Route rebuilding!

[AngryChris]

I just wanted to share my thoughts with everyone here on TVF.  This topic is about adjusting routes in ways to save money.

 

Recently, my step van was fatally wounded by some kind of a ghost, alien, gremlin, or maybe even normal wear and tear (my money is on the gremlin).  I have been forced to do some hard thinking about what to replace it with.  I have been working out of my hatchback car, which is currently working, but I am getting sick FAST with not having the extra cargo space.  I went from roughly  250 cubic feet of cargo space down to about 70 cubic feet of cargo space.  I will be adding about 7 more accounts in the next few months and I simply can NOT do this out of my car for much longer.

 

I have weighed two possible options.  One option is to simply use a cargo van.  The overall cost of a cargo van seems to be significantly cheaper than a box truck because a cargo van should weigh less and have less drag due to its streamline body style (compared to a box truck).  This means it should get better gas mileage (I estimate 25% better fuel economy) and it should need tires and brakes less often.  The downside to a cargo van is that I cannot stand up to work from inside of it and it holds maybe half of what a 12' box truck would hold.

 

So... it's safe to assume that box trucks SHOULD cost more to operate and maintain than cargo vans do.  So how would I possibly offset that cost?  I have come up with a simple solution -- making days longer.  The idea is that, by having a truck with way more supplies (due to the higher capacity), I will be able to travel FAR less miles in any given week.  The goal is to reduce the miles traveled from about 400 miles each week to about 250 miles each week.  I think it really can be possible to do that.  Traveling less miles means that the overall cost to operate and maintain will at least be partially offset in a box truck, but I will have to stay disciplined about which accounts I do and when I start my days.

 

The idea is to redesign my route so that the farthest accounts are done first (as they are already) but later in the day, as I get closer to home-base, I begin servicing accounts based off of the order that they will close.  Let's face it, if I have to backtrack 3 miles, that is far better than "going there tomorrow" when the account is 8 miles away.

 

I also realized that there are other added benefit to doing things this way.  First of all, having more "stuff" in a vehicle means I have a far greater chance of running out of product.  I have a HUGE problem with running out of crackers... sometimes I carry 3 boxes (I think there are 45 in a pack) and still run out.  Sometimes I carry 4 variety packs of pastries and run out before my last few stops.  Having enough inventory means I can stock things up better to prevent my machines from missing sales.

 

Another benefit is that I can actually go to Sam's Club and stock up even higher than I did with my step van (the step van was very small).  Being able to purchase way more product at a time means spending less trips to the stores!  I have no idea how much out-of-the-way traveling I do each week just to go to a local grocery store to get an extra case of cans because I ran out.... but I am sure it will add up significantly.

 

Even with these benefits in mind, nothing quite matches up to the idea of being able to save my back from working out of a cargo van.  I'm not huge or anything but I am certainly not little at almost 6'1".  I already get aches and pains in my back and knees (there's a strong family history of it) and I am only 29.  I am sure it won't get any better either.

 

With my guestimates, I think that working out of a box truck 2 days on "week A" and 3 days on "week B" will cost no more than it costs me right now, and I may only need to work an additional day or two to take care of things like honor boxes.  After I finish writing this post, I am going to sit down and go over all of my accounts and figure out how I can go about running my route each day so that I get the most done that I possibly can while simultaneously preventing myself from backtracking.  We have all heard the phrase that "time is money" but I honestly don't think it holds any meaning until you find yourself running out of time... then you'll realize how much your time is worth.

 

That's it for now.  I hope there's at least some discussion about it!

[moondog]

I just wanted to share my thoughts with everyone here on TVF.  This topic is about adjusting routes in ways to save money.

 

Recently, my step van was fatally wounded by some kind of a ghost, alien, gremlin, or maybe even normal wear and tear (my money is on the gremlin).  I have been forced to do some hard thinking about what to replace it with.  I have been working out of my hatchback car, which is currently working, but I am getting sick FAST with not having the extra cargo space.  I went from roughly  250 cubic feet of cargo space down to about 70 cubic feet of cargo space.  I will be adding about 7 more accounts in the next few months and I simply can NOT do this out of my car for much longer.

 

I have weighed two possible options.  One option is to simply use a cargo van.  The overall cost of a cargo van seems to be significantly cheaper than a box truck because a cargo van should weigh less and have less drag due to its streamline body style (compared to a box truck).  This means it should get better gas mileage (I estimate 25% better fuel economy) and it should need tires and brakes less often.  The downside to a cargo van is that I cannot stand up to work from inside of it and it holds maybe half of what a 12' box truck would hold.

 

So... it's safe to assume that box trucks SHOULD cost more to operate and maintain than cargo vans do.  So how would I possibly offset that cost?  I have come up with a simple solution -- making days longer.  The idea is that, by having a truck with way more supplies (due to the higher capacity), I will be able to travel FAR less miles in any given week.  The goal is to reduce the miles traveled from about 400 miles each week to about 250 miles each week.  I think it really can be possible to do that.  Traveling less miles means that the overall cost to operate and maintain will at least be partially offset in a box truck, but I will have to stay disciplined about which accounts I do and when I start my days.

 

The idea is to redesign my route so that the farthest accounts are done first (as they are already) but later in the day, as I get closer to home-base, I begin servicing accounts based off of the order that they will close.  Let's face it, if I have to backtrack 3 miles, that is far better than "going there tomorrow" when the account is 8 miles away.

 

I also realized that there are other added benefit to doing things this way.  First of all, having more "stuff" in a vehicle means I have a far greater chance of running out of product.  I have a HUGE problem with running out of crackers... sometimes I carry 3 boxes (I think there are 45 in a pack) and still run out.  Sometimes I carry 4 variety packs of pastries and run out before my last few stops.  Having enough inventory means I can stock things up better to prevent my machines from missing sales.

 

Another benefit is that I can actually go to Sam's Club and stock up even higher than I did with my step van (the step van was very small).  Being able to purchase way more product at a time means spending less trips to the stores!  I have no idea how much out-of-the-way traveling I do each week just to go to a local grocery store to get an extra case of cans because I ran out.... but I am sure it will add up significantly.

 

Even with these benefits in mind, nothing quite matches up to the idea of being able to save my back from working out of a cargo van.  I'm not huge or anything but I am certainly not little at almost 6'1".  I already get aches and pains in my back and knees (there's a strong family history of it) and I am only 29.  I am sure it won't get any better either.

 

With my guestimates, I think that working out of a box truck 2 days on "week A" and 3 days on "week B" will cost no more than it costs me right now, and I may only need to work an additional day or two to take care of things like honor boxes.  After I finish writing this post, I am going to sit down and go over all of my accounts and figure out how I can go about running my route each day so that I get the most done that I possibly can while simultaneously preventing myself from backtracking.  We have all heard the phrase that "time is money" but I honestly don't think it holds any meaning until you find yourself running out of time... then you'll realize how much your time is worth.

 

That's it for now.  I hope there's at least some discussion about it!

Sorry to hear about your box van going down.  I lost my cargo van a few months back and have been working out of my SUV ever since.  It's caused me to make some changes as I can only fit enough products for eight machines now and have very little extra space for sodas on sale or cases of chips.  My situation is a little different because around here, hitting the freeways at 7:00 am will only buy you 2 hours of sitting in traffic jams which I hate.  So I leave at 10 and try to get back by 3 and can easily hit all 4 stops in that time frame and beat all the traffic.  Even though I'm logging more miles, the smaller vehicle gets much better gas mileage so it evens out.  When Coke goes on sale I make extra trips to max out all my machines - basically using them as my warehouse so I don't have so much to haul on a daily basis.  To me, the only good reason to get a huge vehicle is when your route gets so large you can service all your accounts otherwise.  For me, I'm sitting on thirty machines which take 6 days a month to service so I'll be sticking with the SUV unless something drastic happens.

 

Consider that Allen Watson, even though he doesn't face much traffic living out in Area 52 (aka Barstow) services 130 machines out of a minivan so you don't really need a box van to do this on a good sized scale.

[AZVendor]

The box truck is the answer if you're going to grow your route significantly.  It sounds like you don't have any product storage outside of your vehicle so if you could load a box truck for an entire week then that will save you trips to the store and any reloading time anywhere.  The limitation of a box truck is mostly related to parking.  The brake wear will be similar between all vehicles as the brakes are generally sized to the vehicle.  The maintenance, assuming you have all reliable vehicles, will be based on the mileage so lower miles will mean lower maintenance.  

 

My experience with a cargo van and 60 machines was that I had to reload almost daily as the candy and pastry were always low, so I understand your reluctance to use a cargo van.  I did enjoy how much work I could get done with mine and I never had an account I couldn't access with it.  The box trucks we used were on full routes with 16-20 machines being done in a day.  They did allow us to fill them full and run for an entire day without running out of anything.  However, if you will be servicing 100 machines each week you will have to restock your truck every day.  I know you're not at that point now, but you need to remember that one day you will be in that position and it will be good to have that box truck then.

 

You are also on the right track to reorganize and put your accounts into a schedule that minimizes the driving so that you can eventually do more machines per day or per week.  You can lengthen the time between services if you concentrate on selling 60% of the machine inventory before you service them.   This will require doubling or tripling the best sellers to avoid sold out items but it can work.

[AngryChris]

The box truck is the answer if you're going to grow your route significantly. It sounds like you don't have any product storage outside of your vehicle so if you could load a box truck for an entire week then that will save you trips to the store and any reloading time anywhere. The limitation of a box truck is mostly related to parking. The brake wear will be similar between all vehicles as the brakes are generally sized to the vehicle. The maintenance, assuming you have all reliable vehicles, will be based on the mileage so lower miles will mean lower maintenance.

My experience with a cargo van and 60 machines was that I had to reload almost daily as the candy and pastry were always low, so I understand your reluctance to use a cargo van. I did enjoy how much work I could get done with mine and I never had an account I couldn't access with it. The box trucks we used were on full routes with 16-20 machines being done in a day. They did allow us to fill them full and run for an entire day without running out of anything. However, if you will be servicing 100 machines each week you will have to restock your truck every day. I know you're not at that point now, but you need to remember that one day you will be in that position and it will be good to have that box truck then.

You are also on the right track to reorganize and put your accounts into a schedule that minimizes the driving so that you can eventually do more machines per day or per week. You can lengthen the time between services if you concentrate on selling 60% of the machine inventory before you service them. This will require doubling or tripling the best sellers to avoid sold out items but it can work.

You're right on all counts. I have no other storage except when I unload soda in the winter to prevent freezing. Things wouldn't be as difficult if my route was composed of all cans and no bottles.

I completely forgot to mention that I could service my machines less often. That will save me too.

[meis]

I have a little different perspective. I use to work for a construction company - I wore many hats. One hat was safety training and workman's comp. If I were in your shoes - I would save my back and buy the box truck! You have put a lot of thought into this and have justified the purchase of the box truck. The value to your back I believe pushes the box truck over the top!! I would go with the box truck!

[Growliebusters]

I will be watching this thread closly. I'm curious to see what everyones response will be.

Up until a month ago, my full time job had three different starting times for me. 8-9-10:30.

That made every third week impossible to service anything. And working out of an Impala is a challange to say the least.

I had a change at work and I was able to set my hours at 9::00 to 5:30 steady.

That allows me to service one account a day starting at 6:30 am.

Now the vehicle size is of no matter for me as I prekit based on the account.

Unknown to the wife, this has freed up some extra time to add another 4-5 accounts. The other shift had me physically lmited to the number I am at now.

Not sure how long the Impala will last, a cargo van will be next for me.

[AngryChris]

I will be watching this thread closly. I'm curious to see what everyones response will be.

Up until a month ago, my full time job had three different starting times for me. 8-9-10:30.

That made every third week impossible to service anything. And working out of an Impala is a challange to say the least.

I had a change at work and I was able to set my hours at 9::00 to 5:30 steady.

That allows me to service one account a day starting at 6:30 am.

Now the vehicle size is of no matter for me as I prekit based on the account.

Unknown to the wife, this has freed up some extra time to add another 4-5 accounts. The other shift had me physically lmited to the number I am at now.

Not sure how long the Impala will last, a cargo van will be next for me.

 

It took me a good 3 years or so but I did manage to switch to vending "full-time" but my route is much less efficient than it could be and I know it.  I just haven't had a good reason to change anything until recently.  I also had a full-time job during that time but they were very flexible with me (because a lot of people didn't want to do the job that I did).  I also went to school full-time.  I don't know how you can work from 9-5:30 AND take care of some vending accounts but props to you!  The hardest part you will find is being able to balance your full-time job and vending.  You'll reach a point where you wonder... can I afford to live off of the business alone?  Can I get all of these accounts done on time with my full-time job's hours getting in the way?  Could I manage to work part-time and use the business to offset the lost income?

 

Those are tough times.  It's kind of like a roller coaster.  When you reach the crest of the hill, your heart starts racing... you KNOW you are about to start moving rather fast but you aren't sure just HOW fast you will go and how LONG it will take to reach the bottom before everything smooths out.  Things can look very scary when you reach the crest, but you may find out that you are glad that you did it.  The only difference with vending is that you are allowed to stop the ride at any moment.  That makes it both a relief to know that you can walk away and irritating to know how easy it is to fail.

[CajunCandy]

My situation is a little different than most on this board.

 

All my of my 25 machines is located within fifteen miles of my house, some machines needs servicing every week and some once every two weeks. Like some on here I had a full time job, shift work and I was able to service machines on my days away from work.

 

As of Monday coming only job I have now is to service my machines and look for potential new locations.

 

I service my machines with a mini van, move machines with it to. Trailer/ dolly.

 

Will continue to use minivan until it dies, or find a cargo van that would work for me.

 

I looked at box trucks, for me I find to clumsy and hard to park in some of my locations.

 

As for traffic, nothing like moondog, except for lunch time and five o'clock when most knock off work.

 

I will enjoy my freedom after working at one company for thirty two years!

 

cajun 

[Golfdogs]

My situation is a little different than most on this board.

All my of my 25 machines is located within fifteen miles of my house, some machines needs servicing every week and some once every two weeks. Like some on here I had a full time job, shift work and I was able to service machines on my days away from work.

As of Monday coming only job I have now is to service my machines and look for potential new locations.

I service my machines with a mini van, move machines with it to. Trailer/ dolly.

Will continue to use minivan until it dies, or find a cargo van that would work for me.

I looked at box trucks, for me I find to clumsy and hard to park in some of my locations.

As for traffic, nothing like moondog, except for lunch time and five o'clock when most knock off work.

I will enjoy my freedom after working at one company for thirty two years!

cajun

Congratulations!

[tc vending]

Vending is full time for me I use a cargo van. I prekit the snacks in boxes, chocolate in a cooler, and cokes are in the back of van prekitting cokes was to complex so I just load enough to get my day done. I use a lot of storage at home for product and yes it has taken time to prefect the system. I am pushing my van with space sometimes but I like the setup.

[moondog]

My situation is a little different than most on this board.

 

All my of my 25 machines is located within fifteen miles of my house, some machines needs servicing every week and some once every two weeks. Like some on here I had a full time job, shift work and I was able to service machines on my days away from work.

 

As of Monday coming only job I have now is to service my machines and look for potential new locations.

 

I service my machines with a mini van, move machines with it to. Trailer/ dolly.

 

Will continue to use minivan until it dies, or find a cargo van that would work for me.

 

I looked at box trucks, for me I find to clumsy and hard to park in some of my locations.

 

As for traffic, nothing like moondog, except for lunch time and five o'clock when most knock off work.

 

I will enjoy my freedom after working at one company for thirty two years!

 

cajun 

Just think Mike, now you have the time to work on that TV show.  Maybe you could call it the Crawdad Hunters or something       Seems like they'd be a bit easier to bag than gators.

[AngryChris]

Just think Mike, now you have the time to work on that TV show.  Maybe you could call it the Crawdad Hunters or something       Seems like they'd be a bit easier to bag than gators.

 

I bet it would have to be subtitled so we can understand what the hell he's saying.

[CajunCandy]

I bet it would have to be subtitled so we can understand what the hell he's saying.

Of course!

 

My Kalaforna women don't understand me!

 

I hold up cards so she understands me!

 

lol!

 

cajun

[AngryChris]

Of course!

 

My Kalaforna women don't understand me!

 

I hold up cards so she understands me!

 

lol!

 

cajun

LOL!

[psk007]

I'm thinking of going to a full size transit van that not only will hold a ton of product the gas mileage will be good also.

[AngryChris]

I'm thinking of going to a full size transit van that not only will hold a ton of product the gas mileage will be good also.

 

That's exactly my plan except I might go for the Dodge Promaster instead.  A 14' (or bigger) box truck will probably still have more overall capacity but man those things LOOK nice, they seem to DRIVE nice, they SOUND nice, they SMELL nice, and I can't wait for the day to have one of those.  I know it could easily cut my fuel bill down in half compared to a box truck but I'm just not big enough to afford that yet.

[SchligVend]

Box truck is the way to go, I service over 100 machines a month out of a box truck and only work 3 to 4 days a week!   I still do have my Cargo van and I look at it every morning and laugh thinking it will take me double the time to vend if I was still using my cargo van.    

 

Yes a box truck has a lot more costs,  higher repair costs, higher fuel costs but I weighed that all out and the energy and time i save is worth something..

 

I always say get more then you need so it makes growing your business an easier thing to do!

[Growliebusters]

I don't know how you can work from 9-5:30 AND take care of some vending accounts but props to you! The hardest part you will find is being able to balance your full-time job and vending. You'll reach a point where you wonder... can I afford to live off of the business alone? Can I get all of these accounts done on time with my full-time job's hours getting in the way? Could I manage to work part-time and use the business to offset the lost income?

.

I too am doing something now that is quite unique in my business. I have 37 yrs in with GM so I am able to "ask" for special considerations.

It has been a difficult challange these last two years just because I got caught in a bizop. But FAILURE was not an option.

The wife has at times not been understanding even tho we went in depth how much time this would consume.

The change at work actually allows me to vend before 8 and after 6 leaving me with my weekends again.

Last two years have seen many missed bike trips. I don't intend to miss any more for a while.

While I wont make enough to go full time yet, this allows us to build our retirement, save to upgrade equipment and catch a breath before I start expanding again.

I had 4 machines till August 2014 and now have 20 with 17 placed, two in for cleaning and one parts machine.

2016 look out.....Growliebusters will be on the move!!

I know. I know. ..... still just a little guy.

But MAN am I having fun.

[EdsVending]

Just my two cents about the vending vehicle.

 

I started out vending in my 2010 Ford Taurus 3 years ago and did up to 35 locations with it(not sure how I ever did that).

 

After about a half year of doing that I purchased a 2008 Chevy Express Cargo van.  While it was much more nicer I did find myself having to load up every day and to reorganize at the end of the day- I was at about 50 locations.   What I liked about the van:  I could park in my drive way, it was easier to park at locations and it was fast to get stuff out of it. Gas mileage was good. What I didn't like about the van:  After I got up to 60 locations it was way to crammed and I would be digging stuff out because it was buried, If I was in the van I had to bend down and my back would often start to hurt, My cart would always tip over and I had to grab it at an awkward angle causing more back pain.  

 

Just recently I purchased a 12' Chevy Express Box truck.  I'm still organizing it.  What I like about the box:  It certainly holds tons of product(2-3 days worth if organized properly).  It also has lift gate so I can move machines under 6' tall, which saves me time and money.  What I don't like:  It's harder to park at some locations, including fast food places when I want to grab some lunch.  It's harder to get into than the van, so if I forget to get some snickers I really don't feel like putting down the lift gate, jumping up there and rolling up the door just to get the snickers.  It burns more gas.  Physically I think it is harder with the box.  

 

Although I know the van is easier to drive, I know that for my business to grow the box truck is necessary.  When I have some time I will probably see If I can get some swing doors installed on it and maybe some type of step to get in the box(I think this will greatly improve my experience).  Hope that helps.