Just curious, and without any experience to back it up... There seems to be a lot of loads for expediting that are even less than a van load, with a minivan, you can fit nearly a pallet, and I know you would miss out on many loads, but there would be a lot available, and for half the fuel cost ..
Why no minivans?
- Thread starter Scrwd_Dad
- Start date
Its a high probabiblity your going to be sitting alot,,if your in a minivan you might as well drive For Uber...one small box of tractor parts can weight an easy 400 to a 1000 pounds and that minivan is gonn run out of room and horse power for a 1000 mile run , just saying and many folks sleep in their vehicles,,,yep your gonna run out of room and miss many loads,,,been in that situation, u need a Sprinter or something similar....
I appreciate the feedback! My current mini has 150 cuft of cargo space... I am sure the transmission is the weak point, not the V6 engine. I have hauled 2 motorcycles side by side in the back of it, they were dirt bikes, but they rode great... I put 85,000 miles on it last year...
danthewolf00
Veteran Expediter
I have run alot of expedited jobs using something as small as a car (minivan would be overkill but run what you have) ... most of those jobs are pharmacy (meds) (some are regular routed as much as 635 miles per day 7 days a week!) , medical trays , medical specimens and test samples (soil , water, blood) ..... those jobs are more or less regional so trips typically max out around 200 or so miles (although the longest run I've done was a direct drive 460 miles one way) .... most jobs are not continuous like staying out weeks (or even days at a time) BUT in theory could be if you work with companies on a national basis (maybe like transferring medical trays (surgical tools) in a series of trips (one time I took some surgical tools from UVA hospital to a hospital in NYC ... I suppose if the hospital in NYC had some trays going to another hospital you could do that trip but it's all about timing and if there is even a need at that time BUT I guess like OTR expediting if you hung out in NYC to do medical trays there would invariably be some tray(s) needing to go to another hospital and possibly out of state too) ... it's potluck (I guess a little like using a loadboard) to a certain degree .... I typically always go home after a run and just wait to head out again BUT I have sometimes camped out in my car ( to take a different load in the new town gong somewhere else ).... My car is a Diesel Jetta Station wagon and I get 50+ MPGs ... My minivan will get about 23 MPG , My long and Tall sprinter van gets 25 MPG , My 15 Passenger ford Diesel van gets 17 MPG .... being able to use a small vehicle can save big $$ over time .... Good luck and drive safely !