starting to drive for fleet owner with cargo vans!

MCGohio1985 · Nov 30, 2011

i dont know about that i have talked to alot of drivers that are looke in to one outfit like panther load1 express 1 and others and i am making the same if not more per mile and avg 700 to 1000 more miles a week solo but the only down fall is i dont get money up ftont so when im out of gas money i go home but also that way i dont have com data fees and lone fees or qualcom or outher fees that go with bigname outfits what i make of one of my vans pays for the van payments and ins on all 3 and i pay my driver a little more then what other fleet owners and give bonus money for a job well done if thay have a prob with the van i take care of it asap so it not a prob i take care of my drivers and thay take care of me we are a team

highway star · Dec 1, 2011

LOL...

Wow... Just... WOW!!

The Enemy · Dec 1, 2011

MCGohio1985 said:
i dont know about that i have talked to alot of drivers that are looke in to one outfit like panther load1 express 1 and others and i am making the same if not more per mile and avg 700 to 1000 more miles a week solo but the only down fall is i dont get money up ftont so when im out of gas money i go home but also that way i dont have com data fees and lone fees or qualcom or outher fees that go with bigname outfits what i make of one of my vans pays for the van payments and ins on all 3 and i pay my driver a little more then what other fleet owners and give bonus money for a job well done if thay have a prob with the van i take care of it asap so it not a prob i take care of my drivers and thay take care of me we are a team

My question to you Sir is this........If you make so much more money as an Independent Operator, then why do you have to go home when fuel money runs out?

blizzard2014 · Dec 1, 2011

davekc said:
Bingo.
The revenue from a van isn't remotely close to that of a team straight or a tractor regardless of who the carrier is.

True, but the cost to purchase, operate, and maintain a bigger truck is very high. I have run the numbers and I'd have to have husband and wife team in a straight truck and at least 10k miles a month to make any substantial revenue. A bad month in a bigger truck means breaking even or even worse losing money. If a cargo van only pulls 3,000 miles a month, I can still bring in 400-500 dollars at 30 cents a mile after driver pay.

You seem to have figured out how to make the bigger trucks work for you. I am not doubting that you make money, but it is not as easy as you and bruno make it out to be. Even with the vans it's not as easy, but it is a lot easier to make something. I am still gonna run some bigger trucks in the future and I have not rulled out owning a fleet of vans. I know one guy in Redkey Indiana that has 20 cargo vans and grosses 2 million a year off of them. I would say he is doing pretty well for a lowly cargo van fleet owner!

chefdennis · Dec 1, 2011

Highway Star wrote:

LOL...

Wow... Just... WOW!!

LOL, yea Iunderstand, it took a while, but i got through it as it looks like Enemy did also ..

Originally Posted by MCGohio1985

i dont know about that i have talked to alot of drivers that are looke in to one outfit like panther load1 express 1 and others and i am making the same if not more per mile and avg 700 to 1000 more miles a week solo but the only down fall is i dont get money up ftont so when im out of gas money i go home but also that way i dont have com data fees and lone fees or qualcom or outher fees that go with bigname outfits what i make of one of my vans pays for the van payments and ins on all 3 and i pay my driver a little more then what other fleet owners and give bonus money for a job well done if thay have a prob with the van i take care of it asap so it not a prob i take care of my drivers and thay take care of me we are a team

The Enemy wrote:

My question to you Sir is this........If you make so much more money as an Independent Operator, then why do you have to go home when fuel money runs out?

Ahhh...Poor money management / business skills maybe!?!?..

OntarioVanMan · Dec 1, 2011

scottm4211 said:
OVM just drew a line in the sand.

See what happens when ya draw a line?....everyone wants to blur that line....LOL...

mikehollon · Dec 1, 2011

Thank You guy and Gals for all of the reply's good and bad. My self and girlfriend do live together. We are wanting to try this out to see if we like it or not. As a van driver for a fleet owner it would be easier to walk away rather than be in debt for a truck or van. As I see the slow times coming I feel this would be the best time to come in. I myself like to see the bad before the good before I get spoiled. I have got a so so offer from the fleet owner, at 42% of the rev from the loads. We do have a few other things to discuss but it was a fast turn around on getting us on with the fleet. OH! forgot we have worked side by side every day in a ford ranger for the last 2 years and we have yet got to where we want to kill each other. From my understanding the 42% is with the fleet owner furnishing all expenses with the fuel and van. I would really like your thoughts on the 42% I have heard they was doing 40% and 60% with the owner getting 60% and driver getting 40% so 2% is 2%.

chefdennis · Dec 1, 2011

The percentage is good....as long as the deal is he payes for everything and you get that rate strictly to driver...now it all depends on the carrier from there.....You need good miles and a good rate and you should be ok...as long as you can both live on the money generated...

mikehollon · Dec 1, 2011

The carrier is Panther and I hope they are good miles. They have stated that we should get good miles as a team in a cargo because of no logging and 1/2 the DOT rules.

chefdennis · Dec 2, 2011

Is the owner already a OLD establshed owner with Panther? Or will the van be new with them? Have you went out to any Truck stops in your area and spoken to any CV drivers that are with Panther now???

I may be off base, but if i rember right, new hires are getting 70% plus Fuel Surcharge...as a driver with the owner paying all the bills including the fuel (gas) bill you will be getting 42% of JUST what the load pays, NOT including the FSC.....Something to think about.....

mikehollon · Dec 2, 2011

They are established with panther. They have been there for several years. If I am not mistaken they have 10 vans total 8 with Panther and 2 with another company. In order for them to get $.77 per mile they would have to be established correct. I do not pay any fuel cost or maint. so I would not expect to get any of the fuel surcharge at all. I have heard of some people getting $.90 and $.95 per mile. I do not know if they are with Panther or not.

I had met a driver that drove a straight truck for another fleet owner and this is how I got involved with this fleet owner. Due to no expediting experience and no CDL at this time. I was wanting to see if I like it or not before I invest all the time and $. getting a CDL.

jaminjim · Dec 2, 2011

Hopefully you will read back several pages (one year would be better, two years would be best) of posts relating to cargo vans. Please pay attention to posts that involve newbies signing on with Fleet Owners. DaveKC, Ateam and Gregg334 all have good posts concerning this topic. Go in with your eyes wide open, good luck.

Moot · Dec 2, 2011

I believe Panther requires a CDL for a van. You should check directly with Panther on this.

BigCat · Dec 2, 2011

No cdl for van moot.

OntarioVanMan · Dec 2, 2011

mikehollon said:
They are established with panther. They have been there for several years. If I am not mistaken they have 10 vans total 8 with Panther and 2 with another company. In order for them to get $.77 per mile they would have to be established correct. I do not pay any fuel cost or maint. so I would not expect to get any of the fuel surcharge at all. I have heard of some people getting $.90 and $.95 per mile. I do not know if they are with Panther or not.

I had met a driver that drove a straight truck for another fleet owner and this is how I got involved with this fleet owner. Due to no expediting experience and no CDL at this time. I was wanting to see if I like it or not before I invest all the time and $. getting a CDL.

Good luck...and welcome to the world of expediting...

mikehollon · Dec 2, 2011

Panther has just changed their rules a couple of months ago, you do not need to have a cdl. But you do need to go through their orientation. we will be heading out for orientation and picking up our van to carry with us. I hope it all works out. The owner is paying for everything except a fee that Panther charges for WC.
Thank you to everyone that has responded to our post and for all of the info.

Slacktide · Dec 3, 2011

blizzard said:
Shippers ain't gonna pay a team truck 2.20 a mile plus broker fees to do what a cargo van can get done for a dollar a mile to the carrier and another 30-50 cents tacked on for the broker fee. It ain't gonna happen unless the load needs a bigger truck. Plus there aren't many team Tractors sitting around waiting for those long team runs. It's a cargo van mans life baby!

I can run 2100 miles in 47 hours and that is with two 4 hour sleep breaks in there, 4 fuel stops, and a couple of bathroom breaks. I can also run higher speeds and I do not have to worry about getting detained for an inspection at a scale-house which can make or break an on time delivery schedule (trust me it happened a lot when I was a big truck sriver). I was only 30 miles from my next stop on a just in time delivery for sears when I was pulled into a scale house and given a level 3 inspection. Then I got written up by my company for being late when it was beyond my control! The cargo van wins every time.

I hate to be the one to burst your buble but your logic is flawed. Just this week alone Our truck would have beaten any solo van driver hands down. Nevada to Cali to Washington to Utah to Delaware starting monday morning @ 10 finished by 1045 friday morning for a total of 4010. In that there was 22hrs off 3 in WA waiting to p/u, 11hrs in UT waiting for p/u and 9 in PA sleeping and still delivered in DE 5hrs early. The 22 hrs off doesn't count fuel stops and driver changes. As a team Turtle had it right.

Your thoughts on pay are also off, UT to DE all miles paid over $2.00.

Personally I think it is a silly exercise comparing team vs solo no matter what is being driven.

UncleTed · Dec 3, 2011

This is really a no brainer. Assuming you can trust the van owner to pay you as a driver in his or her van, and you can make it on 200 to 400 dollars per week ( your end ) Go for it. Just understand you will need to be available 24/7, accept loads that go where nothing comes back from, and you will be sleeping ( and likely eating) in that same van, if you are running as a team, with another human being. If that is satisfactory, well, you're a better man than I am. It has been discussed here many times before. If you can't afford to buy your own van, even a cheap one, You should seriously consider another career path.

Moot · Dec 3, 2011

AMonger said:
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: driving longer distances and covering more ground in the same amount of time is the reason for the existence of the expediter van. It's our unique selling proposition.

No, our unique selling point really isn't unique at all. It's basic economics; why pay for a truck to haul 2 or 3 skids under 3000 pounds?

AMonger · Dec 4, 2011

Moot said:
No, our unique selling point really isn't unique at all. It's basic economics; why pay for a truck to haul 2 or 3 skids under 3000 pounds?

That's the economic end, sure. But when time is the issue, we're the only interstate commercial vehicles that can run without HOS issues. That's unique, our USP. Throw in the various and sundry truck delays that even teams have to deal with, and that gives the transit time advantage to vans.

When I was with a regional courier outfit, we'd get calls all the time for pieces coming into the airport needing to go a couple hundred miles. "Don't spare the horses, and we don't care what it costs." Shutdown prevention stuff, like we do a lot of. Speed over cost. Then for the times cost trumps speed, it's good to be able to undercut the trucks, too.

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You know the problem with bad cops? They make the other 5% look bad.