starting to drive for fleet owner with cargo vans!

mikehollon · Nov 28, 2011

My girlfriend and I are thinking about joining a fleet owner to drive one of their cargo vans for Panther. Could anyone give me some pointers on what to expect? Like $ wise? Miles loaded? ect.

Mike99 · Nov 28, 2011

Team?How long you will stay out?What is the deal with the owner?Ho many % you ,how many he?Rate per mile 70 or 77 cents?

AMonger · Nov 28, 2011

First, there's a saying in regards to cargo vans: it's hard to feed three households with a cargo van. Gross revenue is limited, and the carrier, owner, and driver are all taking a piece of that pie. That's what I'm doing--driving for an owner, and and I sure ain't getting rich. In your case, you're bringing another hand--your gf's. And that's just the economic side; it's difficult for 2 people to coexist in a space that small, but especially with all the downtime involved in a van operation. And the upcoming 1st quarter of the year is notoriously slow.

This doesn't sound like a good idea to me.

--

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

Mike99 · Nov 28, 2011

AMonger said:
First, there's a saying in regards to cargo vans: it's hard to feed three households with a cargo van. Gross revenue is limited, and the carrier, owner, and driver are all taking a piece of that pie. That's what I'm doing--driving for an owner, and and I sure ain't getting rich. In your case, you're bringing another hand--your gf's. And that's just the economic side; it's difficult for 2 people to coexist in a space that small, but especially with all the downtime involved in a van operation. And the upcoming 1st quarter of the year is notoriously slow.

This doesn't sound like a good idea to me.

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Three households? I think it is two. In your opinion teams are not profitable?

jaminjim · Nov 28, 2011

Not all 'boyfriend - Girlfriend' teams live in the same household.

AMonger · Nov 29, 2011

jaminjim said:
Not all 'boyfriend - Girlfriend' teams live in the same household.

Yes, and even if they did, another individual is another individual with wants and needs. She needs some cash in her pocket just like he does. So call it splitting the pie 4 ways or only 3.5, but it's more than 3.

greg334 · Nov 29, 2011

I feel if you want to drive a van in this economy and with most of the carriers out there, you should own it outright, not drive for any owner. I think that carriers should not allow owners to own vans in the fleet.

Monty · Nov 29, 2011

greg334 said:
I feel if you want to drive a van in this economy and with most of the carriers out there, you should own it outright, not drive for any owner. I think that carriers should not allow owners to own vans in the fleet.[/QUOTE]

Amen brother ... there is plenty of money in van's .. if you own and drive it.

A team? if at all, it should be a single household pair, hubby and wife, etc ...

Trying to spread it around makes it hard.

OntarioVanMan · Nov 29, 2011

greg334 said:
I feel if you want to drive a van in this economy and with most of the carriers out there, you should own it outright, not drive for any owner. I think that carriers should not allow owners to own vans in the fleet.

I'll second that..CV/Sprinter fleet owners should disappear...

scottm4211 · Nov 29, 2011

OntarioVanMan said:
I'll second that..CV/Sprinter fleet owners should disappear...

I completely disagree. Right in our backyard are some good owners who have afforded drivers the opportunity to build towards ownership themselves.

Bruno · Nov 29, 2011

I would have to agree 100% with Greg and Jim on this. If you want to team drive a straight truck would be better. You will have more room, make more money over all and by happy. As a fleet owner we have never even thought of owning any vans. It's just not worth it to us unless I drove the van myself.

blizzard2014 · Nov 29, 2011

greg334 said:
I feel if you want to drive a van in this economy and with most of the carriers out there, you should own it outright, not drive for any owner. I think that carriers should not allow owners to own vans in the fleet.

With the way credit is right now if companies did not allow fleet owners to put on cargo vans, they would not get their loads covered. Fleet owners with (money) makeis possible for those who are less fortunate to be able to get into the business and make themselves some money. Don't bash fleet owners for providing opportunities.

blizzard2014 · Nov 29, 2011

scottm4211 said:
I completely disagree. Right in our backyard are some good owners who have afforded drivers the opportunity to build towards ownership themselves.

I ran the numbers between a bad month as an owner of a van and a bad month as an owner with a straight truck with 1300 dollar a month payment. On a bad month with a straight truck I would barely break even. On a bad month with a cargo van i'd still walk away with 500 bucks in my pocket...considering the van was paid for with cash and at a very low price. The straight trucks are good if you can get at least 10k miles a month out of them, but is that even possible on a consistant basis?

Plus as Scott stated "working for a good fleet owner in a cargo van or a sprinter" can allow a driver to work his way into ownership...Case in point I give you Xiggi. He has worked his way up to the top through bouts with good and bad companies. This has all been made possible by a really good fleet owner.

AMonger · Nov 29, 2011

greg334 said:
I think that carriers should not allow owners to own vans in the fleet.

What business is it of theirs?

chefdennis · Nov 29, 2011

Want constitutes a "Van" Fleet owner?? 2 units?? 5?? So I ran a CV for 4 yrs, its paid for. I bought a new Cargo Max..the Old CV is just going to sit in the yard...So, if I put a driver in it am I now a Fleet owner?? ea I think so, and I am pretty sure the guy driving it (and will own it within 6-9 months) is kinda happy that I was able to lease it at Load 1 as a "Fleet owner"....

tenntrucker · Nov 29, 2011

chefdennis said:
Want constitutes a "Van" Fleet owner?? 2 units?? 5?? So I ran a CV for 4 yrs, its paid for. I bought a new Cargo Max..the Old CV is just going to sit in the yard...So, if I put a driver in it am I now a Fleet owner?? ea I think so, and I am pretty sure the guy driving it (and will own it within 6-9 months) is kinda happy that I was able to lease it at Load 1 as a "Fleet owner"....

Yes your now "one of them"!

Sent from my DROID X2

Mike99 · Nov 29, 2011

Bruno said:
I would have to agree 100% with Greg and Jim on this. If you want to team drive a straight truck as you will have more room, make more money over all and by happy. As a fleet owner we have never even thought of owning any vans. It's just not worth it to us unless I drove the van myself.

Yes , if you want to deal with DOT and scales. And yes ,if you have a CDL. A lot of drivers do not want to deal with this ,and some of them do not have CDL. The only chance for them is to drive a van.