Upgrading Transportation

After 15 years I decided with a heavy heart to upgrade my transportation. My small business required more and more tools to be transported to job sites and, even after taking out all the seats in the Toyota Sienna Mini Van, there was just not enough room for anything. Besides, finding smaller items became a chore although they are organized in little bins but the bins were covered with larger items such as saw horses, ladder, or other bigger items depending on the requirements for a particular job.

My trusty van provided save travel for me for 229,000 plus miles, actually only 164,000 since I bought it used with 65,000 miles on it. Even when it was fully loaded it had enough horse power to get up and go all the way up and down the east coast. Left out on the map are some places in Florida for some reason or the other.











With a new year on the horizon, I finally started searching for a worthy replacement while working on a house renovation. It came down to three cargo van brands, the first was the Mercedes Benz Sprinter Van 2500, second, the Ford Transit 150, and third, the Dodge Ram. Important criteria included foremost, parking, interior space, type of engine, cost, reliability. Not included was the gas consumption since neither van, including my current one, were efficient in this category. My price range was between $20,000 and $25,000, taking in consideration that this potentially new car was a commercial vehicle and the interest rate is definitely higher than a non-commercial vehicle.

Unfortunately, the Mercedes Benz line comes with a Diesel engine which means that, with the low miles per gallon, the overall cost for gas would mean an increase in cost of a minimum of $80 per month for fuel. Although the 2019 Mercedes Sprinter Van comes with a gas engine, it is only a four cylinder and also cost prohibitive. The monetary value of the diesel equipped Sprinter line holds really well which was very much to my disadvantage. For example a 2011 Mercedes Cargo Van 2500 with 80,000 miles would cost $20,000 which was within my budget. Several others had either very high mileage, higher cost, or both, therefore, this selection was out.

Next on the list was the Ford and the Dodge Cargo Van, although similar in looks and feel I leaned towards the Ford Transit 150 for some reason or the other. On the last day of January I found one with only 25,000 plus miles on it and within my price range. To make a long story short, I test drove it, liked it, and subsequently bought it.

It is a 2018 Ford Transit Cargo Van with a medium roof, very clean inside and outside. Enough space to carry all my necessary and not so necessary tools, gear, and other little things needed on any given job.
Now comes the time consuming, in between jobs build out, transferring all the equipment from the Toyota Sienna van and other storage options so it is organized part. While I was searching for the "right" van, I also looked at other tradesman van build out plans and photos. Since everybody has their own style and needs my build out also will reflect my style and needs.

Of course here is a scenario I had to laugh at because it is very true:

In any case, I will blog about the build out and find out if the left or right side reflects my style. In the meantime I have to figure out how to make this all happen while working full time on projects.

Cheap Flying

Once in a blue moon the "economic" way to travel is by air, especially when time is of the essence.
There are many choices when it comes to the carrier. A quick search in the Google browser revealed five airlines with prices ranging from $175 to $231 or more. I prefer non-stop since it is more convenient. Of course the origination airport plays somewhat of a role too as well as the departure time.
In my scenario it worked out to be a flight, non-stop, from Baltimore-International Airport to Fort Lauderdale, Florida at 6:00 AM (in the middle of the night so to speak). Doing some time math it meant to get up at 3:30 AM to get ready, drive to the airport and check in. Naturally there is no checked luggage, just a carry on; also a sign of the times. One carry on, one personal item - FREE. Everything went according to plan, we arrived on time, checked in at the self check kiosk, walked thru security and onto the plane. No delay, one fluent maneuver - encouraging, even the TSA check point was a simple walk through.

The plane's interior left some things to be desired, so did the service. Spirit has a menu of items you can purchase, were the coffee is more expensive than Starbucks coffee (most likely see through coffee in a Styrofoam cup). But it was just a two hour flight early in the morning, there was plenty of real coffee to be had in Fort Lauderdale - Cuban Coffee to be exact.

It is somewhat hilarious how the items are described as a delicious upgrade. It used to be customer service to include free non alcoholic beverages and some sort of snack. I guess the bottom line on the balance sheet needs the $2 to stay in the black.

Yes, it was the cheapest flight available with the desired times. From a comfort point of view and ease of travel it was hideous.

After a week of doing what we came to do it was time to return to the metropolitan area. Yet another early in the morning departure, another quick time math exercise and we departed at 5:20 AM to get to the airport on time. Enter Fort Lauderdale International Airport - Spirit Terminal 4.

Almost taking the usual routine for granted, we checked in at the self check in - flawless. Off to the TSA security. Two uniformed Spirit employees pre-checked the amount of luggage before the ticket check. I guess they were not morning people, no friendliness, lots of barking commands. It did not help that there was a robocop in camouflage outfit right next to them  - let the nightmare begin. 

We had the same luggage as we had departing, yet the barking voices commanded that we had too many items and need to pay an additional $55 for the extra bag. Mind you it is the same airline but a different airport - no consistency at all. Some unpacking and repacking later we reduced it to three total items, paying an additional $55 (important for the bottom line) to take one personal item on board. Not that it makes a difference in weight or anything else if you have one carry on and one personal bag - it is pure penny pinching. Now enter the TSA checkpoint, not only was it inefficient and run purely, it bordered on harassment. We barely made the flight after all this nonsense. Our seat assignments let us to row 2, right after the "first class" seats. There is no middle seat in the "first class", therefore no space to store the carry on luggage. Another inconvenience were the flight attendant offered to store it somewhere else with no access to it until arrival and then an endless wait time to get the luggage back. Luckily it was just another two hour flight with somebody who snored loudly next to me. In addition some constant announcements to sign up for the Spirit credit card to earn valuable mileage points.  

Compared with some of the flights I took earlier this year to Florida with JetBlue this was the worst experience even though I bought a $50 cheaper ticket. I know that this was the first and last time I used this airline. 

It is bad enough that because of some disturbed individuals in the past everybody who uses air travel has to undergo searches, walk barefoot or in socks to the x-ray gizmos to be verified, and, in addition, padded down like an ordinary criminal afterward, luggage being searched, some unidentifiable piece of cloth being swiped across your hand with comments like "if this comes back positive you are in trouble", and extremely unfriendly personal - power tripping at times. Welcome to the land of the "free".

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Just for the fun of it lets do some cost comparison 

(calculations do not include accommodations they would be the same in either case, unless you sleep in the car).

Flying/Rental Car 

Flight   $175 per person (not including "fees" and tax to keep it simple)  total $350

Additional baggage fees $55

Rental Car  $184 (not including "fees" and tax)

Luggage - limited to carry on or you can check a bag for $100 per bag, or selectively $55 per additional carry on.

Grand Total for six days $588 

Driving (normally I will gladly drive any distance around 1,000 miles, one way)

Gas (averaged at $2.60) for 2,100 miles at 20 mpg (low average) equals around $273 round trip

Luggage - unlimited, including golf clubs and other items which would cost more to check in than they are worth at times.

Grand Total for six days $273

Okay, so there is time involved. Four hours flying versus 30 hours driving. Let's put a value on the time we spend and pay our self $10 per hour.

From and to the airport: 2 hours total, getting to the plane 2 hours total, rental car logistics 2 hours for a total of $60.

Driving about 15 hours with occasional stops for a total of 36 hours totals $360.

New Grand Total for Flying: $648     -      New Grand Total for Driving: $633  

PIECE OF MIND , NOT BEING SUBJECT TO BAD SERVICE PERSONAL, and 

OTHER IDIOTIC RULES AND REGULATIONS

PRICELESS

Zubie Part I (follow up)

After travelling several 100 miles Zubie informed me that I received the newbie reward (?). Anyway, so far it recorded the trips, analysed my driving, and some more stuff. I don't quite understand the fuel cost calculations, it is way over what I actually spent and there is no where to input the dollar amount of the gas, just the guessed average miles per gallon for the car. Everything else seems to be in order.
Another curious part is the driver score, right now I'm ranking 75 which is not too bad. After pulling up the breakdown it evaluates as follows:
Rapid Accelerations:
Accelerating fast lowers your gas mileage, and can be a sign of aggressive driving.
Hard Breaking:
Hitting the breaks too hard can be a sign you aren't paying attention or you might be tailgating.
Over Speeding:
Time Spent speeding over 70 mph. Speeding is one of the top causes of accidents.
Idling:
How much time your engine runs while not moving. An easy way to improve your gas mileage.

The first two are very much the generalizations insurance companies use. There is no indication of any given situation were it is required to either accelerate rapidly or break hard. So if any of those two occurs because of other drivers it is not defined but reflected in your score...

Bottom line is so far it is living up to its description...

Weather

Speaking of breaks, I'm "stuck" in 75+ degree weather in the south - I know, poor me.

While the winter storm "Thor" is ransacking the north I'm glad that I'm here and not there. Luckily I'm in a position were I don't have to rush back for anything. Work can be done from here too, so does golf after 2PM ($25 for 18 holes including card). 

As mentioned in previous posts we have all the technology to do the "road warrior" gig - or as it is called TeleWorking...

Connectivity

Perhaps many people have it as a separate item, perhaps not. When it was time to upgrade my iPhone I opted to add a personal hot spot to my account. The thought behind it was my extensive traveling by car. It seems somewhat easier and more reliable than enabling the iPhone as a hot spot.

So far so good, it works like a charm even when one of the iPhones did not have connection, this little gizmo had a connection all the way. It has an on/off button and a menu which can be accessed directly on the device. The usage is shared on one account with attached threshold alarms.

Road Warrior Electricity

Just when I thought that I have everything covered there is another curve ball. My longtime go to 110V converter kicked the bucket when we went back on the road. Luckily the area we traveled was not in the middle of nowhere. One visit to Office Depot rectified the situation.

This time I purchased the more elaborate one, two 110 outlets and one USB port, car plug and airline plug adapter. Works like a charm, the only throwback is the fan noise, but while driving it is barely audible.
Cost is somewhat high (most likely could be purchased cheaper, but I was in a crunch), $89.95.

South of the Arctic Front

The invasion of the very aggressive cold went way beyond the Mason Dixie this year. Thankfully there is a more south than the before mentioned line drawn sometime between 1763 and 1767 demarcating the north and the south. Not only being at the side of a relative for his wedding, but also to welcome this event as a much needed escape from the repeated visits of Mr. Frost and his lingering around for days on end. Considering a variety of transportation options to the warmer grounds of the most southern state, the actual driving was chosen for economic reasons. Given that the gas prices are very low at the moment, the round trip amounted to one third of that of a flight and rental car for two people. And the answer to the most asked question this time of the year if there is a warm spot left in the US is a definite YES.

After a non eventful drive from the northern tip of the southern part of the Mason Dixon line we watched the temperature going up slowly but surely as we tarted through the night. At first it was 21 degrees, by the time the sun came up somewhere in South Carolina the thermometer reached 36. Georgia measured a whopping 43 degrees around 10 am, followed by triple the amount from the night before at Daytona Beach.
Well, just to clarify, going to hell and experiencing the heat is vertical down, we went horizontal down, and, yes it got warmer too, but not hot by any means. However, there was an exciting exclamation when we arrived at our destination - it was 77 degrees and sunny. We shed the warm cloths like snakes shed their skin, but much faster.