The Costs and Benefits of Large Sleepers

[pelicn]

We drive one of those "apartment on wheels". I can honestly say... I LOVE IT! :7 We appreciate that our owner has great equipment and we try very hard to keep it that way. Would we buy a unit like this? Probably not. If we ever buy a truck, it will probably have a custom sleeper on it, but not one as large as this. What's nice about driving for an owner is that we've been able to test different configurations of trucks and sleepers to determine what works best for us. We have a joke that if we could take this off of this truck and that off of that truck, we'd have the perfect truck :+

 

[Tennesseahawk]

My nephew and his girlfriend are driving a Hino with 96" apartment. Talk about putting pearls on a pig!!! Anyways, with no needs to go home often, it works out just fine. They have a 22' box and 11,000# capacity, which is par for the course. However, when you get into the Manhattan apartment on wheels, you signifigantly lower your freight potential. And in a crumbling economy, coupled with a high truck payment, that's a recipe for disaster.

As far as having a potty, and a built in stove, and this luxury and that luxury, and calling it convenience, call it whatever... I call it pampered and lazy. "We spent $xxxx on a full functioning crapper!" Glad to hear it! I saved $xxxx because I choose to walk a couple hundred yards to take a dump.

Let me know when you get one of those Star Trek transporters in your box! I would love one of those! :7

-True independence can only be gained if you're trully independant.

 

[greg334]

T-Hawk,
I don't know if you ever lived in Manhattan but the apartments there are not as big as the sleeper they have, to put it on equal footing, think on terms of a 72" sleeper being the Manhattan size with the 96" a Georgetown size and the 110" plus being a house in the Hampton's.

As far as home conveniences, like dumpers and stoves, well you would be amazed at the room you have with a 72" sleeper and what you can fit into them. I got to finish mine off but I have a sink and a (portable) dumper with a large fridge going into it. I have some room for the stove, but I can't fit it in there without losing fridge space, so I went to a multitasking microwave (stainless steel finish at that) instead. Did I lose anything in the process? No, not really other than the little shelf where the TV was but who cares.

If I get to buy another truck Like I planned on in the future, I will really live it up and have that stove. :7

 

[arrbsthw]

What is the matter with you people? Are you so jealous of someone
who has a large sleeper that it makes you so negative?

Well let me tell you about my truck.. I have a 610 Volvo and it has a
microwave, under the counter coffee pot, refrigerator, tv, roaming
satellite, George forman grill, what you can call a pottie and and
a septic tank built under our box. The sleeper is supposed to be
61" but we measured it and it's not that wide.
We sleep on a 35" bed ( yes 2 of us at times). When I cook in the
truck I have food strewed all over the bed. While it is better
than truck stop food, it is most aggravating to have to cook this way.
I'm talking more than sandwiches by the way. I use an electric
pot to heat water in so I can clean up after and make soup etc.
I also have a rice cooker.

But comfort, no we don't have COMFORT.. I get so tired of cooking
on the bed and being cramped while sleeping.. Getting dressed is a chore.
You take everything off the bed to sleep, put it back on bed to drive. So my next truck will be a SUPER SLEEPER (as long as FedEx doesn't go
out of business before next year) Our sleeper will be 130" long and
will have a SINK, DOUBLE BURNER STOVE, SHOWER, TOILET... because I am
sick, sick, sick of being cooped up in such a small truck. Yes in my
eyes it will be necessary to my save my sanity. Yes, it will be
worth every penny that my husband and I pay for it.

So when I have to cook, I won't do it on the bed. I will have a
refrigerator thats large enough to actually hold more than a 1/2
gallon of milk and sandwich fixings. That will mean better health for us. No more McDonalds for us..

Next will the shower. I won't have to pack my clothes to go into the
truck stop to wait in line to crawl in a crappy shower and get foot
fungus anymore..(yes, I have shower shoes, that was for effect)
If I have to use the restroom, I won't have to hunt one anymore and
pray I don't get a disease from the nastiness in some places.

The bed will be nice also. 48" compared to 35".. lots of extra room
so I will get better sleep instead of waking up feeling like I just
got ran over by a truck.

I will have a closet to store all the coats that we swap from bed to
seat now and be able to stand up and put my clothes on, fix my hair etc without waiting on my husband to get thru dressing, or him waiting
on me to get thru where he can stand up.

So start calling me stupid if you want to.. my house, my 4x4 2001 Crewcab pu, my 2001 27' travel trailer, 4 flatbed trailers, stump grinder, my 99 Volvo 610 (that I bought new and has been paid for since 2003)is all paid for. Yes I have to pay utility bills at home but I make a very good living working at FedEx (oh, all of this was paid for before I went to work at FedEx) so yeah, as soon as I get my Big Ole downpayment I plan to buy me a SUPER SLEEPER so I can work
longer without being out of service and make even more money.

Oh, I have been in trucking since 1988 and I know what it takes to
survive. We have had our own Authority and insurance and had drivers. I have been driving since 1998..started pulling flatbeds around
Atlanta Ga. FedEx is the only person we have ever been leased to.

So bash all you want, I can take it like a MAN!

 

[Tennesseahawk]

No bashin here. You want what you want. If you can get it, fine.

The point I'm trying to make is that most have not had to find their own loads. Even with your own authority, I'm guessing you haven't had to find a load for your straight truck. When one comes across that top dollar run, and goes "GEEZ! If I only had two more feet of space in my box!" THAT'S what I'm talking about. But it's hard to understand when you're dispatched. The dispatchers don't call you and tell you "You would've had a great run if you had room for two more skids". You don't hear the bad news. And I'm guessing you wouldn't want to anyways, with having a nice payment for a nice sleeper. It would just get you down.

I might be old school. Trading comfort for opportunity, to me, is like trading freedom for security. I'm not saying don't be comfortable. But when ppl are talking about having nearly as much living space as they have room for cargo, then one has to wonder where their priorities are. That's ok. I've had times where I've had what it took to get the job done, and passed over those who didn't.

Henry Ford wrote: "There is one rule for industrialists and that is: (1)make the best quality of goods possible at the (2)lowest cost possible, (3)paying the highest wages possible."

If one substitutes "industrialist" for "expediter", and "making the best quality of goods possible" for "provide the best service possible", one could conclude the following: The space sacrificed for a super sleeper negates the first. The cost of a super sleeper negates the second. And both will end up negating the third (profit).

-True independence can only be gained if you're trully independant.

 

[ATeam]

arrbsthw,

You have a paid-for stump grinder? YOU ARE THE ONE!!!!!

 

[are12]

Is it jealousy or better business sense, for some, not to invest in the big sleepers? For us, it is better business sense.

T Hawk makes perfect sense in saying that you do not know what or how many loads you are loosing because you have a smaller box. Which is true.

For us, when we bought our truck new, we went with a 96" sleeper with the driver lounge(from a 72). We can do all that the A Team does in their truck but shower. I, personally, am not impressed with the showers in the trucks or even in some of the fancy campers. Maybe it is just me but there is something about taking a shower over the toilet that just doesn't sit well with me.

We have plenty of counter space to cook on, closet and cabinet space for our clothes, printer/fax, food and anything else I feel the need to bring with me. We do most of our own cooking in the truck. We have a flat screen TV and satellite, we carry a crook pot, coffee pot, a conventional oven/toaster oven (which works great - even has a rotisserie) plus we carry a little charcoal grill for those days when we want steak.

We very rarely stay at a motel, unless the truck needs to be put in a secure hold or we have a Monday pickup and have the weekend free but then it will depend on where we are and what is going on for the week end. I find our truck very comfortable and do not feel the need to be renting motel rooms. Even when we had the 72" sleeper, we rarely stayed in motels. Plus, when we feel the truck is getting to cramped for us, that is usually a sign that we need to go home for a couple of days.

We do not begrudge anyone that has the big sleeper - we enjoy looking at them and commenting on how nice some of them are but they are not for us. I will spend anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks on the road but then I like going "home" to see my dogs and family. My truck is part of my business and job, it is not home so I would rather invest some of my money into where I live, instead of where I work.