance department does regular checks on their drivers whether you know it or not. They will find out about that stop and the citation... Even if you do Not tell them.

I say go with the Sprinter suggestion I offered up above.

We're not trying to make fun of you- we're actually trying to protect you.

That's my 2 cents.

BBB

 

[chefdennis]

BBB, EXCELLENT POST!!! But something tells me you are "whistling dixie.....

 

[Brisco]

You can LOL and LMAO at us all you want, I get it. You have this idea and you just want to hear how great and creative it is. Instead, you're hearing about how it isn't as practical as you think from folks that have done this job for a while, in my case for over 12 years, 8 of those in a cargo van, and it frustrates you. Your reaction does bring up a question, how old are you?

I'd say he's about 49-51 years old.

He likes camping, campfires, Nascar, the outdoors, probably owns a Jeep, a Geo Metro, and a Grand Am, is into Scions, likes to Laugh and is also into ELVIS!!!

The internet is an amazing place, isn't it there Mr H??

 

[geo]

i will put in my 2 cents
del'd down town richmond va to one of state bldg found address , but loading dock
was kind of hard toget to in sprinter van
down alley if pulling a trail wouldn't have made the turn
then had to go around the block and park across the street and use their cart to bring items into loading dock and boxes had to be xray
than off to 2nd stop and just room for a sprinter van and no room for trailer in loading zone and in both places no room trailer, or 6 wheeler

 

[Turtle]

Buy a r-v and pull a empty trailer and put the freight inside the empty trailer or you can pull the van with the r-vyou will be better off lol

Yeah, I was going to mention that. You get a van RV conversion and drive and live in that, and then pull a trailer to haul the freight. No need to hook and unhook, just back the trailer up to the bottom of the ramp, easy peasy. But even though this is infinitely better than pulling a camping trailer, it's not a viable option, either.

 

[geo]

ceva won't let ya pull a trailer in van as that would be unsercured freight

 

[Moot]

Con-Way Now tried the van/trailer combo when they first started up in August of 1996. When I got on with them in January of 1997 the few trailers that hadn't been wrecked were for sale. I think drivers got lazy and loaded the trailer only. 3000 plus pounds behind an empty trailer with a little snow and ice is a recipe for disaster.

 

[Ann_Tagonist]

This is what I am thinking of doing. I am gonna buy a van with a 10 ft box on it. The U-Haul type, with single tires in the back. I can haul decent amount of weight, and then use the truck for whatever I need to when I am at home. Another thing I was thinking about doing was, I am going to get a "Toad" camper and pull it behind it. They only weigh 1,600 lbs or less and are 16 ft or less.. I will get mine unfinished, so it will be really light. Then when I am done for the night, or sitting at a truck stop for a few days, I will have a nice place to stay, shower, crapper, ac/heat, etc. You can even "camp out" at Wal Marts now! What are your thoughts on my idea?? I figure just the money I save on showers, will help cover cost of gas. It only takes a few mins to unhitch the camper, get loaded, and attach it again. Your thoughts???

use to see a panther guy ariound once in a while who pulled a pop up behind his van. haven't seen him in a long time though.

 

[Steady Eddie]

Look folks....99.9% of us are wrong. The 00.1% has the right idea by pulling a trailer. You will not be able to make the 99.9% of us to prove the 00.1 % is headed for a train wreak. The OP had his mind already made up....let him live and learn, as long as he doesn't die and forget it all.,.,

 

[gatorfan068]

So true Steady Eddie....As I read he has his mind made up. He will live and learn. Nuke plants,military bases,and some plants are subject to search all vehicles.I'd love to see driver roll up in Brooklyn,Queens,Chicago,Newark,or some little podunk town,crawl back in his cozy little camper,til morning when he delivers his load. My advice there...sleep with one eye open. Lying to your carrier is a no no,posting it is stupid. You have no idea who reads these posts.......