How the pro RV transporters tow
If you travel Interstate 90 through Ohio, PA, and NY you see a *LOT* of professional RV transporters moving units East this time of year. I paid close attention any time one passed by and tried to gat...
Forum Discussion
The headline news? I agree with you that it wouldn't quite make the headlines. However, somewhere in the middle of your metaphorical newspaper we'll call this thread, someone else mentioned that a professional RV tow couple, husband and wife, do not, and would not use weight distribution.
That could be significant news to some.
All of us who do tow, even if only a little bit, tend to have a greater appreciation and respect for professionals who tow for a living. So when a professional says they don't use weight distribution, that can create a convincing and powerful argument not to bother with all the spring bar baloney.
And that is the little article in this paper that got my attention.
I know a few "hot shots". I'm even a member of a "hot shot" forum. It may be headline news to some to find out that they are not paid enough to even AFFORD the "biggest and best" for the job. Many of these guys are just barely scraping by to buy the fuel. The real hard core drivers are running 800,000 miles on 10 year old Dodges with the seats taken out, sleepers on the back, box beds removed and sold off, and they're looking down at the ground every time they step out of the cab for fuel to find some spare change to buy that next set of tires. It's not easy living... especially since the DOT crackdown on light truck hauling and the steep ramp up in fuel prices.
And a bit more news... many a normal man looks for a way to justify buying that big dream dually Dodge, and some come to believe that delivering a few RV's now and then will vindicate the self indulgence, make the truck a write off, absolve him from the nosey neighbor inquisition asking what did he need a truck that big for when they are really just mad they can't park in front of his house anymore, and perhaps bring a few bucks home to appease the wife.
And a few who have the internal constitution and the financial backing to carry them through actually succeed in doing all of that. But most try it for a while, see how hard it is, and then evaporate back into normal life, albeit with a nice, new, big, and as yet unjustified gargantuan truck.
And I was surprised to learn how "serious" many of the hauler's rigs are... especially the dabblers. Simply 3/4 ton long beds single rear wheels. That's an every day run from the barn to the field truck on the horse ranch I worked at in high school. A good many retired RV'rs have way more serous haulers than RV delivery professionals. During the FEMA trailer wave from Elkhart to NOLA, even some heavy 1/2 tons were delivering the so called toxic box.
Anyway, it may seem like I'm arguing or disagreeing, but I'm not.
I agree. Family camping IS a different towing experience than professional RV delivery. And one very good reason for an RV delivery person to NOT use WD is because they can't mark or modify or drill a brand new trailer tongue to set a WD up. And it isn't realistic of efficient for them to go through for every trailer they deliver what we go through to optimize our specific trailer, when they might deliver 10 trailers in one day, from a dealership to a trade show in the next town.
But the reality is, they do not always run the biggest or best equipment. And on the flip side, I have an F-550 class 5 chassis cab, crew cab, long bed, dually, 19.5" tires, with the highest capacity Reese Titan Class V hitch made for it's sturdy frame. It's a lot more truck than most of the 3500's the pros use, at least in terms of weight and GVWR.
Few would argue that that is a fairly large TV, but I still use weight distribution for my largest trailer that calls for it, when any factor exceeds the weakest rating in the assemblage. And in my case, it is always the tongue weight, because of how the trailer gets loaded. I have 1,700 lb rated bars for that purpose.
That could be significant news to some.
All of us who do tow, even if only a little bit, tend to have a greater appreciation and respect for professionals who tow for a living. So when a professional says they don't use weight distribution, that can create a convincing and powerful argument not to bother with all the spring bar baloney.
And that is the little article in this paper that got my attention.
I know a few "hot shots". I'm even a member of a "hot shot" forum. It may be headline news to some to find out that they are not paid enough to even AFFORD the "biggest and best" for the job. Many of these guys are just barely scraping by to buy the fuel. The real hard core drivers are running 800,000 miles on 10 year old Dodges with the seats taken out, sleepers on the back, box beds removed and sold off, and they're looking down at the ground every time they step out of the cab for fuel to find some spare change to buy that next set of tires. It's not easy living... especially since the DOT crackdown on light truck hauling and the steep ramp up in fuel prices.
And a bit more news... many a normal man looks for a way to justify buying that big dream dually Dodge, and some come to believe that delivering a few RV's now and then will vindicate the self indulgence, make the truck a write off, absolve him from the nosey neighbor inquisition asking what did he need a truck that big for when they are really just mad they can't park in front of his house anymore, and perhaps bring a few bucks home to appease the wife.
And a few who have the internal constitution and the financial backing to carry them through actually succeed in doing all of that. But most try it for a while, see how hard it is, and then evaporate back into normal life, albeit with a nice, new, big, and as yet unjustified gargantuan truck.
And I was surprised to learn how "serious" many of the hauler's rigs are... especially the dabblers. Simply 3/4 ton long beds single rear wheels. That's an every day run from the barn to the field truck on the horse ranch I worked at in high school. A good many retired RV'rs have way more serous haulers than RV delivery professionals. During the FEMA trailer wave from Elkhart to NOLA, even some heavy 1/2 tons were delivering the so called toxic box.
Anyway, it may seem like I'm arguing or disagreeing, but I'm not.
I agree. Family camping IS a different towing experience than professional RV delivery. And one very good reason for an RV delivery person to NOT use WD is because they can't mark or modify or drill a brand new trailer tongue to set a WD up. And it isn't realistic of efficient for them to go through for every trailer they deliver what we go through to optimize our specific trailer, when they might deliver 10 trailers in one day, from a dealership to a trade show in the next town.
But the reality is, they do not always run the biggest or best equipment. And on the flip side, I have an F-550 class 5 chassis cab, crew cab, long bed, dually, 19.5" tires, with the highest capacity Reese Titan Class V hitch made for it's sturdy frame. It's a lot more truck than most of the 3500's the pros use, at least in terms of weight and GVWR.
Few would argue that that is a fairly large TV, but I still use weight distribution for my largest trailer that calls for it, when any factor exceeds the weakest rating in the assemblage. And in my case, it is always the tongue weight, because of how the trailer gets loaded. I have 1,700 lb rated bars for that purpose.
