Driving a cargo van is a dream job compared to big trucks.

I was leased to three, that amount was by one of the majors which I would rather not say who they are.

But that said, yes they are easier to drive, I liked the driving part but not the waiting part nor the sleeping part until I put a bunk into the van. One of the problems I had was listening to the dispatcher who insisted that I sit and wait for a load.

IF I was going to do it over again, I would get myself a box truck or an older sprinter to use, something I can stand up in.

 

My van had side walls with etrack from the front to back of the entire cargo area, then I made a bulkhead with a four etrack sockets that it held it in place. It was removable so I could slid it up if I had a large load. Then I took two 3/4" pieces of plywood for the bed base and then added the another small bulkhead on each side of the van right behind the seats which acted as the stop for the first one when it was moved forward, holding the bed base up against the front bulkhead when it was folded up.

It was a little on the heavy side but worked well. I insulted the van and with a espar in the front of the van, I was nice and toasty.

 

Heres a pic from a few years ago about SPRINTER SLEEPER
http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...ucking-forum/59490-sprinter-sleeper-pics.html

 

Are you with Panther? I once talked to a guy that ran a van with Ceva, he had a little mattress back there not an actual sleeper. He did say the money was pretty decent. Like 80-90 cents per mile, whatever that means, I'm assuming that's good when you get 20mpg and taxes and insurance are a lot lower. Anybody knows if this are real numbers?

 

As long as your loaded, vans are cheap to get into so there is a lot of them. They seem to set more waiting than the st8 trucks.

 

Google for expedite forums and learn just how little to nothing you can make with a cargo van at a $1 a mile. Remember though that's a buck a mile for short miles and lengthy deadhead makes it even worse. $65k sounds all fine and dandy unless he ran 80k+ miles to earn it. I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. Vans are cheap a dime a dozen. Everyone and their brother thinks as you do, this is easy, no logs, no dot, buck a mile is great. When the rubber hits the road and reality bites... ...the cargo van market is flooded with super cheap labor. Much more so than straights and big trucks. I would suggest keeping the local gig and saving up money as an employee on someone else's business expenses. And learning all you can about the expedite biz in the mean time. Leasing to a mega like panther for subpar rates in a segment that can, at times, command good premiums is foolish. If you're going to let someone else dispatch your truck and tell you the rate then what is the point? You're letting someone else skim the profit away.