Heres the thing I use amzoil synthetic in those vans and changed every 25,000 miles I highly recommend the chevy express25/3500 with the 6.0 i bought them new....The 06 nwas my first van and it had a 4.8 the 4.8 isnt bad but it wont tow a trailer very well if you ever decide to use it for that....You want a full size extended van not the small 4 cylinder van that will only hold a single pallet...you will be a lot more versatile..I got those miles doing all my own maintainence on the original motor and one tranny rebuild 450,000 miles between 07 and 2010...4 water pumps one rear end rebuild done by the dealer under warranty a few brake jobs, one alternator ,and other normal maintainence, I kept nice jumper cables,antifreeze a full gas can 2 spare tires, tools a spare aternator,starter, tensioner pulley and serpentine belt..i also kept a air mattress, window blockers , and a power inverter mounted on a battery box with a marine battery inside for running my laptop plus i had sounds lol....
The marine battery came in handy when my alternator went out in new mexico in the middle of nowhere at night...I took my amp wire loose while my buddy was driving still hooked my jumper cables to it and the bolt on the seat to the negative hooked it to the marine battery and watched the needle rise and the headlights brighten..that got us to our destination and a truck stop where i changed the alternator...
The problem is NLM thats the company that has all the gm ford and chrysler freight tied up...and they are close door to any new buisness if your company isnt in with them already they stopped taking people in the 90s All the freight you are gonna find on your own is gonna be scragglers so then you have to go and sub lease to a bigger company, bolt,express1,rodriguez,diamond,tri hours, panther,fed ex and expressway... are all the decent ones there are a few mom n pop places that are good but the rest of them suck.. And if you find one that will let you run your own additional loads they want a piece of the action....There are a lot of rip off artists youll make just enough to fuel the truck and keep working they will fee you to death....I started out making a dollar a mile and when the economy tanked so did the company i worked for and when i signed on elsewhere the rates went bye bye i was getting 70c-90c but the work was still sketchy....
Stay away from the diesel vans esp the ford and the sprinter trucks the maintenance costs will kill you dead...Get either a chevy or ford gas van.... a windshield in a sprinter is $900 at safelite one for my chevy $220..i paid $155 cause i usually bought them two at a time....Trans rebuild in my van $700 i installed it myself my buddies sprinter cost him $3000 +installation......My dads ford diesel van in the background on my avatar broke down a lot i had to tow him home to mich from texas with my van once...Id actually get a 15 passenger and take the seats out cause they have rear air and heat and if you decide to haul people you still can i think its the most universal plus the chevy they come with the composite headlights instead of sealed beams which a definately a plus(i converted mine over PITA) I have a friend that takes old people to their doc appointments and the casino kids to school etc with a van and it seems to be a good buisness according to him....
I haul cars with a dually and a three car trailer now and i like the buisness a lot better got my own authority and company..Im going to try to pay someone haul a single car with the van and put a bike atv/freight in the back to make use of the vans i still own....Idk how well it will work out but hey no nuts no glory!!!! U ship is good for add on freight,yesterdays tractor in the classified need hauled section same thing...Heres another good resource
http://www.expeditersonline.com/
HtH Self employed is awesome and theres $ out here Just dont overspend or dive in without doing ur research first..... Heres where the most of the car haulers go
http://www.centraldispatch.com/
