Following on from my previous posts regarding starting up as an owner driver, things have changed slightly now and ive been looking at going a different route. Ive spoken to different contacts i have, and im looking at acquiring a curtainside bodied van for light haulage, ive been offered regular work from a shipping company, paid by the mile at 75p a mile on round trip miles, jobs would be for example ex ipswich to Southampton & portsmouth reload Romsey back to Ipswich.
Ive also been looking at geting a 4m curtainside trailer to tow with the van, giving a capacity for 18 pallets.
What do you guys think?? is van work a more promising proposition than trucks??
I have looked at this myself.
To start with to tow with the van you need a tacho fitted.
Then the problem arises in that the towing limit for a sprinter for example is only 1800Kgs, which means that by the time you have the 800Kgs of trailer, it only leaves a 1000Kg payload in the trailer. Which with the 1100Kgs payload in the Sprinter does not give a huge capacity.
Also, running at max train weight will drag the guts out of a van, especially if you don’t go for the 316CDI.
75pplm sounds ok, but you will not make a fortune out of it. Mainly because a heavily laden van is quite uneconomical, especially if it is dragging a trailer around.
But it does give you lots of flexibility, as you could have a set of ramps in the trailer to move cars with as well.
Also, how do you get 18 pallets in 8 metres ? Or are you talking euro pallets ?
Bearing in mind that you can only go to 2.25m wide on the body of the van, and the trailer, so you can’t have 8 pallets on the van, only 6. As they have to go lengthways down the van and trailer.
the next question i had was what weights can you go up to etc??
also, the rates what not per loaded mile, its per total round trip miles whether m/t or loaded, and also, other jobs with other customers may be on a pallet rate, or job rate.
i might not be using a trailer all the time anyway, plus much of the work offered by this particular customer is very light weight.
On the Xlwb Sprinter, it is plated to 3500Kgs Gross Weight, which means with the Curtainside body you are looking at approximately 1100Kg payload.
The load bed would be approx 2m wide, and 4m Long.
the mercedes factory fit tow bar is rated to 1800Kgs, giving a Gross Train Weight of 5300Kgs.
Std pallet is 1000 x 1200mm, and Euro is 800 x 1200mm, so you can only get up to 8 euro, or 6 std pallets on the van.
The trailer is easier, get a twin axle, Ifor Williams trailer, get it down rated to 1800Kgs, and get a tilt cover for it. If you want one, I think there is still one for sale just down the road from me, about £2300 second hand.
You will be left with approximately 900Kgs-1000Kgs payload. Again, only 2m wide load bed, and 4m long load bed, giving 8 euro, or 6 std pallets spaces.
Fuel ecomony, expect about 20mpg, pulling away from a hill start will be painful, and you will cry as you smell the clutch burning, and the life expectancy of the transmission, will be significantly reduced.
I agree, that 75ppm round trip is pretty good. However, a new sprinter with curtain side body will set you back upto 30 Grand, and will only really be good for upto 200000miles if it is really well looked after, more likely 150000.
mertrux derby quoted me 23grand plus vat for a curtainsider sprinter 313 try this place for info www.codforum.org.uk a forum for van and courior ownerdrivers
That sounds like a fairly good price, but I would want the 316CDI rather than the 313CDI for towing a trailer, purely for the extra Torque, other wise you will struggle on hills, and pulling away.
I have a Nissan Navarra with a 5m long, 2.5t Trailer which we use at work, and that is 133hp, with 300Nm of Torque, and that pulls ok, but is still a little sluggish on hills. The new Navarra has 174hp, and 400Nm of torque, and that pulls like a train.
The 313CDI is a bit short on torque for my likings, but just my personal opinion.
i wanted the 416 lee and downrate it to 3.5 ton cuz i think the twin rear wheels are more stable than singles but merc wouldnt do it so i chose the 313 as it would only be dragging the trailer occasionally but in the end the work i had planned for it fell through so i didnt get it in the end
leehellcat:
That sounds like a fairly good price, but I would want the 316CDI rather than the 313CDI for towing a trailer, purely for the extra Torque, other wise you will struggle on hills, and pulling away.
I have a Nissan Navarra with a 5m long, 2.5t Trailer which we use at work, and that is 133hp, with 300Nm of Torque, and that pulls ok, but is still a little sluggish on hills. The new Navarra has 174hp, and 400Nm of torque, and that pulls like a train.
The 313CDI is a bit short on torque for my likings, but just my personal opinion.
Bloody hell my 1st seddon Atky 4 wheeler only had 135 horses
I hate to say this, but Iveco do a daily with a 4.5m curtainside body, which looks like it could be quite good. although I don’t know what the life expectancy of the daily is, being an Iveco, I would guess not very long !!!
I wouldnt slate them, i know owner drivers on a parcel company doing up to 100 drops a day, and the guys with Ivecos ALL reckon they are better than mercs, and they have far bettered the Sprinters in terms of ownership costs and reliability, i dont know one. and you can get a new Iveco Daily for half the cost of a Sprinter!
I think that Iveco have got a bit of a dodgy reputation, just like skoda used to have. But having never owned one, or driven one of the new ones I can’t pass judgement, and would certainly buy one if the price way right.
If you need to carry weight rather than bulk, then I would probably suggest going to a 4x4 Pickup with a trailer, simply because with the likes of Isuzu Rodeo you get a 3000Kgs towing limit, giving you a minimum 2000Kgs payload. And you should get 30mpg as long as you don’t thrash it.
I think Iveco have a far better reputation for vans and 7.5’s than for artics. They used to own the 7.5 market in this country. Although I am enjoying my new stralis. and it hasn’t broken down yet, touch wood.
leehellcat:
Then the problem arises in that the towing limit for a sprinter for example is only 1800Kgs, which means that by the time you have the 800Kgs of trailer, it only leaves a 1000Kg payload in the trailer. Which with the 1100Kgs payload in the Sprinter does not give a huge capacity.
The trailer will also need a positive nose weight of at least 75kg - so that will affect the van’s payload and axle weight
leehellcat:
But it does give you lots of flexibility, as you could have a set of ramps in the trailer to move cars with as well.
Very few cars have a kerb weight of 1000kg or less.
I used to run 3 sprinters with trailers.1x313(gutless).1x316 and a 416.the 416 was down plated to 3.5 by merc’s(yes they do down plate them).all pulled tri axel trailers fitted with tilt covers running around europe. out of all of them the 416 was better loaded it was more stable on corners and side winds plus gave a better ride for the driver.all were fitted with hatcher pods and 4m tilt bodies.the 416 had rear air axle.to down plate the 416 all that merc did was put longer bumpstops at the rear axle and ajust the brake compensator also the 416 comes with a taco already fitted.
