Dodge Sprinter

**ozhink** · 10-08-2007, 09:11 PM

Hi Everyone! First,I am so glad I found this site. We are thinking about buying a van but my husband insists on Dodge Sprinter.He says it has to be Sprinter otherwise you come back empty or do not get enough jobs.But they are the most expensive ones? So my question is; Does it have to be a Sprinter? And we've been looking for a steady paycheck.He always get these seasonal jobs that hurts us in the end.Is expetiding the same or would be better then worry about paycheck to paycheck? Thank-you:)

**terryandrene** · 10-08-2007, 09:11 PM

Oz Please keep in mind that, in expediting, you are not just buying a truck, you are buying a business. Like any business venture it would behoove you do thoroughly research this business of expediting before you rush out and buy a van.

There was a time that any van owner could find a carrier eager to lease them on as an Independent Contractor; those days are well behind us and the market is pretty well saturated with vans. There are carriers still talking with prospective van owner/operators but they seem to tend to be selective. My advice is that you talk to as many carriers' recruiters ##### you can BEFORE you invest in a van.

Before you buy a new 2007/08 Sprinter make sure the cargo capacity is appropriate to the carrier's weight requirements. Most of the carriers have specified 2500 pounds of cargo as their requirement. Some Sprinters cannot accomodate this weight if their teams have outfitted them for typical creature comfort. Dollar for Dollar, you might wish to consider a small straight truck with which to expedite. This size truck is in much greater demand by most any carrier.

**LDB** · 10-09-2007, 10:18 AM

I have to agree that a Sprinter or an Aerocell are the only way to go in a van. That said, I also have to agree there are more vans than Carter has liver pills. Some of the carriers still have their revolving door running. Some have a freeze on vans because they are saturated for practical purposes. I highly suggest you talk to carriers, and especially to van drivers, before jumping into this. I also suggest you read back at least a year in the general, newbies and recruiter forums.

Now I have to agree with the advice to consider a truck instead of a van. We'll use Acme Widgets as our shipper example. They represent every company that has something to ship. They have things of all shapes, sizes and weights to ship. For illustration, we'll imagine an olympic swimming pool with a hot tub and a 4' kids pool next to it. The pool has 9 lanes. They will all represent freight needs.

In the 9 lanes of the pool, 2 require a C unit and 1 a C refrigerated, 2 a D and 1 a D refrigerated and 2 an E and 1 an E refrigerated. The hot tub has to have a Sprinter or Aerocell and the wading pool needs a van. That's a total of 11 possible freight sources. An E refrigerated unit can take loads from all 11, an E from 10. The DR has 9 and the D 8. It goes on until you get to the "less expensive" standard van. It has 1 freight source, and the smallest one at that.

The van is less expensive when you look at the price but when you factor in the opportunity cost to the overall cost is it still less expensive? The Sprinter/Aerocell has a second freight opportunity from the hot tub so the "pool" of potential work is greater. As you move up the chain to a dock high truck, the "pool" of potential work exponentially increases. The farther up the chain you go the greater the pool. At some point, for some individuals, the additional work opportunity may not exceed the additional opportunity cost of the equipment required. There is no magic answer and it wouldn't fit everyone even if there was. You have to look at your individual situation.

This is a good example of why driving for a fleet owner can be valuable. You get exposure to all this without locking yourself in to a unit type that may not be the best for you. You have the time to see the various lanes firsthand and determine which parts of the pool you want to be able to swim in.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB
OOIDA Life Member 677319, JOIN NOW
Owner, Panther trucks 5508, 5509, 5641
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**Jack_Berry** · 10-13-2007, 11:07 PM

the sprinter expediter package bed is 62" long. how tall is he? 34 inches wide.

Jack Berry

**laurentsbear** · 02-18-2008, 12:50 AM

My wife believes the stress of driving a sprinter would be far less than a larger truck....Teams in Sprinters seem to running beween 1500-2000mi. per week @ 1.00+ There should be room for one more......

**BillChaffey** · 02-18-2008, 04:32 PM

It seems that most of the Senior Members here are almost always telling persons interested in Expediting that Cargo Vans are over subscribed. Yet on the opening page there are at least 10 Companies saying they are recruiting Vans.

**arkjarhead** · 02-19-2008, 05:40 PM

Well if they don't want to believe someone who has been a van o/o for close to 20 years then I guess they want to learn for themselves. If that's the case why ask a question if you will only accept one answer? Go ahead with what you believe. It won't take long reading here to discover that most of the van and sprinter drivers have been talking about sitting and not getting the miles they used to. Why jump into something like that? You take someone with say 5-10 years experience and knowledge of the business and freight system like where to sit, where not to, when to move and when not and they tell you times are tough what makes you think you can jump out there with zero experience and make decent money. One guy actually showed his figures from last year and he only netted (to his pocket) 18 grand in a van. I'm not trying to bust your chops I'm just being honest. Bearcat would you ever think those companies have openings because they van operators they did have went under due to lack of revenue, went somewhere else hoping for more revenue, or upgraded trucks? Makes sense to me.

**BillChaffey** · 02-20-2008, 08:27 PM

I am not Advocating Vans or Straight Trucks or questioning any ones experience's with either Vehicle. I am only saying there are numerous Companies advertising for Cargo & Sprinter Vans. It would seem to me a used Van would be less expensive the a used Straight Truck and have more uses if a person(s) decide that Expediting turns out not what they expected

**Fr8 Shaker** · 02-20-2008, 11:18 PM

Yes there are alot of companys still putting on vans, thats because it doesn't cost them anything for you to be sitting in a parking lot for days on end and who knows you just might happen to end up in an area where you could cover that one load for them that they may not otherwise of been able to cover.

**BillChaffey** · 02-22-2008, 10:59 AM

Fr8 Shaker,
your implying it Costs the Company someone is Leased to have a Straight truck or Tractor sitting. I was never made aware of that at Orientation.

**Jack_Berry** · 02-22-2008, 12:20 PM

bearcat44,

at least one of those companies is not putting on ANY vans, sprinter or otherwise, right now. I will not name it but i know a couple folks who were ready to go to orientation there and told the friday before that no new vans were being taken on.

now you may say why are the names there? well there is no way for eo to keep up with each individual companies changing requirements. it is ment to be a guideline for companies that take on vans and not the last word on the subject.