Drivers ever going to start driving these as a norm?

xkingx · 11-19-2007, 02:11 PM

hope not..that would suck...unless they added more time ..which I would highly doubt..even driving vans when just running air sucks

Reddriver · 11-19-2007, 04:01 PM

There is only one route in my center that uses this type of truck. I dont really mind it because it is used on a very rural route with only about 120 stops. It is hard to be quick working out of it but its better than the rental trucks durring peak!

cino321 · 11-19-2007, 04:03 PM

Question: Where is that, I know it's somewhere in NYC

edd_tv · 11-19-2007, 04:18 PM

where do you put all the avon?
or the sleep number beds? lol

Cementups · 11-19-2007, 06:42 PM

I used to have one but they gave it to another guy that needed more room than his regular sprinter.

Brav989 · 11-20-2007, 12:28 AM

Speaking of stops. What is the (Ballpark number) of stops a driver gets during non peak period per day?

2Slow · 11-20-2007, 07:22 AM

Our trucks keep getting bigger, not smaller. P7 is the smallest thing in the lineup in my center. lots of 10s, 12s and 13s.

Big Babooba · 11-20-2007, 09:15 AM

I don't think so. The Sprinters aren't holding up too well. The mechanics have nothing good to say about them.

Pip · 11-20-2007, 09:47 AM

4 years old and I got one of my sprinters that will be cruched in a couple weeks.

I got 2 2003 sprinters in my fleet. I just got approval for one of them to be crushed, not even going to try to keep it running for peak. It is cheaper to get a rental for the 1.5 months of peak, then it is to try to fix the sprinter. It is sitting mothballed at 190,000 miles on it. The motor and tranny have had it. The body is falling a part. In a way I am happy it is gone. I was spending so much time trying to keep it running I was falling behind on my other cars.

We got word at the beginning of 07' that any major expenses had to be approved first by corporate. To my knowledge This sprinter is the first to be ADA'd and crushed in my district. my other sprinter is pretty much on borrowed time. Have talked to a couple other mechanics from other buildings and it is a chore to maintain the ones they have, also.

These sprinters might be ok for the private contractor, But not for UPS applications. There is no way these vehicles will last 20 years, it just isn't cost effective.

VTBrown · 11-20-2007, 05:13 PM

Those are P57's. We have two in our small center.
They are wonderful to deliver out of as they have a sliding side door as well.
More comfortable, accelerate faster and climb hills MUCH better then any package car out there.

Being a P57 the 570 cubic feet compared to the P500's, 500.

All that being said.....they need to be shipped out for almost all repair work and UPS will not be purchasing anymore as they do not hold up well to the rural pounding.

poozer2000 · 11-21-2007, 12:33 PM

ah the good old "puddle jumper" we use a lot of these in England mainly for the rural routes ours are made by mercedes, dont really have many major problems with these good solid reliable cars and good to work from although many drivers dont like to drive them, I love mine

packagemanuk · 11-25-2007, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poozer2000

ah the good old "puddle jumper" we use a lot of these in England mainly for the rural routes ours are made by mercedes, dont really have many major problems with these good solid reliable cars and good to work from although many drivers dont like to drive them, I love mine

I don't know what came over me, but I took a picture of one of our puddlejumpers a while ago on my dodgy cameraphone.
I think their classification is P47, but don't quote me.
We have a mixed fleet of them, a load of P80s and several Merc Sprinters at SOU. The P47s are speed restricted too,

BrownPR215 · 11-25-2007, 03:10 PM

I used to drive one when I was a part time air driver here in Philly. They are pretty convenient for small loads and they are diesel so they're pretty good on gas. Now that I am full-time I couldn't imagine any full time route using one of these. The door on the side did come in handy though!

outta hours · 11-25-2007, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrownPR215

They are pretty convenient for small loads and they are diesel so they're pretty good on gas.

pakmule · 11-25-2007, 07:52 PM

Whoever made the decision to put these in the fleet should be force to ride in one during the summer. Down here in the south they are referred to as rolling incinerators.

HazMatMan · 11-26-2007, 06:39 AM

I don't think that is NYC. Although the plate says New York. Looks like he illegally parked.

Cementups · 11-26-2007, 07:14 PM

yeah, no one illegally parks in NYC

browniehound · 11-26-2007, 07:52 PM

When you say 'sprinters' are you talking about the vans we got back in 02 or 03? The sprinter I'm yalking about looks nothing like the pictures above. When I talk about the sprinter, I'm talking about a van, literally.

These vehicles are totally useless except for a few applications. And if we used these vans striclty for these certain operations, it could save us $$$ in fuel.

Let's just say they are less efficient than a p5 if we are doing an air run that involves docks and if we need to get to the back of the vehicle to grab packages or bulk.

But, they come in real handy for airport runs. There are 2 major airports within an hour of my hub. These vans are ideal to make runs to grab EAMS or drop off PM airs. After making the EAM shuttle and the meet with the other drivers, these vans are perfect for doing an air-route that has mostly letters. If UPS can assign these vehicles to these types of operations than they can be a huge $$$ saver in fuel.

BUT, does the CM even think of these things? My guess is he doesen,t because there is no accounting for these vehicles where I'm from: its first come first serve.

If I were the business manager and the fuel expense came from my budget (It does, correct?), I would have strict rules on which runs use these most fuel efficeint vehicles.

It seems like a no-brainer to me, but my guess is that this is the last thing on my CM mind. As a shareholder, I hope I'm very wrong.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pip

4 years old and I got one of my sprinters that will be cruched in a couple weeks.

I got 2 2003 sprinters in my fleet. I just got approval for one of them to be crushed, not even going to try to keep it running for peak. It is cheaper to get a rental for the 1.5 months of peak, then it is to try to fix the sprinter. It is sitting mothballed at 190,000 miles on it. The motor and tranny have had it. The body is falling a part. In a way I am happy it is gone. I was spending so much time trying to keep it running I was falling behind on my other cars.

We got word at the beginning of 07' that any major expenses had to be approved first by corporate. To my knowledge This sprinter is the first to be ADA'd and crushed in my district. my other sprinter is pretty much on borrowed time. Have talked to a couple other mechanics from other buildings and it is a chore to maintain the ones they have, also.

These sprinters might be ok for the private contractor, But not for UPS applications. There is no way these vehicles will last 20 years, it just isn't cost effective.

local804 · 11-27-2007, 06:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cementups

yeah, no one illegally parks in NYC

lol

HazMatMan · 11-27-2007, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cementups

yeah, no one illegally parks in NYC

Ok, you got me on that one.

david cassin · 11-27-2007, 01:16 PM

we have these vans in ireland,we got a good few in our dublin office last year,we have some original sprinters going back to 2001 and 1999 ,they are probably due renewal next year with a bit of luck.
the drivers seem to like them and they hold a fair few pkgs.
better than the other old vw vans which we shipped back to the uk as their drivers liked them just theold irish roads don't take kindly to our country vans..

Big Babooba · 11-27-2007, 09:18 PM

Quote:

When you say 'sprinters' are you talking about the vans we got back in 02 or 03? The sprinter I'm yalking about looks nothing like the pictures above. When I talk about the sprinter, I'm talking about a van, literally.

Dodge sells their Sprinters as a regular van as well as a "cutaway" cab and chassis which can accept different bodies.