Starting out with a cube van

[dsingleton]

I am looking at getting into expeditiing and when I first started thinking about it I was looking at getting a Sprinter. After reading posts on here and looking at price tags I am shying away from the Sprinter. I have seen used Penski cube vans for $10,000 and that seems to be a lot more economical as long as a can get the miles in a cube vans.

How many of you are using cube vans? I realize people do not like to say how much money they are making on an open forum but what kind of miles have you been getting? I live north of Indianapolis and a local company out of Indy said they would sign on a cube van and drivers are getting 2000-3000 miles per week. This seems high to me so I wanted to talk to some actually drivers out there and see what they are actually getting. I have a family to support so I want to know that I will in fact be able to support them expediting. Any suggestions or numbers will be helpful. Thanks

 

[Moot]

Why a cube van? Does this local company require more volume capacity than a standard long cargo van?

What is the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of this Penski cube van? The GVRW can be found on the driver's side door pillar. Cube vans can be heavy. If this van weighs more than 7000 pounds you won't have much left for freight and creature comforts.

Fuel mileage will be less on a cube van. Your mpg will be further reduced if the box is more than about 74" wide and if there is no roof fairing.

Are any of the drivers that are on with this local company in Indy operating a cube van? If not, there may be a reason why. Check into this.

 

[chefdennis]

Those yellow Penske Cubes are HEAVY...just the rear bumper and ramp that is shoved up under them and the brackets mounting them weight a bunch....they are built for rentals and to be abused, so they are built heavier...

if you go with one of them, make sure it is NOT a 12,300 lb GVW unit, or you will be scaling and logging and following HOS and all they same stuff the big trucks do....you need the 10,000 lb gvw unit...but as Moot said...why a cube!?!?

If you really feel the need for a cube, look for a single rear wheel unit with a smaller walk in cube...