26 replies to this topic

[da_snackman]

Helloo, my business is growing until I need to find a vending box truck for daily use. Before jumping in, I'd like to know what other operators are using, have used, and their experiences...... I've heard Isuzu diesel is the way to go, but what are the maintenance and repair costs on these trucks. Also, if we get a liftgate on it, what types of problems can arise with liftgates and how often?

Jump on board -all input is appreciated!

[mississippi]

Helloo, my business is growing until I need to find a vending box truck for daily use.  Before jumping in, I'd like to know what other operators are using, have used, and their experiences......  I've heard Isuzu diesel is the way to go, but what are the maintenance and repair costs on these trucks.  Also, if we get a liftgate on it, what types of problems can arise with liftgates and how often?

Jump on board -all input is appreciated!

           

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

dude don't get a step van....as far as bodies, get you a real vending body with side load features Your back will appreciate it. Also, you get better gas mileage and save a ton of time. hope it helps

[Calorie Connecter]

My business is growing steadily and I have also been looking for a replacement van for my route. I have done some research and have found that the Dodge sprinter is an excellant van for vending. It has airconditioning which is required to keep my bars from melting into chocholate soup! It is diesel which is better than gas. But it is a bit costly, but again if you lease it, you can right it off. Hope that helps a bit. I am interested in the side loading type vehicle but they are currently only offered in the USA I believe. Also check out what your larger competitor is using. My main competitor uses the Sprinter and one operator told me that if they give him back his old van he would quit!!

[blackbiker]

Helloo, my business is growing until I need to find a vending box truck for daily use.  Before jumping in, I'd like to know what other operators are using, have used, and their experiences......  I've heard Isuzu diesel is the way to go, but what are the maintenance and repair costs on these trucks.  Also, if we get a liftgate on it, what types of problems can arise with liftgates and how often?

Jump on board -all input is appreciated!

           

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I have the chevy express van extended 2500 a bit big but plenty of room for storage.A little tough on gas but what the heck diesel is just as high as gas in my state.

[haylog]

g''day mate depending on the size of your route, how many machines
do u have .

regards, haylog,
australia

[kevin]

Gas vs Diesle in vending is dependent. If you machines are located far apart(15 20 miles) then diesel is great. IF they are close then Gas is better and will save your engine. I use omnivan for my main route guy and an omni rack for a van. We hve done it all from making our own shelves to bigger trucks, but an omnivan is the best. My competitor in the area uses full size box trucks and he cant keep an employee because they are hard on their backs.

[BVI]

I'd go with a box truck. Especially if you are offering soda, snacks and cold food items. I don't see how you'd have enough room in a van of any sort for all that and keep it organized. I went from a van to a box truck (gas) and would not use anything else.

[kevin]

I'd go with a box truck. Especially if you are offering soda, snacks and cold food items. I don't see how you'd have enough room in a van of any sort for all that and keep it organized. I went from a van to a box truck (gas) and would not use anything else.

We have used Omni van for past 10 years and they work the best. You can carry around 100 cans and 40 bottles along with 10 different chips, a cool box for candy and patries and an area for dry foods and crackers. We are able to unload over 80 cases a day off each truck without reloading. Also there is no climbing into the truck and it has doors that rise to shade you or protect you from rain when pulling the product.

[jblvending]

We have used Omni van for past 10 years and they work the best. You can carry around 100 cans and 40 bottles along with 10 different chips, a cool box for candy and patries and an area for dry foods and crackers. We are able to unload over 80 cases a day off each truck without reloading. Also there is no climbing into the truck and it has doors that rise to shade you or protect you from rain when pulling the product.

Really depends on your set up, if you go to my web site I have some pic's of the back of my vans, I'm able to load 117 cases, 25 cases of bottles,15 cases of chips, 12 cases of pastry, 3 icechest full with of candy, and tools on our 3500 GMC extended van.I think we will go to sprinters in a couple of years.It's really how you organize your van to get max useage.Don't get me wrong, I like the omni,just for the money we felt that the van was more economical.

[BVI]

I'm not sure I know what an Omni van is, so I don't really have an opinion of it.

JBL Vending, I saw what you are referring to on your website, and that is quite a setup for a van. If you're able to service 200 machines with 3 of those vans, you're doing something right to be sure.

I'm using a 16 foot Isuzu box truck with a 350 V8 Chevy engine. I installed Muscle shelves on both sides that hold a lot of stuff. I'm nowhere close to maxing out how much I can put on it.

Something that I discovered by accident is that I can stack fridge-pack cases much better than I can open cases of cans because they hold together being closed up, and they are somewhat sticky on the outside of the box which keeps them planted firmly in place. This really multiplied how much I could store on my shelves.

In addition to the amount of stuff I can store, the other big advantage of a box truck is that it's a lot easier on my back - no more hunching over in my van when I'm pulling stock. I have a Tommy Lift on my truck, so it's not like I have to climb onto it, I just step up there and go to work.

[jblvending]

I'm not sure I know what an Omni van is, so I don't really have an opinion of it.

JBL Vending, I saw what you are referring to on your website, and that is quite a setup for a van. If you're able to service 200 machines with 3 of those vans, you're doing something right to be sure.

I'm using a 16 foot Isuzu box truck with a 350 V8 Chevy engine. I installed Muscle shelves on both sides that hold a lot of stuff. I'm nowhere close to maxing out how much I can put on it.

Something that I discovered by accident is that I can stack fridge-pack cases much better than I can open cases of cans because they hold together being closed up, and they are somewhat sticky on the outside of the box which keeps them planted firmly in place. This really multiplied how much I could store on my shelves.

In addition to the amount of stuff I can store, the other big advantage of a box truck is that it's a lot easier on my back - no more hunching over in my van when I'm pulling stock. I have a Tommy Lift on my truck, so it's not like I have to climb onto it, I just step up there and go to work.

Thanks BVI, The box vans are the way to go if you like only loading up once every 2 to 3 days.We reload each day, and it helps turn products over faster.I like box vans, we have to get in some tight areas sometimes, and the vans allow us to do that.I really feel that the sprinters are now the way to go, due to the fact that you can stand in them and set them up much like a box truck.With the way we built the casing to hold the cans in the rear, it very easy on the back, just a matter of sliding the drinks you need out,and loading it on to your dolly, if you notice we have a top shelf, that is for our non- core drinks, such as orange, strawberry,etc.The only thing about the Sprinters, are that the insurance on these things are very costly, it kinda offsets any saving you may have on fuel, it was a wash for us, so we stayed with the vans, but hopefully as more or on the road, cost factors on these vans will come down, hopefully.

[kevin]

Thanks BVI, The box vans are the way to go if you like only loading up once every 2 to 3 days.We reload each day, and it helps turn products over faster.I like box vans, we have to get in some tight areas sometimes, and the vans allow us to do that.I really feel that the sprinters are now the way to go, due to the fact that you can stand in them and set them up much like a box truck.With the way we built the casing to hold the cans in the rear, it very easy on the back, just a matter of sliding the drinks you need out,and loading it on to your dolly, if you notice we have a top shelf, that is for our non- core drinks, such as orange, strawberry,etc.The only thing about the Sprinters, are that the insurance on these things are very costly, it kinda offsets any saving you may have on fuel, it was a wash for us, so we stayed with the vans, but hopefully as more or on the road, cost factors on these vans will come down, hopefully.

I should have supplied a link of the Omni Van, http://www.equipment...ge_delivery.htm .We can service over 200 cases a day with this and do all the snack machines off the same truck without reloading. I just like not having to climb up into a box truck

[BVI]

Thanks for the link, Kevin. I see what you mean. There are some big advantages to using an Omni van (truck). I'd like to see one up close sometime to get a better idea of how things can be organized. It looks to me like storage is very efficient and that there would be little chance of anything toppling over and bursting (like soda cans!). That has been a problem for me in the past using my box truck.

That said, by the time I finish my route at the end of the day, I will have accumulated a lot of trash (empty boxes, etc...), and I don't see anywhere on the omni truck to shove it into until I get back to use my dumpster. Occasionally, I will dispose of trash if there is a handy dumpster at my locations, but I don't count on being able to do that all the time.

I also keep cleaning supplies, my hand truck / dolly, and tools inside my box; and I don't see anywhere to store those on the omni. The hand truck, I suppose, could be mounted on the outside of the truck in the back, but not sure about the other items.

[nomoneynomo]

We use the same type of trucks at work and if they're organized right they can be the perfect truck to run a vending route out of. The trucks we use have a cooler in the front part of the omni cube where we store food, pastry and candy. You have to plug in a 220 plug but it gets nice and cold and will stay that way even after a 14 hour day.(unfortunately I know that very well). There is a place on the back of the truck to store your dolly and ours have a drop down safe to store the money. As far as trash goes the only trash that may get in the way would be coke flats and I always break mine down and they are never in the way. There is plenty of room for chips so the boxes even when empty aren't in the way. Tools and cleaning supplies fit perfectly in the passenger seat:) The only real setback is standing in the rain pulling product. If you are considering a truck like this I may can take a few pics of one of our trucks if you would like.

[BVI]

We use the same type of trucks at work and if they're organized right they can be the perfect truck to run a vending route out of. The trucks we use have a cooler in the front part of the omni cube where we store food, pastry and candy. You have to plug in a 220 plug but it gets nice and cold and will stay that way even after a 14 hour day.(unfortunately I know that very well). There is a place on the back of the truck to store your dolly and ours have a drop down safe to store the money. As far as trash goes the only trash that may get in the way would be coke flats and I always break mine down and they are never in the way. There is plenty of room for chips so the boxes even when empty aren't in the way. Tools and cleaning supplies fit perfectly in the passenger seat:) The only real setback is standing in the rain pulling product. If you are considering a truck like this I may can take a few pics of one of our trucks if you would like.

That would be awesome if you wouldn't mind doing that. I will need to add a second truck at some point and this may well be the way I will go. I like having a place for everything, I do now, but this is even better. Especially the cooling part of it for cold food items. Thanks!!

[BVI]

I wonder what the availability would be for a used omni truck, and if they would be similarly priced to a box truck. Anyone have any idea?

[kevin]

I wonder what the availability would be for a used omni truck, and if they would be similarly priced to a box truck. Anyone have any idea?

This guy use to have them http://www.specialtytrux.com/ Our truck is almost 10 years old and has out lasted 3 vans. It is a great truck and if it ever does break down I can get the chasis for alot cheaper then a full setup. I use to have pictures of ours on the website but we took them down

[nomoneynomo]

That would be awesome if you wouldn't mind doing that. I will need to add a second truck at some point and this may well be the way I will go. I like having a place for everything, I do now, but this is even better. Especially the cooling part of it for cold food items. Thanks!!

I will get those pics as soon as I can. We are three people short and its hard to find time to do anything. Just so you'll no I havent forgotten.

[BVI]

Does anyone use an omnivan where temperatures get below freezing? In my area, we do get some freezing temps, at times in the teens and single digits. I had to use an electric heater in my box truck this past winter to keep my soda cans from freezing and bursting. A few did freeze and burst before I did that. However, on the route, I've had a few instances where cans froze and burst a couple of times just from opening the door repeatedly during the day and not having any heat back there. Seems like this might be more of a problem using an omnivan in the winter. Anyone have any experience with this?

[kevin]

Does anyone use an omnivan where temperatures get below freezing? In my area, we do get some freezing temps, at times in the teens and single digits. I had to use an electric heater in my box truck this past winter to keep my soda cans from freezing and bursting. A few did freeze and burst before I did that. However, on the route, I've had a few instances where cans froze and burst a couple of times just from opening the door repeatedly during the day and not having any heat back there. Seems like this might be more of a problem using an omnivan in the winter. Anyone have any experience with this?

Im the complete oposite here where the temps get to 110 or more in the summer. Its been 100+ for almost a month now and even though its like this the omnivan is much cooler. They do have tempeture control for these trucks though, but I have never seen it for heating. Everything they do is custom so I would call them to see what they can do for you.

[BVI]

Yeah, you're right. Man, I bet especially in your area those really make sense. If they can put a heater in there somehow, that would work real well here too. I might be the first vendor to use one... I haven't seen any of those here.

[nomoneynomo]

Here are some pictures of our trucks. We have a part that stays refrigerated and there are plenty of room for cans. The can shelves hold 105 cases total. It has a drop down safe and this particular truck has 21 cases of chips in the back section of the truck. As far as wondering if there is enough room on this truck, this guys sales average right over $13,000 a week. I hope this pictures work.

http://i136.photobuc...mo/100_0121.jpg
http://i136.photobuc...mo/100_0120.jpg
http://i136.photobuc.../100_0119-1.jpg
http://i136.photobuc...mo/100_0118.jpg
http://i136.photobuc...mo/100_0117.jpg

[BVI]

Wow. That's quite the setup. I didn't know there was such a truck out there. Everyone here sort of builds their own shelves out of wood, in a primitive sort of way. I used muscle shelves in the back of my box truck, which works okay, but it's nothing like what you have there with that omni van. The only drawback I can see, like I said, would be the freezing temps we get, which might explain why I haven't seen any omni vans around here in KY.

That is an awesome way to go, though.

[kevin]

Nice setup, alot like ours. I will post pictures of ours since its a little differnt. It averages $450 a day in profit just on drinks alone. I dont have a system in place for calculating profit of snacks yet.

[nomoneynomo]

Does anyone use an omnivan where temperatures get below freezing? In my area, we do get some freezing temps, at times in the teens and single digits. I had to use an electric heater in my box truck this past winter to keep my soda cans from freezing and bursting. A few did freeze and burst before I did that. However, on the route, I've had a few instances where cans froze and burst a couple of times just from opening the door repeatedly during the day and not having any heat back there. Seems like this might be more of a problem using an omnivan in the winter. Anyone have any experience with this?

We used to have some omni vans at work that were used to deliver meals on wheels and they had heated compartments to keep the food warm. I would think if they had those kind then you could also find something like that where it just kept it at a good temp without heating it up too much.