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Is a Sprinter for local delivery/Courier work overkill?

Discussion in 'Expediter and Hot Shot Trucking Forum' started by JetAgeHobo, Jun 14, 2013.

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  1. Jun 18, 2013 #21
    RickG

    RickG Road Train Member

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    Jul 22, 2008
    Owensboro , KY
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    RickG, Jun 18, 2013
    RickG, Jun 18, 2013
    #21
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  3. Jun 18, 2013 #22
    Ridgeline

    Ridgeline Road Train Member

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    I see a lot of reasons why a 300 cu in straight six wouldn't make it to a million - one is the head gasket always took a dump around 70k. I had two of them in vans and loved them but both had the same issues, water in the oil thanks to the head gasket. I got good replacing them over a weekend so I wouldn't miss work come monday.

    Yes I know, there are a few out there, but let's face it, Mercedes has the trophy for longevity and won't be beat. I think there was a Volkswagen owned by a German fellow in SoCal a while back that had a million miles on it - I have the article about it in one of my Peterson VW books.

    As for Dodge/Fiat, I'm inclined not to make a purchase of one of them for Expedite work until a few years have passed because Dodge/Fiat like Daimler-Chrysler is slow in their upfitting of their dealers network for training and parts, one of the biggest drawbacks of the Sprinter. The same goes for Ford, it is all a new technology but Ford lags in service and has for a while.
     
    Ridgeline, Jun 18, 2013
    Ridgeline, Jun 18, 2013
    #22
  4. Jun 19, 2013 #23
    JetAgeHobo

    JetAgeHobo Light Load Member

    88
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    Jun 22, 2008
    Solvang, CA
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    Yesterday was a VERY slow day for some reason, slowest I've ever seen, more time spent under a shade tree waiting than actually running. Got bored and went over the the nearby MB dealer who also has a Sprinter department and dedicated sales guy, very knowledgeable, not only about Sprinters in general but about expediting and the local scene. For what I'm doing the low roof standard wheelbase would suffice, but he has a couple of 177 WB high roof's coming in on return leases, 2008 and 2009, both under a 100K miles. Calculated potential fuel savings, going to be about $300/week, Have to talk to my local shop where I get my PM's on current done see if they'll work on a Sprinter and how much they'd charge to see if they're cheaper than the dealership, but he's quoting about $150 for oil/filter change, etc. Says PM intervals about 10K, I do 4K on present van.

    That's the vehicle side, on the work side I'm working on the company's dedicated route customer to see if the added capacity will equal added business/runs, (I get paid by the stop) and with the courier company to see if the added capacity will equal added runs. I'm not sure this whole thing is working out as the company intended, I have a feeling they don't have as much business going to the Illinois side as they thought. Not sure what the idea behind the courier company doing this dedicated account is, the customer has several company owned str8 trucks doing deliveries in other areas.

    Either way, not running out and buying a Sprinter just yet, seems way to many variables for me.
     
    JetAgeHobo, Jun 19, 2013
    JetAgeHobo, Jun 19, 2013
    #23
  5. Jun 19, 2013 #24
    Ridgeline

    Ridgeline Road Train Member

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    You can get the price of an oil change down a lot, sometimes it can be equal to what you have. You start with buying filters in bulk and look for oil deals at Pep Boys or O'rielleys (I got a great deal from O'riellys a couple months ago for oil, it all came to $1.50 a quart).

    4k on an oil change?

    Do you fall under the severe duty category with your van?

    I've ignored the 3 and 4k oil change and went to a 12k change with no changes to my OA at all because I fall into the medium duty category on maintenance. The van I had I sold with less than 300k on the clock and now the owner of it said last month he topped 500k with nothing major except a lift pump issue. He followed my lead and has a 12k oil change with an OA at 6k. All good numbers.
     
    Ridgeline, Jun 19, 2013
    Ridgeline, Jun 19, 2013
    #24
  7. Jun 19, 2013 #25
    big wheels

    big wheels Medium Load Member

    368
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    Oct 16, 2009
    florida-USA
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    i just jumper from the 1st post to lask to reposed to question of 10ft pipe. and someone might allready said this as i do not plan to read the whole posted( im reserching somethans else.

    anyway. i have done this many time. take some 4" to 5' pvc pipe used for plumbing.

    get a end cap for the front side. at the rear get a female treaded adapter and a male thread which plubers use for clean outs.

    just screw it on & off as need. now they all so sel flap hinged doors for the end for the pipe. which i get from pumbing whole sellers.

    just get some u-bolts and nuts & washers. screw now to the latter rack. some times i just used all thread & been it to the shape i need& nuts bolts washers .done.
     
    big wheels, Jun 19, 2013
    big wheels, Jun 19, 2013
    #25
  8. Jun 20, 2013 #26
    JetAgeHobo

    JetAgeHobo Light Load Member

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    Jun 22, 2008
    Solvang, CA
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    Good Idea actually, except some of the stuff I'm hauling is 3" and 4" pipe. Usually would be a load of 10-15 pieces. So far I can get by with laying the stuff diagonally across the floor, driver's side front corner to passenger's side rear corner. Totally messes up putting anything other than smaller packages in the rest of the cargo area. I'm thinking with at least a sprinter I could put a pipe rack near the ceiling, at least 48 inches over the floor, put the pipe there and run the pallets underneath. Did a similar sort of thing when I delivered office supplies, sometimes had to deliver those big 4x8 white boards, suspended them from the ceiling using load straps, put the rest of the cargo underneath.

    Figured out what's going on at the courier part of the job, new dispatcher, he hasn't got stuff figured out yet. Luckily the dedicated delivery run was good.
     
    JetAgeHobo, Jun 20, 2013
    JetAgeHobo, Jun 20, 2013
    #26
    big wheels Thanks this.
  9. Jun 20, 2013 #27
    JetAgeHobo

    JetAgeHobo Light Load Member

    88
    48
    Jun 22, 2008
    Solvang, CA
    0
    Last gig was office supplies, lots of paper and flat pack office desks. A lot of stop and go city traffic to max GVW. If I got 13mpg with no aircon on I was doing good. That type of driving fried the front rotors, warped to heck. Yeah, I'll call that severe duty. This gig a bit easier, less city more 2 lane and highway, average 15mpg, much lighter loads so I can probably extend Oil changes out a bit. Not too comfortable with 10K between changes on a 14 year old engine though. Probalby go 6 to 7 K. Only 137K on the clock, but I have no idea how the previous owner treated it. Seems to have sat in storage/auction barn for 2 years as the previous company that owned it went bankrupt. Then on dealer's lot for a year. Got a good deal on it for what it is, but had to put some work into it. Ok for what I bought it for. If I want to do any serious cargo hauling instead of fooling around with this courier stuff, going to have to upgrade to newer vehicle anyway.
     
    JetAgeHobo, Jun 20, 2013
    JetAgeHobo, Jun 20, 2013
    #27
  10. Jun 21, 2013 #28
    Ridgeline

    Ridgeline Road Train Member

    22,619
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    Dec 18, 2011
    Michigan
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    That sure is extreme, I can see the need for the oil change.

    The thing I jump on is the need to change the oil at 3 or 4k when the van is used for highway driving which doesn't help other than waste money and oil, a lot of people still think they are driving a 1960 Rambler and oil is still being produced by the company with the Camel as the spokesman.
     
    Ridgeline, Jun 21, 2013
    Ridgeline, Jun 21, 2013
    #28
  11. Jun 21, 2013 #29
    PowerWagon

    PowerWagon Medium Load Member

    306
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    Sep 29, 2012
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    It's not known when and perhaps even "if" that diesel will be available in the US. ( updated.... wrong... )

    Until then, the drivetrain is a pentastar V-6, which gets awesome fuel economy and is expected to have a very long life.
     
    Last edited: Jun 21, 2013
    PowerWagon, Jun 21, 2013
    PowerWagon, Jun 21, 2013
    #29
  12. Jun 21, 2013 #30
    PowerWagon

    PowerWagon Medium Load Member

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    2,912
    Sep 29, 2012
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    It has a 21 inch step in height. Maximum payload is over 5000 lbs. GVWR is from 8550 to 9350.

    The short wheel base version does a circle TIGHTER than the new Dodge Dart. You can do a full U-turn in a 2 lane street.

    On paper, at least, it's pretty impressive. Chrysler has actually re-engineered much of it, to be stronger and lighter and more of what you want than Fiat could, and the pentastar drivetrain should give you darn good fuel economy. It's one of the top 5 motors in the world, according to people who rank them.

    Prices and variants:
    http://www.allpar.com/news/index.php/2013/03/ram-promaster-prices-contest

    More about it:
    http://www.allpar.com/trucks/ram/ProMaster.html

    I had read earlier that the diesel was a maybe... apparently that's been resolved.

    Either engine comes with a Chrysler 62TE 6 speed auto. Perhaps the newer 9 speed will find its way there as well.
     
    Last edited: Jun 21, 2013
    PowerWagon, Jun 21, 2013
    PowerWagon, Jun 21, 2013
    #30
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