Well, it's not like I'm just making this stuff up. I've spent the better part of 6 years researching this on a regular basis. I've pestered 4 different departments at my carrier, even to the point where one girl sends me a quarterly e-mail with some percentages that involve the numbers I'm talking about. I talk to both recruiters and drivers from other carriers enough to get a good idea of what's going on elsewhere. I've looked at load boards and noted what kind and how many loads are being shipped. The one big mistake I do not want to make is to weight too heavily what I see with my own eyes and what goes on my own truck, nor do I want to fall into the many hundreds or thousands of illusory corollaries or jumping to conclusions based on massive amounts of missing information, that permeate drivers out here.
For example, some 3 skid Sprinter get a 3 skid load ahead of a 2 skid van, and concludes they got loaded because they can haul three skids and the 2 skid van sits and rots instead. Not all that long ago I was parked next to a 3 skid Sprinter and the driver told me several times just big of an idiot I was for having a permanent bunk and only hauling 3 skids. He was 2 spots below me on the board. Low and behold, almost on cue, he got a three skid load, 2100 pounds, going from Chicago to Davenport, IA. He gloated all the way out of the parking lot, for sure, and probably all the way to the delivery. He may never know that just a few minutes later I got a one skid, 200 pound load from Chicago to Waco, TX, and mine paid 10 cents more than his FSC. So my load paid more and was for more miles. He concluded that the ability to haul three skids got him more loads, and I concluded... not necessarily as often as he thinks.
I haven't really given any advice here, other than don't bet that the ability to haul more skids will translate into a significant difference than those who can haul two. It might, but significant numbers are the exception to the rule. First I'm told that
"anyone can easily average a three skid load a week," but when those numbers are looked at a little closer they don't really pan out. Then it got reduced to at least a semi-doable number of
"one or two extra 12 or 1500 mile loads a month," but that's a wish more than a reality, since that would mean somewhere between 14,400 and 18,000 miles a year, with as many as 36,000 additional miles per year just by having the ability to haul an extra skid. Even on the low end that's serious money, more than enough to have me rip out my permanent bunk and completely redo my van. But I've never seen any numbers that support such a claim.
I still stand by my original statement that bigger is better, but it's not THAT much better, certainly not as much as many people want to believe.
As for giving advice to someone buying a Sprinter, if they are just entering this business my advice is generally to enter the business in a used vehicle, anything not a Sprinter, and learn the business and what you want and don't want out of a new van. The learning curve in this business is steep enough without hanging a new Sprinter off the end of the curve. Experience expediters buying a new Sprinter should already have a good idea of what they want and how to lay it out in a manner that best suits them.
But a newbie entering the business with a Sprinter? My advice is, and has been for a long time: no matter what, make sure you have at least 108 inches for freight so that you can haul two automotive skids, and no matter what, make sure you can sleep while loaded. If you want to utilize space for a third skid and a fold-up bunk, make sure you refuse any three skid loads where you won't have a place to sleep if needed while loaded.
If the last 5 years have taught us anything, it's that there are certain tried and true reasons that many people fail in this business. If you have two identical Sprinters, one outfitted with a permanent bunk and can haul 2 skids, and the other outfitted with 3 skids and a fold up bunk, which newbie driver do you think will have a harder time, get more frustrated, and maybe end up getting out of the business within 6 months or a year? The one who gets dejected because he can only haul 2 skids, or the one who is sick and tired of not being able to sleep while loaded? After talking to the very people who do exit interviews with O/Os who leave, I know the answer to that one.
I still see no reason to spend the money on a sprinter and only buy the 144 when for not much more you can get a longer one. Even if the extra space was used for nothing but personal space.
I don't want to beat up on the guy because he's probably all excited about getting his new Sprinter, but getting a 144 for expediting is an exceedingly bad and shortsighted decision. This is also a case where he's likely to not be able to sleep while loaded, and will end up either trading vehicles or getting out of the business altogether. It's not like making the mistake of not insulting the van, as you can always add that later. But you can't add more length to the van. The price difference between the 144 and the longest one will pay for itself in comfort the first month, and directly in hard cash within a year.
I've known three people with short Sprinters. Two are out of the business completely, and the third is still in hers after three years now, but she hates it and is planning on trading it for a new one this Spring.
And, considering this is yet another good loooong post that said pretty much nothing, I'm done.
