Do cargo vans even have any sort of future in expediting?

[CharlesD]

Solo straights have been on the way out for 10 years now , and vans have been on life support for at least that long. According to straight trick teams and tractor drivers, anyway.

Someone forgot got to tell that to our solo straights.

in reality, the solos who run smart can make good money. The ones who have a "don't wanna go there" list a mile long or who always hold out for long loads are going to generally make less. There's a lot better rate per mile on those short ones.

 

[CharlesD]

Yes big trucks have more load ops....But they have to work longer and drive more....

a straight and a van both run equal miles say 100,000 ....the straight loses......on the costs issue.
There is no way AFTER costs IF a straight makes say $1.70 a mile compared to our $1.20...a straight running the same miles as a van is a snoozer....

How many vehicles make that after costs?

 

[OntarioVanMan]

How many vehicles make that after costs?

We are just using gross numbers....

Can't think of 1.....

 

[Turtle]

Someone forgot got to tell that to our solo straights.

in reality, the solos who run smart can make good money. The ones who have a "don't wanna go there" list a mile long or who always hold out for long loads are going to generally make less. There's a lot better rate per mile on those short ones.

Oh, I know. My comments were sarcasm, in response to the notion that solo straights are soon to be a thing of the past. It's not like now, all of a sudden, dispatchers are for the first time having to deal with solos in straights and HoS.

 

[cheri1122]

I think as time goes on, the vans will become regulated, eventually. When, we don't know, but something tells me it's going to be sooner than we may think. Solo straights? Maybe good for local p/u and del, state-wide runs, but I think teams are going to be the way of the future, in expediting, both in semi's and straights. Dispatchers really do not have the time, or companies do not have the money or resources to be baby-sitting a solo drivers available hours of service and still do their jobs effectively. Dispatchers trying to custom-tailor loads to solo's will come with a price, less productivity, IMO...

Regulating vans would be a nightmare, as there are so many used in various industries that also involve driving as part of the job. Unless vans become a significant blip in the safety statistics, DOT won't want to open that can of worms.
If expedite carriers want to eliminate solo drivers, the only feasible way would be to make teams company employees, because as long as teams have the ability to accept or decline a particular load, they will decline the shorter ones. Carriers cannot eliminate the shorter [less than 500 mile] runs, and I don't see them converting from the IC model to employees, either, so solo drivers are not going anywhere.
Unless it's 500 miles or less, lol.

 

[mjmsprt40]

I've been watching this for a while. I've reached the point where I credit the notion that vans are gonna get regulated/disappear and solo straights are gonna disappear to the snooty "we're better than you" TT/team straight crowd. For some reason these snobs always look down their patrician noses at us lesser mortals, and they're shocked-- shocked, I tell you-- that we just keep plugging along, refusing to disappear like we should have done decades ago.

Maybe one day they will regulate vans according to DOT heavy vehicle regs. But, not today. Maybe someday solo-driver straight rigs will be a thing of the past. But, not today. The freight has to be moved, somebody has to move it, and shippers may not be willing to pay for more vehicle than they need. Why pay for a TT to move one one-thousand-pound skid three hundred miles when it will easily fit in a van? How many times will the shipper hear "no" from team drivers who refuse to make that short run before they've had enough and get a solo who will do it? Better believe we're not going to disappear as fast as the "we're better than you" crowd thinks we will.

 

[ebsprintin]

Regulating vans would be a nightmare, as there are so many used in various industries that also involve driving as part of the job. Unless vans become a significant blip in the safety statistics, DOT won't want to open that can of worms.

when does nightmares stop the government? why wouldn't a can of worms want to open another can of worms? what world do you live in, cheri?

eb

 

[Turtle]

Better believe we're not going to disappear as fast as the "we're better than you" crowd thinks we will.

It just eats away at them, seething like a cauldron of the soul, like the first born child getting harshly punished for the least little things while their younger siblings get away with everything, it drives them crazy that we don't have to log and scale, that we can pick and choose when we sleep and drive. They lash out with hurtful, hateful, scary things trying to make themselves feel better, trying to soothe and assuage the acerbic rancor. They dine lustfully on the bitter, resentful bile which will in the end consume them utterly. I say unto you take pity on the logger, for they are in great pain, and offer them comfort and sympathy and joy, because comfort and sympathy from a cargo van driver, followed by a joyful giggle, will just put them over the edge.

 

[zorry]

Logging .
What's the big issue ? For a team at least.
Especially with E-Logs.
You do anything between these 12 hours and I'll do anything during my 12 hours.
Don't haul cheap freight where you need to run up towards your 70.

Don't worry. Be happy.

 

[WanderngFool]

I like checking out vans for how they employ "hillbilly" APU setups. Not joking - I love that stuff. Generator in a box up front, a/c unit sticking out of the roof right in front of a satellite dish and fantastic fan. Some kind of discharge hose thingy hookup on the side. Hmmm Wonder what that is... I'm watching you guys and trying to learn.

 

[cheri1122]

when does nightmares stop the government? why wouldn't a can of worms want to open another can of worms? what world do you live in, cheri?

eb

When they're up to their eyeballs in lawsuits over the cans of worms they already regulate.....
Oh, and I live in one of those cans, too: the one where I have to log. While Turtle's description may be true of some loggers, I know how it feels to live in a van, and I prefer the limitations of logging to the limitations of cooking, myself.

 

[KickStarter6]

Someday I'll finally save up the cash to be able to finish college and get a real job. But until then I'll be in my ford van complaining and wishing for better rates lol

 

[Turtle]

I like checking out vans for how they employ "hillbilly" APU setups. Not joking - I love that stuff. Generator in a box up front, a/c unit sticking out of the roof right in front of a satellite dish and fantastic fan. Some kind of discharge hose thingy hookup on the side. Hmmm Wonder what that is... I'm watching you guys and trying to learn.

What you describe as a "hillbilly APU setup" is also the exact description of an RV conversion.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Someday I'll finally save up the cash to be able to finish college and get a real job. But until then I'll be in my ford van complaining and wishing for better rates lol

get edumacated and sit in an office and complain about rates still....LOL....not much changes....

Just think at present YOU are the boss, a CEO, a president of operations....you'd give that up freedom for a cubical in the back room somewhere?.....

 

[mjmsprt40]

It just eats away at them, seething like a cauldron of the soul, like the first born child getting harshly punished for the least little things while their younger siblings get away with everything, it drives them crazy that we don't have to log and scale, that we can pick and choose when we sleep and drive. They lash out with hurtful, hateful, scary things trying to make themselves feel better, trying to soothe and assuage the acerbic rancor. They dine lustfully on the bitter, resentful bile which will in the end consume them utterly. I say unto you take pity on the logger, for they are in great pain, and offer them comfort and sympathy and joy, because comfort and sympathy from a cargo van driver, followed by a giggle, will just put them over the edge.

Funny thing about that-- I am a first-born. Maybe vanning is my chance to get away with the stuff I never could when I was the first of four.

 

[Murraycroexp]

Virtually "free from DOT" is a luxury.
Luxuries and freedoms come at a cost.
Whether it's monetary or otherwise.
The team straight with the WRONG carrier can very well be envious of the income generated by the solo vanner with the RIGHT carrier.
All that before my second cup of coffee.

 

[Moot]

...and I prefer the limitations of logging to the limitations of cooking myself.

There are no limitations for cooking one's self in a van. You want well done, Laredo in August. Slow cook, Kansas City in May. Poached, Savannah in June. See, no limitations.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Virtually "free from DOT" is a luxury.
Luxuries and freedoms come at a cost.
Whether it's monetary or otherwise.
The team straight with the WRONG carrier can very well be envious of the income generated by the solo vanner with the RIGHT carrier.
All that before my second cup of coffee.

That is profound....this early....LOL

 

[WanderngFool]

What you describe as a "hillbilly APU setup" is also the exact description of an RV conversion.

Exactly. But doing it yourself usually requires a little ingenuity, and that's the fun part. Maybe not at the moment , but later on when you look back on it.

 

[KickStarter6]

get edumacated and sit in an office and complain about rates still....LOL....not much changes....

Just think at present YOU are the boss, a CEO, a president of operations....you'd give that up freedom for a cubical in the back room somewhere?.....

Steady paycheck, health insurance, steady hours, my own bed at night, no more truck stop diners, no more truck stop showers, no more **** jugs and someone else to blame if I'm mad or upset? Yes I'll trade the freedom in for that lol