Penthouse Sleepers And Moving Vanlines Question

I mostly see these types of rigs hauling moving company boxes. I'm wanting to satisfy my curiosity. Are these studio/ penthouse sleeper rigs o/o contractors? Company? What can anyone tell me about them? I can't imagine trying to manuever one in tight places. Again really just curious. They are pretty sweet though.

They're Owner Operators.

One of the major players in custom sleepers is: ARI. You can google 'ARI Legacy Sleeper' and one of the first hits will be their website.

I must admit I am curious as well as to why their are a greater prevelance of custom sleepers in the HHG market. Does driving HHG pay that incredibly well? I have seen a few flatbedders with custom sleepers, but you don't really see dry van or reefers with custom sleepers. You won't see them pulling tankers because the trucks themselves are so heavy. Maybe I shouldn't say won't. It would seem pointless to have that heavy of a truck pulling tanker. The idea is to haul as much product as you can. Why would you want to cut out 4K lbs of product.

They're not as heavy as you might think. ARI just had an article around a month ago that they're going to be building a Volvo chassis with 121" sleeper, bed bath and breakfast nook which will weigh in under 22k dry. They certainly can be heavy, especially older models but with the use of stronger, lightweight composites, they've really made some headway. Figure that setup, 200gal of fuel and 75 gal water tank and you're just shy of 23k. Toss an 8500# aluminum flatbed behind it and you can still pull almost 48k legally on a 280"wb.

One of the major players in custom sleepers is: ARI. You can google 'ARI Legacy Sleeper' and one of the first hits will be their website.

I must admit I am curious as well as to why their are a greater prevelance of custom sleepers in the HHG market. Does driving HHG pay that incredibly well? I have seen a few flatbedders with custom sleepers, but you don't really see dry van or reefers with custom sleepers. You won't see them pulling tankers because the trucks themselves are so heavy. Maybe I shouldn't say won't. It would seem pointless to have that heavy of a truck pulling tanker. The idea is to haul as much product as you can. Why would you want to cut out 4K lbs of product.

Y'all are correct. Never heard of a company truck, that is an extended sleeper.

Most companies that you would lease onto (LandStar, etc.) have a max wheelbase and gross weight of the tractor limitations. All of the large sleeper customs, have stretched frames.

You typically will see these in Permitted Heavy Haul outfits - because they have a lot of downtime. In most states they can only run in daylight hours - which adds days (potentially) to a run. So they get the badboys, because they spend so much downtime in them - and since they are permitted overweight, the extra few thousand pounds, doesn't really make a difference.

Rick

And those bad boys are freaking expensive.... I have a client in Missouri that owns one and can not stop bragging about it lol...... former police officer

And those bad boys are freaking expensive.... I have a client in Missouri that owns one and can not stop bragging about it lol...... former police officer

What is $250,000 to $500,000 to have your brand new home/office with you everywhere you go.

Granted the Legacy II are prefab, so cheaper than the pure custom Legacy I sleepers. Legacy IIs come in 97", 108", 120", 132", 144", 156" and 168" sleepers. For a 97"/108" fairly bare bones, you may be able to grab one brand new in the $220k area. But if you want a 144" or bigger you are definitely heading towards $260k+

If you look at the wheelbase chart in the FAQ, I know the Freightliner Cascadia runs around 3" longer in WB than the recommended for set back axles in the FAQ.

Ah the legacy sleepers are definitely on my favorites list. They're quite expensive so certainly not a company owned ride.

The last one I had the opportunity to ogle on the inside belonged to a husband/wife O/O team that cruised for the most part doing trade show setups.

The truck was beautiful. It was old and they had found it for $40k needing major repairs on the motor. They put about $80k into it, with new motor, a little chrome, and new paint. Basically they paid $40k for a very used but lovingly maintained legacy sleepers.

New, a legacy sleeper can cost upwards of $150k. Yes, they are THAT nice. They are custom built to ordered specifications.

Way more than $150K - unless you're talking about bringing a truck to them for upgrade.

Rick

Right. I'm talking-- you supply the truck and they build a custom sleeper to mount on the truck.

That's how I've always seen it done.