Design your truck

[Code 82 Approved]

I have spent about 20 weeks doing different routes at HD and Ground in most configurations of trucks possible.

I can tell you that I despise cramming 200 stops in a P500, P700 and a long Sprinter.
I equally loathe getting HD duty in a P1000, as HD routing in an unfamiliar area always seems to place you on the wrong side of the road 90% of the time and the truck is a bit too big for flipping sides of residential neighborhoods all day long.

If DRA is plotted by the same people, they suck. I get thrown into it, I follow the plan as directed and let the stops go as directed. Sure I get bitched at, but it's comical to pass a collective 20 stops 3 times to get them done after getting through that map.

But I am on the bubble of what HD really needs for a truck, because nothing I have driven fits. My luxury is a multi route contractor who can get 30 pcs of love sac on another truck. 4 days/week of the last quarter, I am that other truck.. in a 1000, so I don't mind that rescue.

 

[OrioN]

hmm, no answer as of yet because your contractors should know their service areas & what type of vehicles to use on those chosen areas.

i find those sprinters and boxvans to be good on mostly rural areas, and when those streets are narrower than the standard suburbia jungle.

p500s & those skinny sprinters are just too small these days when we're lugging more furniture from wayfair, target, walmart, etc... they're good as supplemental vehicles only with about 150 stops max if we don't have too many big boxes to load or be forced to fold 1/2 of the cargo shelves up on one side of the stepvan. in a sprinter, i had to fold up all of the shelves to brick it out & work out of the rear doors all day long/ leaving the sliding pass through door closed.

it's a mixed bag of tricks though when you're loading/sorting your own stuff on the HD side. I get the map overview to make sure the software had done it's job to make sure i'm not going around the same streets 2-3 times on a given day or i'll find a manager and re-sequence my whole area to make me "straight line" through my day (that's when i come in late and the sort is done). or i'll just sort /load it the way i see fit to minimize my on-road time during the sort... they have to understand that we aren't getting paid by the hour or OT to be out on the road driving up to 12-14 hours a day.

ground, meh, i tend to stay away from their operations. i just don't like doubling back on the same streets for the various pickups/ deadlines.

 

[WestcoastHD]

hmm, no answer as of yet because your contractors should know their service areas & what type of vehicles to use on those chosen areas.

i find those sprinters and boxvans to be good on mostly rural areas, and when those streets are narrower than the standard suburbia jungle.

p500s & those skinny sprinters are just too small these days when we're lugging more furniture from wayfair, target, walmart, etc... they're good as supplemental vehicles only with about 150 stops max if we don't have too many big boxes to load or be forced to fold 1/2 of the cargo shelves up on one side of the stepvan. in a sprinter, i had to fold up all of the shelves to brick it out & work out of the rear doors all day long/ leaving the sliding pass through door closed.

it's a mixed bag of tricks though when you're loading/sorting your own stuff on the HD side. I get the map overview to make sure the software had done it's job to make sure i'm not going around the same streets 2-3 times on a given day or i'll find a manager and re-sequence my whole area to make me "straight line" through my day (that's when i come in late and the sort is done). or i'll just sort /load it the way i see fit to minimize my on-road time during the sort... they have to understand that we aren't getting paid by the hour or OT to be out on the road driving up to 12-14 hours a day.

ground, meh, i tend to stay away from their operations. i just don't like doubling back on the same streets for the various pickups/ deadlines.

I don't care how big it is, it gets smashed into the truck and walked on the whole day until it's delivered. Fedex should have a reasonable understanding; every package has the weight on the label. Throwing 10 - 20 K lbs on a single route, when nearly all HD routes are P500-700s is just greedy on fedex's part. That's why the last squirt of every pee I take in the truck goes onto the packages. em.

 

[OrioN]

lol, sounds like you and code82 have crappy contractors/managers... hope you move on from here or find better ones to work for.

but i don't really get OPs statement about not having the right vehicle for the service area at hand... P1000s aren't that hard to maneuver in similar settings; heck you see UPS driving those things in the same area, right Mr82???

i can never go back to sprinters or boxvans & not work out of the pass thru cargo door partition... i hated jumping out of the cab to run around to the back of the van to retrieve the boxes for that stop X 150 for that day~ it just puts more wear-tear on the body.

with stepvans & sliding pocket doors, i just breeze through my stops with less stress.

i wish i was in a co-location so i can dump my business bulk stops to the ground guy in the same service area (i had 40 carseats to a bus company that took almost 1/2 of the room in my P700) & in return i'll take some resis stops that he can't fit his 24' straight truck in a tight narrow streets of some suburbia

it's a good day when you're boxes are all small & you can see the floor & rear rollup door of your cargo area when you finish loading your own van

 

[TeamLift]

hmm, no answer as of yet because your contractors should know their service areas & what type of vehicles to use on those chosen areas.

i find those sprinters and boxvans to be good on mostly rural areas, and when those streets are narrower than the standard suburbia jungle.

p500s & those skinny sprinters are just too small these days when we're lugging more furniture from wayfair, target, walmart, etc... they're good as supplemental vehicles only with about 150 stops max if we don't have too many big boxes to load or be forced to fold 1/2 of the cargo shelves up on one side of the stepvan. in a sprinter, i had to fold up all of the shelves to brick it out & work out of the rear doors all day long/ leaving the sliding pass through door closed.

it's a mixed bag of tricks though when you're loading/sorting your own stuff on the HD side. I get the map overview to make sure the software had done it's job to make sure i'm not going around the same streets 2-3 times on a given day or i'll find a manager and re-sequence my whole area to make me "straight line" through my day (that's when i come in late and the sort is done). or i'll just sort /load it the way i see fit to minimize my on-road time during the sort... they have to understand that we aren't getting paid by the hour or OT to be out on the road driving up to 12-14 hours a day.

ground, meh, i tend to stay away from their operations. i just don't like doubling back on the same streets for the various pickups/ deadlines.

No they don't, contractors do not take anything into consideration except price when putting a truck or van on a route. You want proof, HD packages are getting bigger and bigger everyday, yet the new vans that are making their way on to the scene are smaller and smaller. Sales people call contractors and say, hey, I got this van and I'll give you an incredible deal on it, they go down and buy it without even thinking about whether it will do the job or not. These new Promasters and Transit vans are half to three quarters the size of a regular sprinter. Everyday I see drivers struggle to cram, slam, and force packages into those little cargo areas. I don't have a problem with either of these, however, buy the biggest, longest one they make, not the sawed off ones that are only good for hauling show size boxes. My perfect HD truck would be a sprinter front end for turning radius and fuel mileage, with a box that is 14 feet long and about 78 to 80 inches wide and no more than 9.5 feet tall with a low entry cargo area. That being said, a promaster 3500 extended would be my other choice, they are 10 inches wider than a sprinter van which helps quite a bit.

 

[OrioN]

Maybe theyre getting those lighter vans to avoid going over that 10k weight limit/ so their drivers can avoid the DOT rules for HOS???

Most of our fleet in the hub are p700 stepvans with a few p1000s... i loathe playing tetris in a smaller p500 or even smaller cargovan.

The turning radius of these ford e350/450 chassis are worse than the older freightliners or workhorse stepvans... but i rather have room n a pass through door.

 

[dex 84]

Best truck would have the heat, turning radius, bulkhead, rear and side doors and cargo area of a w700, have the a/c and engine of a Mercedes, have the steering wheel and side view mirrors of the Isuzu Step Vans, have the seat of a Ford Econoline and have at least a 30 gallon tank.

Worst truck would have the a/c, engine and seat of a w700, the turning radius, steering wheel and doors of a sprinter, the cargo area and mirrors of a Ford Econoline, and the heat and door unlocking system of an Isuzu Step van, and a 16 gallon tank.

 

[outtatime]

The W700's and W900's are the best trucks for delivering. Those Isuzu things ride like crap and have like a 20 gallon tank. The new W700's and W900's have A/C but that stupid beeping noise when you don't turn off the lights or set the park brake is annoying. I think the engine and trans are way better than the Isuzu also.