Changing requirements

[Olepops]

I am not in the rv transport business but would like to be soon. I spoke with a company yesterday and the gentleman answered many of my questions and raised my awareness on some issues. I wonder what people here think of some of his ideas.

First issue was that he was not hiring but when he does begin to hire again it will be only drivers with a CDL "A". He said that sooner or later it will be required of all rv transporters and he wants to be prepared beforehand.

Second issue of surprise to me was that he would not lease a flatbed into his fleet even if it was new and properly equipped. He reasoning made some sense to me even though I had my heart set on building a flatbed. He said that image is powerful and when his trucks pull into a dealers lot for delivery he wants two things. One being neatness and uniformity in his fleet and second being a truck that the dealers customers will look at and not get freighted of. He will not lease to anything larger than a pick up for this reason. If a customer sees a FL pulling their dream trailer they will think they too need a big truck to pull it.

Any thoughts on these ideas?

[short stack]

i pulled with a fl60 and all dealers seemed to think it was a lot better because of the air ride, more stability, etc. only had one dealer got freaked about the big truck until he saw it had air ride, then all was right in the world. i personnally would not haul with a pick up ever again
mark

[haulin rv]

Guy sounds like an idiot. What would he want next all new trucks? For what pulling singles pay he should be thrilled to have any responsible driver with a reliable truck.

[LGarrison]

Olepops, which company did you talk to?

[pballer]

That guy must not get out much. I have seen crappy trucks pulling rv's and homeless guys driving brand new trucks pulling rvs. Just because you drive a new truck doesn't mean you will be a good driver or smell nice. And yeah, he sounds like an idiot. We all want things: winning lottery ticket, all cars paying 1.50 pm, rvs paying 2.00pm. Pulling with a flatbed should not make a difference at all.

[Brisco]

First issue was that he was not hiring but when he does begin to hire again it will be only drivers with a CDL "A". He said that sooner or later it will be required of all rv transporters and he wants to be prepared beforehand.

Second issue of surprise to me was that he would not lease a flatbed into his fleet even if it was new and properly equipped. He reasoning made some sense to me even though I had my heart set on building a flatbed. He said that image is powerful and when his trucks pull into a dealers lot for delivery he wants two things. One being neatness and uniformity in his fleet and second being a truck that the dealers customers will look at and not get freighted of. He will not lease to anything larger than a pick up for this reason. If a customer sees a FL pulling their dream trailer they will think they too need a big truck to pull it.

Any thoughts on these ideas?

Class A issue I understand. It's more of a "CYA" stance the carriers are now taking with regards towards their Safestat(coming soon CSA 2010) ratings. The "top" RV Transport companies (Quality-Hoosier) have already implemented the "Class A" requirement for their drivers, and I believe it's just a matter of time until all RV Transport companies will have the same requirement for all their drivers.

Your second issue, the flatbed issue, I have an opinion that the guy is wanting his drivers to "fly under the radar" while running for him. (Got this opinion from the question you asked me about logbooks in our PM) Sounds to me like the guy is wanting a bunch of upper classed drivers and trucks in his fleet that will not bring attention to the ones (State Troopers) that are looking for "Hauler" types of trucks. A 50-60 year old driver in a newer truck without DOT markings pulling a new looking trailer does not catch the attention of the Troopers out there. There are thousands of retirees traveling all over this country on the interstates every single day pulling trailers with newer looking trucks. If you have a flatbed on your truck making you look "commercial", a Trooper will give you a second look as you go by. Trust me, it is in my opinion that his alterior motive to having all his trucks being "pick-up" trucks is not geared towards suppeasing the dealers he's delivering too, but more geared towards having his drivers running under the very very minimum FMSCA/DOT regs they can. And another issue could be his insurance coverage is at the very minimum not allowing anything above, say a class 4-5 truck.

I've delivered to many a dealership all over this country and have parked next to a GMC 5500 or an FL 60 who was delivering also and have never heard this issue brought up before. I've also talked to many a driver on the road who was running with a class 5-6-7 truck who has never brought up any discussion saying that a dealer had freaked out when he pulled into their lot making a delivery. If this was a "Valid" issue, I am quite sure we would have many discussions about it in the past, either with other drivers in person or on one of the many discussion boards we've all been on here and there. Nope, the guy you talked to has other motives over why he wants only "pick-up" trucks in his fleet.

You gonna tell us who it was you spoke with??? :):):)

[Olepops]

It was Indiana transport. I hesitated in mentioning it outside of pm because I really did not want to start something nasty. But it is a crazy business to understand from the outside and I do appreciate all the feedback.

You said 50 to 60 year old drivers......I am almost that and with grey hair fit the bill. Ya think he smelled me coming?

So, I guess I'll look into getting a cdl. Is there typically an increase in trailer sales or transporting in January February?

[Brisco]

HHmmm.........

Who at IT was asking for these requirements? Lou, Phil, and Joe are pretty stand up guys and know the business quite well. IT is quickly becoming the premiere company "experienced" drivers are looking to drive for. I guess if Lou is implementing an "image" policy, there's a reason for it. Could be that so many drivers are looking to drive for them that he's weeding through the apps looking for the best drivers with the best equipment. Don't really understand the "no flatbed" restrictions he putting in play though. I know it was NOT Phil or Lou who made that logbook remark you mentioned in the PM, right!!

Take note though, if you do go for a flatbed truck you only have 2 choices in length, OK. First being just your regular 8ft flatbed. Second being a 9ft flatbed with tapered/cropped corners on the rear. You cannot have a straight 9ft flatbed on your truck due to turning dangers. The ends of that 9ft flatbed must be tapered off at 45 degree angles to prevent the flatbed from digging into the trailer while making sharp turns.


You said 50 to 60 year old drivers......I am almost that and with grey hair fit the bill. Ya think he smelled me coming?

Nope, in some cases and with some companies, you'd be considered as the "young'un" amongst your fellow drivers. :)

In February most companies start doing their recruiting advertising to get drivers hired for the March-April-May rush. Hang out til then and then get ready to give it try.

[pmmjarrett]

On the class A issue... Drivers without a CDL are a dime a dozen. IT is one of the best if not the best paying company out there and has become the company to work for. So why not pick the cream of the crop and hire only seasoned drivers with good equipment and a class A CDL. The company is fairly small and family owned and operated, they don't churn drivers through the meat grinder like some we all love to hate.

Experienced truck drivers usually know how to log, run through the scales and understand the truck laws better. Less training and hopefully fewer citations will lead to a better safe stat score.

They also move a lot of big units like the Heartland Cyclone and Landmark so you need a CDL to pull them and don't need to have a fleet of drivers that can't move the big stuff.

For the flatbed, can't help ya there much..... I'll tell you from experience that spring ride trucks beat the snot out of these trailers and most of the class 5 and 6 freightliners are spring ride. Also if the bed corners are not right you poke holes in the trailers when turning. Insurance has likely limited what he can lease on for singles too.

Driving a hual and tow I can tell you big trucks attract a ton of attention... not so much from the DOT, I am hassled less by the DOT in my Class 8 freightliner than I was in my pickup or class 6 Ford, infact I havn't even been inspected in the Freightliner yet..... But on the dealers lot everyone, and I mean everyone can't resist checking it out and talking too me because it's different and most have never seen anything like it.

The owner of the dealership will come out, the sales staff and mechanics come out, other RV transporters will approach me and any customer on the lot will come up and check it out, especially any older gentleman that has ever driven a truck, those guys wanna talk truck, it's in their blood, they wanna touch and look at everything and ask a hundred questions. If I ever botch unloading this thing, I'm gonna have an audience. I have to be especially carefull with what I do and say around the customers as a salesman is usually with them when they come up to me.

Mid January starts the push for deliveries. It isn't when dealers sell the most it's that most dealers make their purchases for inventory at the Louisville RVIA dealer trade show which happens 30 Nov - 2 Dec this year. What and how much sells sets the stage for RV deliveries for the busy shipping season. The factories shut down in december and crank up again after the first of the year. The rush to deliver starts mid Jan and by July 4th it's caught up. That's when it slows down, especially for contractors doing singles with a pickup. Haul and Tow and Tractor trailers generally stay steady though the summer and fall, usually just takes a quick phone call to the customer to get us rolling in a day or 2 if something isn't already waighting for us.

December is when some companies will actually start taking applications and late January is when they will start hiring if needed. Hiring will typically stop in June of July.

[haulin rv]

The thread made think of when I was hauling and thought about a change. This would be back when Horizon was the top dog, after calling and talking to them I hung up thinking WTF. So many petty stupid requirements and rules so I passed. It was just shortly after that Classic offered the dedicated Jayco deal and the best part was it actually paid better than Horizon.

Look where there arrogance got them now!