AngryChris Posted March 28, 2019 Share Posted March 28, 2019 Also a benefit of a cargo van... Practically anyone can work on them. It really only works if you don't have really large routes but for MOST of us, they work fine. I'm working on more shelving soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maestro489 Posted March 29, 2019 Author Share Posted March 29, 2019 Yes I have trouble finding a good place to take my npr. Hard to find a place to even change the oil not to mention the tires. I have to go to a commercial dealer. Pretty sure the cargo vans have normal sized tires and you can get your oil changed anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maestro489 Posted March 29, 2019 Author Share Posted March 29, 2019 For those of you who drive cargo vans and you reload everyday where do you store your inventory? I would think the gas mileage savings (cargo van vs box truck) versus paying for a storage unit would cancel each other out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orsd Posted March 29, 2019 Share Posted March 29, 2019 If you live in a big city the NPR is nice cause of the manuverability and you should have a dealer nearby. Otherwise maybe check with Ryder or Chevrolet dealers. Ryder offers maintenance services and owns a bunch of NPRs and Chevy sells a rebadged NPR. As for tires I would think any commercial truck tire place should be able to take care of you. Although personally I see no point in an NPR if you aren’t in a city. Either go under 10000 gross to avoid paperwork but if you are gonna have to do paperwork anyway I would rather have an International or Freightliner or Pete or something. Or if you want lower operating costs F-650 gassers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkhusker Posted March 29, 2019 Share Posted March 29, 2019 When we used a rolling warehouse , we had a P30 and still have a 16' box van bought from Budget and a Chevy Express 2500 for service and markets. Next truck will likely be a Ford Transit under 10,000. Read carefully, it is federal law (not always enforced) that if you operate a commercial vehicle 10,000+ GVRW, the driver must have a DOT Health Card (pass a DOT physical). DOT numbers are only required if you cross state lines. DOT can and do shut a driver down without a valid health card and the tickets aren't cheap. I'd go with a Transit or Nissan NV if you can. Best way to accomplish that is by prekitting. Not to mention saving time and fuel vs. the step van or box truck, especially as you grow. For those of you that think prekitting isn't beneficial for a single man operation, you can service approximately 25% more machines by prekitting and carry less inventory on your trucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maestro489 Posted March 29, 2019 Author Share Posted March 29, 2019 2 hours ago, arkhusker said: When we used a rolling warehouse , we had a P30 and still have a 16' box van bought from Budget and a Chevy Express 2500 for service and markets. Next truck will likely be a Ford Transit under 10,000. Read carefully, it is federal law (not always enforced) that if you operate a commercial vehicle 10,000+ GVRW, the driver must have a DOT Health Card (pass a DOT physical). DOT numbers are only required if you cross state lines. DOT can and do shut a driver down without a valid health card and the tickets aren't cheap. I'd go with a Transit or Nissan NV if you can. Best way to accomplish that is by prekitting. Not to mention saving time and fuel vs. the step van or box truck, especially as you grow. For those of you that think prekitting isn't beneficial for a single man operation, you can service approximately 25% more machines by prekitting and carry less inventory on your trucks. But to permit you ha e got to have a reader on every machine ami right? If not you’re just guessing and you won’t be prepared for when they’ve eaten or drunk more than normal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkhusker Posted March 29, 2019 Share Posted March 29, 2019 11 minutes ago, maestro489 said: But to permit you ha e got to have a reader on every machine ami right? If not you’re just guessing and you won’t be prepared for when they’ve eaten or drunk more than normal No, at least with Parlevel. Parlevel has a good forecasting algorithm for which you set the parameters. The higher number of services used to calculate the forecast the better so it can take 5-10 services to see the benefits but it works for our offline machines. Our truck carries very little overstock merchandise. I don't know if the other VMS have offline forecasting but it was a must have for us starting out with Parlevel. So many operators have a mix of on and offline machines that they seen the benefit of building it. It isn't perfect by any means but it works. If the machines have cash counters, the money will be more accurate as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southeast Treats Posted March 30, 2019 Share Posted March 30, 2019 21 hours ago, arkhusker said: so it can take 5-10 services to see the benefits I prekit my offline machines with ParLevel, it works pretty well. The program lets you set the number of prior services to use when calculating the prekit, I have mine set to 3 services. I found the larger averages were not responsive enough to demand changes. It uses the 3 services to calculate a daily consumption rate then figures prekit based on how many days since last service. You can also set a percentage if you want to have it figure extra (105% of DCR for example). You will take some product back to the warehouse at the end of the day but not a lot. My biggest problem in starting the prekit system was setting up a working warehouse area to open and pack the totes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick98 Posted April 3, 2019 Share Posted April 3, 2019 I have been vending for over 20 years and the vehicle question is always interesting. What works best really depends on your routes, product volume and just where you are going logistically. We have tried almost every truck, trailer, van, box truck etc. that there are. This is where we are now ( and always subject to change ) 5 drivers, 3 Isuzu NPR Diesel 16' refrigerated and 2 ford vans. We are lucky to have a wholesaler open near us. I have one guy there everyday loading his truck for the week. We were pre-kitting before this place opened out of our own warehouse. No more warehouse for product, not even a bag of chips around here, everything goes straight on the trucks. The Isuzu trucks are awesome you can just get a ton of stuff in there and its so quick and easy to get in and out of. We use the vans for the lower volume stuff and the out of the way places but they are a pain to work out of. Truck with a trailer? come on be serious lol, only if that's all you got! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labryan3 Posted April 8, 2019 Share Posted April 8, 2019 How can I learn more about par level? Sounds like it might a lot of work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maestro489 Posted April 8, 2019 Author Share Posted April 8, 2019 Check out their website or their Facebook page. They have good videos that explain everything. Www.parlevelsystems.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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