The orange box trucks.
- Thread starter jayjay
- Start date
Tennesseahawk
Veteran Expediter
Vanning. The job liked by Marquis de Sade, more than any other.
The thing that bothers me about these things is that they seem to have low weight limits. A box truck with a less-than-10,000 GVWR has almost no payload capacity, drinks fuel-- usually gasoline-- at an alarming rate and because it is what it is, will attract the attention of the DOT cops sooner rather than later. Seems to me that it's the worst of vanning and straight trucks for our business.
For moving my furniture from one apartment to another they may be hard to beat but for making a go at this business it looks like sure bankruptcy.
For moving my furniture from one apartment to another they may be hard to beat but for making a go at this business it looks like sure bankruptcy.
When with FedEx Custom Critical, Diane and I once did a cross-dock load with one of those vans. The van itself had been hired by FedEx to bring the freight from a southern state to us in a northern state. We took it from there to bring it into Canada. The cross docking happened at a FedEx Freight facility.
The driver spoke little English and had no freight handling equipment whatsoever. We used ours to move his stuff off the truck and into ours. His "sleeper" consisted of a sleeping bag crumpled up in the front corner of the cargo box.
The driver spoke little English and had no freight handling equipment whatsoever. We used ours to move his stuff off the truck and into ours. His "sleeper" consisted of a sleeping bag crumpled up in the front corner of the cargo box.
That well may come to pass but keep in mind that these trucks are not registered as commecial vehicles. Most have no DOT numbers on them. A cop writing the wreck may not even know or care that the truck is being used for commercial purposes. The don't look much different than some private guy coming or going from the storage facility. With fully registered commercial vehicle, a wreck will be written as such. It may not happen that way in all cases with these yellow trucks.
westmicher
Veteran Expediter
I can tell you for a fact that they do NOT hold their GVWR to under 10,000 lbs. Practically all of the are really rated 12,300 lbs. by Chevy, even though every one of them have "under 10,000 GVW" cheap vinyl stick on letters/numbers on the door. And even though they weigh close to 8,000 lbs empty, they advertise 5,000 lb. capacity or more on the load boards. I have matched up the locations and truck numbers many times on the load boards while parked next to them.
They have PLENTY of load capacity!!!
I stand by my original statement. At 12,300 they have capacity. At under 10,000 the capacity is near zip. Problem is, once you go over that magic 10K they lose the under 10K advantages and start having to follow all the DOT regs that they're undoubtedly skipping now.
So, you have a heavy box truck with a driver who is pushing too many hours---- need we say more?
westmicher
Veteran Expediter
You could add they the don't speak English or understand American road signs but then you would have to include OVM too!!!
zorry
Veteran Expediter
I agree with your point Phil.
As many of them as people say they see they can't go unnoticed forever.
In a wreck someone has to take ownership of the 4000 lbs of pistons in the back.
The commercial activity can't be hidden. It may not be recorded the same way. If another commercial vehicle is involved the fmcsa or Tx DOT should notice. Grossly overweight,operating a 12,000 lb vehicle without logs may wake a few people up to whats going on.
They'll start watching. It'll be noticed in Ark or OK.
Slowly activity will start. Then, if that cube is overweight,better watch those $printers.
The CV may skate as they blend in so well.
Question. If they pop a $printer at 10,750 lbs is it 750 lbs over or is it operating without logs,identification,etc ?
As many of them as people say they see they can't go unnoticed forever.
In a wreck someone has to take ownership of the 4000 lbs of pistons in the back.
The commercial activity can't be hidden. It may not be recorded the same way. If another commercial vehicle is involved the fmcsa or Tx DOT should notice. Grossly overweight,operating a 12,000 lb vehicle without logs may wake a few people up to whats going on.
They'll start watching. It'll be noticed in Ark or OK.
Slowly activity will start. Then, if that cube is overweight,better watch those $printers.
The CV may skate as they blend in so well.
Question. If they pop a $printer at 10,750 lbs is it 750 lbs over or is it operating without logs,identification,etc ?
jayjay
Rookie Expediter
I wouldn't be surprised if dot already knows that this goes on. They might be getting paid off to turn a blind eye towards them.
westmicher
Veteran Expediter
If the driver has a CDL, its no logs, red tag, & bad FMCSA points on the carrier. If the driver doesn't have a CDL, the officer may shoot you & roll you into a ditch. :beer:
zorry
Veteran Expediter
Many of the drivers are Russians, at least they were when I was in Laredo....
I doubt that. DOT is very large. There are not enough of those trucks out there to earn the kind of money that would make a DOT-wide payoff feasable. Every once in a while, a news story surfaces about a DOT official, usually a low or mid-level official, who took bribes to look the other way, issue CDL's to people who should not have them, etc. But given the number of DOT officials that are out there, and the rarity of the stories, even in the rumor mill, I believe the DOT stands as an organization in which bribery is not a problem.
Complaints about over-zealous or incompetent inspectors are more common, but even these are few in number given the number of interactions that happen between truckers and the DOT.
It would just be the overweight. It's still an unregulated vehicle, just an overloaded unregulated vehicle.
Most of the guys I've met were very clean and shaven....spoke broken English...I am thinking they are new to this side of the world and they are living in luxury in that van compared to back home!....They have good American dollars in their pockets and all is well for them....They MUST work to keep their LPR status...and some of these fleet owners are probably taking advantage of some of them.....
A $10k truck doing the same job as a $250k one.
Yes and no. The load was put on our truck because we were willing to go to Canada and were a team that could drive it straight through. It went deep into Canada and a team was needed to get it there quickly. The solo driver in the yellow truck expedited it to us, we completed the rest of the trip. No way would that truck and driver cross the international border and subject itself to that scrutiny.
With FAK (freight all kinds) it is of course true that a skid can be transported in most any truck. But our truck cost $250,000 partly because of the lift gate, reefer, freight securement built in, etc. Our truck paid for itself because of these extra features, and because of the credentials of the team that drives it, not because it can haul a skid like any other truck.
I find it amazing so few seem to catch on to this cogent message, especially when I see so much griping by those in the easy-entry, low-qualifications-needed, vanner world.
While reading with a certain amount of amusement the tales of woe regarding few loads, low pay, miserable living conditions, etc. in that world, I feel fortunate having stumbled into the straight truck universe. I find it difficult trying to imagine what it's like bouncing around in a 4-wheel steel box unable to stand upright.
While there is no guarantee my new DR unit on order will emerge with a healthy residual value five years down the road, I'll place my bet there, knowing it will be qualified to carry freight most units can't.
guido4475
Not a Member
You must of been upwind...