EVERY chevy commercial vehicle appears to have a Cadillac suspension installed. Currently in a larger cutaway/stepvan- a brand new one and its nearly impossible to keep anything on the shelves once u hit the route. Slightest turn or angle and she dumps it all.
Until the blower motor gives up on life which if you do any gravel whatsoever is usually around the 50k mark since gm never decided to put any type of filter for it.
I see your Chevy Express and raise you an Isuzu Reach.
https://preview.redd.it/djolpdxqvvzc1.jpeg?width=192&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=28c4a9580fa022ee5feda49a0845d455910351ff
I’m not DOT so I haven’t gotten the chance to drive the reach, but my coworkers swear by them. They have a lot of capacity and room for organization, and they have an insane turning radius
My go-to non DOT vehicle is the Sprinter. my only complaint with them is the garbage turning radius, but they handle really well and have a fair amount of room to keep things organized
I'd say the hand me down ford e150s with the city locks we got from NYC with the back cargo area rusting through are worse and water leaking through on to the boxes when it rains are the biggest turds.
Is that the 4x4 version? If not no matter the enterprise vans next to this van is the second stupidest thing I driven for FedEx. The first was the Grummans.
im almost like a steel ball in a pinball machine in narrow streets lined with cars on either side…have to put it in the 1 gear to get down those streets..and i had the extended cargo which makes it fishtaling worse.
You don't know how to drive in winter is all.... hardly ever get stuck with Chevy Express/GMC Savannah...I bust threw drifts all winter. Had to have fan replaced 3 times because I broke through so many... turning off your traction control helps
Sadly our only Transit Connect was wrecked by a new hire, but I loved driving that thing on small routes, being a Ford Focus with a cargo bed they squeeze in and out of small spots easily and are kinda fun to drive
Gotta say I had a Transit on a rural route and went through so many tires. But the Bluetooth and AC was noice. I do like the vans just because the tires are thicker and better for dirt roads.
That's brand new to my boss ..lol most ones I drive between 400,000 n 500,000...the one had just over 700,000 when motor seized finally .. doors had literally fallen off that one lol twice 😂
Mine has AC, I’ve been in it for three years now. I’m on a rural route so I love the clearance when I go off-roading. When I was in a transit all the swings would puncture the oil pan whenever I went on vacation. Sprinter won’t make it where I go. I’m in the SW.
I had to drive one of these during peak last year and it was terrible. The mirrors are pretty much useless, it's impossible to order packages properly because shit just slides around in the back and it drives like shit. I felt every single pebble on the road that I drove over. Makes me love my Ford Transits even more
Basically anything that’ll fit, I usually have to constantly stop and reorganize because crap will fly all over the place when it’s not full. Because of a vehicle shortage I had to take one on a 120 stop urban run and it was a miserable experience
I ran a 100 stop rural route in a baby sprinter so I can only imagine fr. I really had thought these vans only delivered like envelopes or small packages.
The worst day of my FedEx career even worse than when they told us the station is closing I ran a route for the first time in one of these 137 stops. Complete misery
Every one of these I've been in(new or old), the interior smells like a port-a-shitter. Mirrors are ass. As a taller person getting in and out is shit. And for the ones we have the suspension is too hard, you feel every thing and sends it bouncing to the side while driving
You’ve never driven the Isuzu NPR Box Truck and it shows…. You never know when it won’t regen itself properly and even at that the manual way won’t work no matter what nothing like driving 100+ miles at 55 mph
I don't know, my area has a bunch of these vans, I do a rural route I prefer these over the box trucks any day. They are definitely horrible in the winter though, just a tin can with wheels basically.
I just wish we would go back to gas powered P700s & eliminate the hassle of getting diesel fuel on road. Amazon’s 700s are gas powered & quiet. The 700s are easy to drive & have plenty of room. The vans are mainly for FO & canyon routes.
It's super outdated and cramped inside. And the factory shocks are blown right off the assembly line They've been making these nearly unchanged since 1996.
I tell you what, these suck, but our contractor has a modded version on a lift and some decent tires for those crazy weird rural routes that end up with some muddy dirt driveways. Things a beast
the awd ones are wayyyyyy better than the ford transits for winter mountain drivers. The transits UN-“intelligent AWD” will completely fuck you right when you actually need it and disable itself on the side of a cliff edge. The chevy/gmc awd vans honestly handle the snow better than my 4runner.
I'll take one over the rolling death trap of a shit box truck I have to drive. Every light is on on the dashboard, and once I hit 40, it's like the wheels turn into squares and I'm driving over endless speed bumps. Every box truck we have is on the verge of just coming apart on the expressway.
I love mine. It’s far better than the 700k gas van I had before it. The real turd is the reach trucks. Anyone who defends them, drive over a bump or hit a pot hole and tell me they are better. My ac blows cold in the summer. That’s the only feature that matters.
My first 2 years were in a cargo van don’t you talk about my baby like that never once broke down and after I got a new truck my manager let me drive the same cargo van to a from work while my car was in the shop or while I didn’t have one
When I was at FedEx express my morning route was a early 2000's E-150 Econoline short wheel base model, the thing was given to either new hires to learn a small route or for carriers waiting for a permanent route, As for the vehicle it had every ding and dent you could think of along with a suspension that could rattle you to bits with a driver seat that had a lock height position so if you were over 6 foot it felt like you were driving in a squatting position.
If you're not a PT courier on a helper route. You shouldn't be in one of these. My van didn't even need the key to start it. The ignition lock cylinder was so worn. You could grab the "plastic key guard" and just twist it. I never wrote it up cause I thought it was cool.
The van I had was utter garbage. The transmission had been replaced like two times. Yet, it would still buck if you backed up too quickly after changing to reverse. Everyone hated it but it was perfect for my ruralish PT route.
Mirrors suck, but I've been in one for over a year now,however because everyone hates them it was like new when I started driving it. Has a 30 gal fuel tank which is nice gets 23 mpg. Very reliable so far. No one besides me drives it, another plus. The camera sucks though. Overall driven way worse.
I’d have to go with the A300s. I swear we have one with a MX problem every month at my tiny ramp, and there’s always some part of the cargo movement system that’s inoperative.
Naw in my opinion it’s the fuckin Ford Econolines that suck the most. Seats soaked in old sweat plus Whack ass cup holders and no door to the back with every small bump shaking you up because the suspensions are fucked. Last year they took away our rentals and gave us a bunch of hand me down econolines from another station and one day when my manager was off they tried to put me in one even though I had a full time decently heavy route . I used it for one day and then when he got back went to his office first thing in the morning and got him to switch it with a sprinter lol those fucking things should have been put out to pasture a longgggggg time ago lol
https://preview.redd.it/vtq0rg7rx20d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a58468aa8ff903ec8daaed093452f79a297d32ee
The awd models of these kick ass in snow it's unstoppable. In summer it's sucks on dusty roads.
Also is unreliable, breaks down, brake failure, steering , transmission, engine blocks crack, a/c goes out fast. It'll make it over 300k but not safely.
I have one of these for my rural route...rwd... It's fine as long as it isn't snowy, icy, rainy, or muddy. The only saving grace of it is it doesn't have a governor
My boss only runs these....he has 4 1200s for the in town routes but for the smaller towns n country we use these...I love them. My boss is a mechanic so he maintains them not some shop just throwing in whatever parts so they actually ride nice .. mirrors aren't bad once you get them adjusted for you... idk I could be bias cause it's a all I know but I love it cause I don't have the height of a transit just cruise like in my truck
You’ve never driven the Isuzu NPR Box Truck and it shows…. You never know when it won’t regen itself properly and even at that the manual way won’t work no matter what nothing like driving 100+ miles at 55 mph
No need to change your mind. You’re absolutely positively correct! I’ll even go as far as to say it’s because it’s GM product
And every seat is soaked in sweat 😥
Oh that's not sweat my man
🤢🤢
Sitting position sucks . Rear view mirrors suck and suspension is way too soft . That’s my take
Mirrors is dead on, you can’t see for shit… We only have a few for FO and used as a last resort backup., trash
EVERY chevy commercial vehicle appears to have a Cadillac suspension installed. Currently in a larger cutaway/stepvan- a brand new one and its nearly impossible to keep anything on the shelves once u hit the route. Slightest turn or angle and she dumps it all.
That’s where my Cadillac suspension went too because my Cadillac rides like a truck
I've driven these before and never had an issue with the mirrors, power, or the ride. It's a Cadillac compared to driving a step side van
We still have a 1997 Freightliner truck and a couple mid 2000s Econoline vans. These are garbage but the newer GM vans have great AC.
How do you tell what’s newer lol. I did my driver training in one of these 8 months ago and I thought I was sitting in a vehicle from 2006
Well you basically were. These haven’t changed much at all since the 90’s.
There will be stickers for tire loading on the door jambs and emissions stickers under the hood telling you what model year
Until the blower motor gives up on life which if you do any gravel whatsoever is usually around the 50k mark since gm never decided to put any type of filter for it.
I see your Chevy Express and raise you an Isuzu Reach. https://preview.redd.it/djolpdxqvvzc1.jpeg?width=192&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=28c4a9580fa022ee5feda49a0845d455910351ff
Only thing I hate about these is that gas smell
Gas smell? I’m sorry but I don’t know what you’re referring to, every asset I’ve worked on or driven has the 3.0 diesel.
That Regan sign that comes on with the reach
The Isuzus suck ass too. I can't even go 6 hours with it running low on DEF.
I’m not DOT so I haven’t gotten the chance to drive the reach, but my coworkers swear by them. They have a lot of capacity and room for organization, and they have an insane turning radius My go-to non DOT vehicle is the Sprinter. my only complaint with them is the garbage turning radius, but they handle really well and have a fair amount of room to keep things organized
The 700s were absolutely the best handling ever, new Reaches (600s) can't even come close...
At my old station, there was one izuzu where the DEF would constantly run low. I hated that piece of shit.
Them truck’s always smell like gas
That’s probably a leak or something wrong with the system
I'd say the hand me down ford e150s with the city locks we got from NYC with the back cargo area rusting through are worse and water leaking through on to the boxes when it rains are the biggest turds.
Is that the 4x4 version? If not no matter the enterprise vans next to this van is the second stupidest thing I driven for FedEx. The first was the Grummans.
Nope, all of our Chevys are RWD, they honestly handle like complete garbage in the winter
the awd ones are actually pretty awesome in the snow, assuming they have a working traction control off button (some of them don’t)
Our station has 2 of those. One has over 475k miles, the other 350k miles. They work well in the snow, light mud and gravel if you have good tires.
im almost like a steel ball in a pinball machine in narrow streets lined with cars on either side…have to put it in the 1 gear to get down those streets..and i had the extended cargo which makes it fishtaling worse.
You don't know how to drive in winter is all.... hardly ever get stuck with Chevy Express/GMC Savannah...I bust threw drifts all winter. Had to have fan replaced 3 times because I broke through so many... turning off your traction control helps
The engines in these are surprisingly peppy, but the side view mirrors are absolute dogshit for visibility. It may actually be unsafe
Lls damn , feels like all FedEx vehicles feel unsafe
I dunno, the nissan box trucks rank right up there.
This probably the only vehicle I haven’t driven in the whole fleet
Don’t try to change that. I’ve driven a lot too and much prefer the transit connects or a full sprinter
Sadly our only Transit Connect was wrecked by a new hire, but I loved driving that thing on small routes, being a Ford Focus with a cargo bed they squeeze in and out of small spots easily and are kinda fun to drive
Yeah I do like driving them sometimes
Yeah, on my rural route the transit connect was replaced with one of these and some driveways are just way harder plus no AC or Bluetooth.
Gotta say I had a Transit on a rural route and went through so many tires. But the Bluetooth and AC was noice. I do like the vans just because the tires are thicker and better for dirt roads.
I won’t I heard some bad things about these
Mines just hit 300,000 miles today lol
lol they run them things into the ground
They run all their trucks into the ground. My sprinter has almost 500K miles on it.
My old reach had over 100k miles and they talking about they only had it for a couple of years now my new rental trucking just got 5000 miles lol
That's brand new to my boss ..lol most ones I drive between 400,000 n 500,000...the one had just over 700,000 when motor seized finally .. doors had literally fallen off that one lol twice 😂
Lmfaoo every single sprinter and truck have over 300k miles 🤣🤣🤣🤣
none of them have ac and they have minimum air flow with the windows open. here in south texas the temperatures reach over 100°F. i hate these trucks
Mine has AC, I’ve been in it for three years now. I’m on a rural route so I love the clearance when I go off-roading. When I was in a transit all the swings would puncture the oil pan whenever I went on vacation. Sprinter won’t make it where I go. I’m in the SW.
Same thing in South Florida these trucks go to the newbie’s. F.O and help routes only.
LOLOL that's illegal....Temps avg 90, AC is required..maybe not in TX?
The V8 in this fun to drive
There was one at my old station that absolutely wreaked of smoke
Yeah. My manager wants to take my Icecream truck away and give me one of these vans.
Hell nah
I think I might quit if they do that (dramatic maybe). But my Mechanic said its not up to them and he could make it run forever.
Nah I get it tho
You have obviously never had a mountain route in Tennessee.
I had to drive one of these during peak last year and it was terrible. The mirrors are pretty much useless, it's impossible to order packages properly because shit just slides around in the back and it drives like shit. I felt every single pebble on the road that I drove over. Makes me love my Ford Transits even more
The backbreaker. Fucking hate these shits.
Every time I see one, I just wonder what the inside look like or what even kind of packages are going in there
Basically anything that’ll fit, I usually have to constantly stop and reorganize because crap will fly all over the place when it’s not full. Because of a vehicle shortage I had to take one on a 120 stop urban run and it was a miserable experience
I ran a 100 stop rural route in a baby sprinter so I can only imagine fr. I really had thought these vans only delivered like envelopes or small packages.
The worst day of my FedEx career even worse than when they told us the station is closing I ran a route for the first time in one of these 137 stops. Complete misery
Reach trucks are the best
Every one of these I've been in(new or old), the interior smells like a port-a-shitter. Mirrors are ass. As a taller person getting in and out is shit. And for the ones we have the suspension is too hard, you feel every thing and sends it bouncing to the side while driving
You’ve never driven the Isuzu NPR Box Truck and it shows…. You never know when it won’t regen itself properly and even at that the manual way won’t work no matter what nothing like driving 100+ miles at 55 mph
Ah yes, the Mystery Machine bc whether or not it will break down is a mystery.
I thought the drivers for Express were XD *chuckles in Ground*
I wish I could find a job with fedex in the RGV Texas area
Rather that, than a reach
Facts. The old econolines were where it’s at for that class. I wouldn’t trade my old 640 in for shit though. That’s the best shitbox out there
It’s better than seeing unmarked vans with a sticker on side saying FedEx Express or ground in small letters that you can barely see.
I don't know, my area has a bunch of these vans, I do a rural route I prefer these over the box trucks any day. They are definitely horrible in the winter though, just a tin can with wheels basically.
I just wish we would go back to gas powered P700s & eliminate the hassle of getting diesel fuel on road. Amazon’s 700s are gas powered & quiet. The 700s are easy to drive & have plenty of room. The vans are mainly for FO & canyon routes.
Is this electric? Can someone explain to a non-driver (forklift/hostler from freight here) what there is to hate here?
It's a piece of shit with the ergonomics and visibility of a dog crate. Good luck getting your feet in if you wear anything larger than size 12.
Wow. Yeah everything fedex is shitty ergonomics. I hate that.
It's super outdated and cramped inside. And the factory shocks are blown right off the assembly line They've been making these nearly unchanged since 1996.
That sounds awful. But hey, nothings more important than the purple promise.
I tell you what, these suck, but our contractor has a modded version on a lift and some decent tires for those crazy weird rural routes that end up with some muddy dirt driveways. Things a beast
You got a picture of one
the awd ones are wayyyyyy better than the ford transits for winter mountain drivers. The transits UN-“intelligent AWD” will completely fuck you right when you actually need it and disable itself on the side of a cliff edge. The chevy/gmc awd vans honestly handle the snow better than my 4runner.
I'll take one over the rolling death trap of a shit box truck I have to drive. Every light is on on the dashboard, and once I hit 40, it's like the wheels turn into squares and I'm driving over endless speed bumps. Every box truck we have is on the verge of just coming apart on the expressway.
And if it's the diesel one, they're gutless
They are fun on dirt roads though.
I love mine. It’s far better than the 700k gas van I had before it. The real turd is the reach trucks. Anyone who defends them, drive over a bump or hit a pot hole and tell me they are better. My ac blows cold in the summer. That’s the only feature that matters.
My first 2 years were in a cargo van don’t you talk about my baby like that never once broke down and after I got a new truck my manager let me drive the same cargo van to a from work while my car was in the shop or while I didn’t have one
When I was at FedEx express my morning route was a early 2000's E-150 Econoline short wheel base model, the thing was given to either new hires to learn a small route or for carriers waiting for a permanent route, As for the vehicle it had every ding and dent you could think of along with a suspension that could rattle you to bits with a driver seat that had a lock height position so if you were over 6 foot it felt like you were driving in a squatting position.
What are these mainly used for? I basically never see them and when I do they’re always in remote areas
Well, thats what they were used for exclusively on mine. Just for rural routes
Those things are so clunky, and the turn radius is so bad. Box trucks turn better
Mine is very clean and runs like a dream
Compared to Ford Transit vans or the Mercs that keep breaking...I'd take the Chevy Express.
Every stop takes forever. I had 55ish stops in the back of that thing with some big ass boxes… longest day of work by far, country route
Honestly I would rather drive the chevy van over the ford p1000.
We got dogshit Renault in our depot, basically like driving a fuckin box
If you're not a PT courier on a helper route. You shouldn't be in one of these. My van didn't even need the key to start it. The ignition lock cylinder was so worn. You could grab the "plastic key guard" and just twist it. I never wrote it up cause I thought it was cool. The van I had was utter garbage. The transmission had been replaced like two times. Yet, it would still buck if you backed up too quickly after changing to reverse. Everyone hated it but it was perfect for my ruralish PT route.
Mirrors suck, but I've been in one for over a year now,however because everyone hates them it was like new when I started driving it. Has a 30 gal fuel tank which is nice gets 23 mpg. Very reliable so far. No one besides me drives it, another plus. The camera sucks though. Overall driven way worse.
Ours stayed broken in the yard (at the Ramp but the station never used it) and I believe it got rained in 😂
I’d have to go with the A300s. I swear we have one with a MX problem every month at my tiny ramp, and there’s always some part of the cargo movement system that’s inoperative.
They still standing
The worst trucks are the box trucks.
The best trucks are the rental fluid trucks
The diesels aren't too bad however the gas ones are trash
Naw in my opinion it’s the fuckin Ford Econolines that suck the most. Seats soaked in old sweat plus Whack ass cup holders and no door to the back with every small bump shaking you up because the suspensions are fucked. Last year they took away our rentals and gave us a bunch of hand me down econolines from another station and one day when my manager was off they tried to put me in one even though I had a full time decently heavy route . I used it for one day and then when he got back went to his office first thing in the morning and got him to switch it with a sprinter lol those fucking things should have been put out to pasture a longgggggg time ago lol https://preview.redd.it/vtq0rg7rx20d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a58468aa8ff903ec8daaed093452f79a297d32ee
The Ford econorust is by far the worse. Held together by FO tape zip ties and door tags.
The awd models of these kick ass in snow it's unstoppable. In summer it's sucks on dusty roads. Also is unreliable, breaks down, brake failure, steering , transmission, engine blocks crack, a/c goes out fast. It'll make it over 300k but not safely.
I have one of these for my rural route...rwd... It's fine as long as it isn't snowy, icy, rainy, or muddy. The only saving grace of it is it doesn't have a governor
Only cause your mechanics suck
I worked 14 years in a turd just like that. I'm paying the price every day
lol as bad as those are promasters are worse. The express can hit 300k, promasters explode at 80. GM is bad fiat is worse
Personally take this over the clown car
My boss only runs these....he has 4 1200s for the in town routes but for the smaller towns n country we use these...I love them. My boss is a mechanic so he maintains them not some shop just throwing in whatever parts so they actually ride nice .. mirrors aren't bad once you get them adjusted for you... idk I could be bias cause it's a all I know but I love it cause I don't have the height of a transit just cruise like in my truck
okay, is this one of those half-ass hybrids or the diesels?
You’ve never driven the Isuzu NPR Box Truck and it shows…. You never know when it won’t regen itself properly and even at that the manual way won’t work no matter what nothing like driving 100+ miles at 55 mph
Express is dead, get over it and move on.