Building my own truck sleeper berth

[Brocky]

Mike
Congratulations!! You are doing the right thing.. The real learning starts after you get out of school and out on the road dealing with both dispatch and customers.. Your military background will help you ..Especially in the wardrobe and grooming areas which the majority of these new "Steering Wheel Holders" very much LACK!!!

By doing your schooling on your own via the Army you are not beholding to any company.. Again I will say: DO YOUR RESEARCH!! The 4 weeks of school plus having a financial cushion, you do not have to take the first job offered.. Be sure to consult with your wife and go over various job offers together..For your marriage to continue you must keep to regional or local work, DO NOT take any of the long haul with the large companies as they like to keep you out for 3 to 6 weeks at a time.. Other places to look are: Wal-Mart, the grocery store chains, construction, and farm service companies, just to mention a few.

As Ed said please keep us updated via PM or email connections.

 

[mwilson]

Mike,

You may encounter the "Experienced Drivers" clause, the insurance companys do not want to cover newbies as a rule.

They want verifiable driving experience. Same old question now as it was 30 years ago, "How do I get experience if no one will let me drive?"

So you may have to go to a bigger, self-insured carrier with a training / ride-along / driver trainer scenario even after attending school to get verified safe driving miles under your belt.

Suck it up and do that for a year if you have to, then you should be on a level playing field afterwards.

Best of luck to you!!

 

[jacknife]

Been an owner operator for 35 yrs. Don't waste your time and money hauling RVs . It is a one way trip and it doesn't pay enough. Go drive for a company and you will do much better and no overhead.

 

[rumrunner21650]

Having delivered RV's all over the US & Canada back when you could make money, I suggest that you get a job at Walmart. That along with your retirement and disability you will make more money than delivering rv's. If you don't believe it after you try the rv business and find out all you do is a lot of dead heading you will kick yourself in the butt for not taking my advice. The only way to make money using one truck is to have a legal sleeper along with a team driver so the truck can run 24/7 and lets not forget a pickup that can get 22+ mpg for all the dead heading you will do. A 2012 dodge at best will get 13-15 empty without serious emission mods to the tune of about $5k. Good luck with your venture. rumrunner2160

 

[Copperhead]

I realize this thread is in the morgue, but I came across it and thought anyone wanting to turn a crew cab into a DOT sleeper should take a look at this......

https://www.woodhouse.com/sleeper_berth

they modify the doors with inserts and make the window so it cannot roll down to accomplish that. But it meets the 75" x 24" bed requirement of DOT 393.76 complete with restraint system which is also required. But to also make it fully compliant, they have to remove the front passenger seat to allow unhindered access to front per the regulation also. But, they do it in such a way that it can be restored to factory later with everything.

Just an FYI for anyone contemplating this sort of thing. here is a video of them doing it.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIySlWkpJEo