My Sprinter is pretty much my home, so it's set up to live in for weeks or months at a time. It's a freight-capable RV, basically. In that light, it's a worthwhile investment. I can stand up when I want, go to sleep when I want. I have 9 feet for cargo and the rest is living space. Maintenance turned out to be far easier and cheaper than expected, and repairs aren't that big a deal, either (not that there have been very many). It gets great fuel mileage, and chicks dig it.
Would I recommend a Sprinter to someone just getting into expediting?
Nope.
It's far too much money to invest into something that you don't know if you'll like or not. You keep asking how many miles a week, how much time between loads, stuff like that. How are you gonna handle sitting in one spot for a day, two day, three days over a weekend? How are you gonna like running a 500 miles run, sleeping a few hours, and then getting a 300 mile run, sleep a few more and get another 500 mile run? How are you gonna like getting a 200 mile run and then sitting for a day, and then getting another 200 mile run, and then sitting a day, and then getting another 200 mile run? How are you at your sleep management?
Unless you know the answers already, the cost of a Sprinter is far too high to invest in a trial and error experiment.
You're far better off taking 5 or 10 grand, in cash, and getting a good used Ford E-350 (or something, but a used E-350 is what I did), then take it to a mechanic you trust and get the thing in tip top mechanical condition, spend a few grand if you need to, better now than later. Then, make sure you have about $5,000 in the bank before you even sign on with a carrier. That's after you have bought the van and had the mechanic go over it. You'll need that money for emergencies, for things you find that you need to do to the van to make it more livable, for things that crop up that you never even thought about.
Don't start this job without money in the bank. I'm serious. Like almost everyone else, you'll be right back out of this business within 90 days if you don't have the money in the bank.
Then, experiment with the used van. The already bought and paid for with no monthly payments van. You'll learn what to do and what not to do with insulating it, heating and cooling it, and what you want out of a bunk. Learn how to deal with the waiting, sleep management, living on the road, how long you can stand to be away from home, everything about expediting life.
It's much easier to make a short term mistake in a used van and then correct it in a new van a year or so down the road than it is to screw up with a $40,000 mistake.
All the while you are putting money in the bank as a down payment on your new van and for upgrading and outfitting it the way you want. All the while you are making a mental list of what you want to do different with the new van, how to do the bunk, how to do the insulation, what you want to use to heat it, inverter and batteries, how big an inverter and how many batteries, generator and rooftop AC, everything. And all the while you'll be able to take a peek inside the fascinating and sometimes truly awe inspiring (both good and OMG! bad) insides of other vans to get even more ideas of what to do, what not to do, and how you definitely do not want to live. hehe
You'll also be making notes on your carrier, and whether you want to stay with them or go someplace else. You'll learn what kind of cargo securements you need and which ones will work better in another van.
You'll also be taking notes on whether or not you even want to do this for even one more day, much less for a year or more until you get a new van. At that point you'll know. You'll know if this is something you want to do long term. If you don't, you can sell that van for probably close to and maybe even more than you paid for it, depending on any improvements you may have made to it.
But by then you'll definitely know if it's something you want to drop $40,000 on for a new Sprinter or other new van, or would it make more sense for you to wait a couple of years and then buy another used van and keep on banking money for that much longer. I know one guy who paid about $5,000 or $6,000 every other year for a used van and after 5 years he had enough of getting dressed while doubled over and crawling around in there like a bug, and he walked in and paid cash for his 07 Sprinter.
After you've done this for a year or two, you'll know whether or not you want a Sprinter. This forum is full of people who have one, or want one, or will have absolutely nothing to do with one. You'll know. And you'll be right.
Slow and steady, even in expediting, wins the race - Aesop
