This question is really for the cargo van owners. I was wondering if any of you cargo van owners ever pull a small travel trailer such as a Little Guy tear drop trailer or the Little Guy MyPod for sleeping, especially trying to sleep with load? The reason why I'm asking is because I think it's a great idea instead of trying to get a custom sleeper for your van and giving up the space to transport an extra pallet, and some of the trailers I've been seeing online are whole lot less expensive than putting in a custom sleeper. I also kind of been looking into such a thing for my use if or whenever I do purchase my own van.
Small travel trailer.
- Thread starter amcgetti
- Start date
It would be nice but it's a constant expense for fuel. It's a 50% increase in tire expense. It's an increase in toll expenses in every toll situation. It's a constant nuisance with parking, stopping to eat, stopping to shop, stopping for anything else. There's a risk of theft every time it's unhooked and left while loading/unloading. It's a time thief when once in a while there is not just zero time available but negative time due to shipper delays. The few minutes for delivery sometimes turns into a few hours due to receiver issues. Vandalism has to be a concern, especially when left unattended to go to customers.
There are threads here that show how to insulate and prep the inside of a van. Westmicher for one does exceptional work on that. The entire inside of the van is cargo area. The entire inside of the van is also sleeper. Unloaded you have a huge sleeper. With one and two skids you have large and medium sleeper. For those rare times you have 3 skids and no room to sleep get a motel room. You can have many many dozens of nights in a motel for the price of a trailer. You gain more room, a shower, and a break from sleeping in a small van/trailer once in a while.
There are threads here that show how to insulate and prep the inside of a van. Westmicher for one does exceptional work on that. The entire inside of the van is cargo area. The entire inside of the van is also sleeper. Unloaded you have a huge sleeper. With one and two skids you have large and medium sleeper. For those rare times you have 3 skids and no room to sleep get a motel room. You can have many many dozens of nights in a motel for the price of a trailer. You gain more room, a shower, and a break from sleeping in a small van/trailer once in a while.
Way back in the days of old, I pulled a boat trailer. It's not as easy as it looks. I think your house-trailer idea will end up being more work than it's worth, more liability than it's worth, and-- if the combined gross vehicle weight rating is over 10K-- which can very easily happen if the tow vehicle is a heavy 2500 or a 3500 series van-- then welcome to the real world of having to log, having to scale, being subject to Level 1 inspections and all the rest of it. Over 10K is DOT Land, and after awhile it becomes cheaper to just take a motel room on those nights when cargo makes it impossible to sleep in the van.
Note: My present van has a GVWR of 8,600 lbs. That gives me only 1,400 lbs to play with before I cross over the 10K line. Any house-trailer that is lighter than that isn't likely to be worth the extra work-- and any trailer over that makes me subject to all the DOT regs. No sale.
Note: My present van has a GVWR of 8,600 lbs. That gives me only 1,400 lbs to play with before I cross over the 10K line. Any house-trailer that is lighter than that isn't likely to be worth the extra work-- and any trailer over that makes me subject to all the DOT regs. No sale.
Moot has a point. That thread is just full of the maintenance and insurance issues pulling a trailer will cost you.
Wheel bearings. Those trailer tires spin up faster than your truck tires do, and trailer-wheel bearing technology hasn't changed much in years. Count on having to repack/replace the bearings at least once a year. Get "Bearing Buddys" installed, and keep your grease-gun at the ready. You'll need it.
Trailer light wiring. Oh, boy. Just what you need. You're on a tight schedule, it's raining, you've just connected the light harness--- and you have a ground-fault somewhere in the trailer system. Think it won't happen to you? BWA-HAHAHAHA!!!! You know it will-- at the worst possible time. Trailer lights just LOVE to mess with you, and tight schedules and bad weather are just the sort of thing that makes light issues so maddening.
Insurance issues. Nobody ever thinks about this, and to be sure when you're pulling a trailer behind your private car this generally won't be an issue. Just tell your agent you have a trailer and they'll write that into the policy. The problem we have here is that you're doing this commercially. As a driver of a commercial vehicle, you're subject to things that Ma and Pa just don't have to think about.
A house trailer is generally meant to be on the road for about two weeks out of the year. It's not really designed for daily grind all the time use. It does put more strain on your tow vehicle too, so count on a heavier maintenance schedule on your truck. It puts more strain on you too. Don't think so? Well, you'll sure enough think so the first time you have to pull that thing in heavy weather in hill country. That trailer is gonna make the trip a proper nightmare and don't kid yourself.
Too much work, and besides-- a motel is cheaper for those days when sleeping in the van is an impossibility.
Wheel bearings. Those trailer tires spin up faster than your truck tires do, and trailer-wheel bearing technology hasn't changed much in years. Count on having to repack/replace the bearings at least once a year. Get "Bearing Buddys" installed, and keep your grease-gun at the ready. You'll need it.
Trailer light wiring. Oh, boy. Just what you need. You're on a tight schedule, it's raining, you've just connected the light harness--- and you have a ground-fault somewhere in the trailer system. Think it won't happen to you? BWA-HAHAHAHA!!!! You know it will-- at the worst possible time. Trailer lights just LOVE to mess with you, and tight schedules and bad weather are just the sort of thing that makes light issues so maddening.
Insurance issues. Nobody ever thinks about this, and to be sure when you're pulling a trailer behind your private car this generally won't be an issue. Just tell your agent you have a trailer and they'll write that into the policy. The problem we have here is that you're doing this commercially. As a driver of a commercial vehicle, you're subject to things that Ma and Pa just don't have to think about.
A house trailer is generally meant to be on the road for about two weeks out of the year. It's not really designed for daily grind all the time use. It does put more strain on your tow vehicle too, so count on a heavier maintenance schedule on your truck. It puts more strain on you too. Don't think so? Well, you'll sure enough think so the first time you have to pull that thing in heavy weather in hill country. That trailer is gonna make the trip a proper nightmare and don't kid yourself.
Too much work, and besides-- a motel is cheaper for those days when sleeping in the van is an impossibility.
Thanks everyone for all the info, I didn't really think about all of the extra maintenance or the added full cost, especially on trailer weighing less than 700lbs. I was just looking at just having a place to sleep while having 3 pallets on. I was really looking at the Mypods by Little Guy.
Here's a pic for a better understanding.
Here's a pic for a better understanding.That's 70 to 80 lbs tongue weight that has to be subtracted from the van's 2500 lb.-- not the full 700 lb trailer weight. But, it's still 70 to 80 lbs that you have to figure into what you can and cannot accept.
If your home residence is in a slow area you could consider pulling a trailer to a small campground in a high freight area and rent space by the month. This could give you an alternate home base. I agree pulling it full time would not get you where you want to be.
Maranatha
bubblehead
Veteran Expediter
We have a State Park near where I live and when I took my grandson there, I met a cargo vanner on a load for a brand name expedite company, holding over on the weekend for Monday delivery. He was at a site with electrical (he was giving his 1kw genny a break) and water but no sewer. He was using a stand up quick pop up tent with a small portable ac unit (exhaust through the door) and I was surprised how comfortable it was in his tent. All total, the setup weighed less than 80 lbs. Smart set up and with his discount, I think park fee was $8 a night plus electricity. I wished I took a picture because his layout was brilliant.
paullud
Veteran Expediter
No I'm saying the full 700 pounds has to be subtracted from the 10k pounds max before it requires logging and all the problems that come with it.
OK. While we're at it: It has nothing to do with the actual load. It has to do with the manufacturer's GVWR. If the COMBINED GVWR is over 10K, you have to log and so on EVEN WHEN YOUR VEHICLES ARE EMPTY OR LIGHTLY LOADED. Fun, ain't it?
Example: My van has a plate on the door that says my gross vehicle weight is 8,600 lbs. Empty, but with full gas tank, me and my personal effects, it's about 5,670. Add a trailer with a builder's plate that says its gross weight is 1,700 lbs-- but with only your stuff in it the thing actually weighs a little under a thousand. Guess what, I gotta scale in many states, I'm subject to logging, have to have the DOT physical and all the rest of it empty or loaded. Because 8,600 and 1,700 comes to 10,300 lbs.
Now, my van is a 2500 series van. Many in our business recommend getting a 3500 series van because your weight capacity is higher. A van that has a builders plate that shows 9,500 GVW gives you plenty of weight capacity inside the van--- but not much left over for a trailer. Most every pop-up camper trailer on the market will exceed that.
That trailer looks like a lot of extra work for little if any reward--- spending money on a motel room instead looks better and better.
Fun fact: What I just said about DOT-- forget about while you're on vacation. You're on your own time, not doing commercial, hook up your trailer and have fun. But, the instant you come back to work and run this as a commercial vehicle, all the DOT stuff comes into play.