Scenery Transport Advice?

[IamDeeBee]

Hi All,
I'm working on a show that's going to be doing an on/off (no consistent schedule) regional tour.
Our set is relatively small (All the pieces can fit in an area of 8'x5'x6' when packed right).
In all of these scenarios I would be the driver, as well as the production manager on site for the load in. So the less I have to worry about spending time getting the vehicle into a proper parking/storage area, the better.

I've been looking at various options for getting the set around, and wanted to see if anyone here had any better ideas.

Current Options Include

Purchasing a Trailer - We have a truck that could tow a trailer, this would act as a storage facility between venues as well.
Pros: Self storage when not touring, no reoccurring fees.
Cons: Initial investment, would need to store somewhere while at venues, insurance.

Renting a Truck or Trailer - This would be through a U-Haul type company where we could rent a trailer in City 1, load the set into the truck, drive to city 2, load into the venue, and then drop the vehicle off at a branch in that area.
Pros: No major investment, don't have to worry about storage at the venues.
Cons: Getting the truck to/from the venues on the day of load in/strike.

Hiring a 3rd Party Driver - I know that there are companies that do this, but I have NO idea where to begin to look for this kind of thing. In my thinking, we would rent a truck or trailer from them that would act as a stroage facility, and then when we wanted to go to a venue, they would hire a driver to drive the truck to the location, we would unload, and they would drive the truck somewhere else. When we're ready to load out, the company would send a new driver with the same truck back, we would load it up, and then it would go back to the storage facilitiy.
Pros: I don't need to worry about driving, storage or insurance.
Cons: We don't have easy access to the set. I have no idea where to begin to set this kind of thing up.

All your insights are appreciated in advance!

 

[ruinexplorer]

So, could you also possibly buy a used cargo van? I know that companies like U-Haul and Ryder sell off their vehicles once they hit a certain mileage. Ryder seems to sell them off at lower mileage, but you have to pay a bit more because of it. With a cargo van, you have flexibility, plus it is small enough to stay in a regular parking space.

 

[SteveB]

So, could you also possibly buy a used cargo van? I know that companies like U-Haul and Ryder sell off their vehicles once they hit a certain mileage. Ryder seems to sell them off at lower mileage, but you have to pay a bit more because of it. With a cargo van, you have flexibility, plus it is small enough to stay in a regular parking space.

Renting seems to be cost effective, especially as the rental company deals with all maintenance.

I see a lot of touring children's shows that travel in the Sprinter vans, essentially the tall Euro style vans that are larger then the Econovan things. They frequently have a set of seats or two to carry the cast as well as a ton of room int he back for scenery.

Only issue might be these (and any) vehicles carrying commercial plates, as well as towing a trailer, are not allowed on certain highways in Connecticut and NY (if you are headed this way). Parkways are typical of this. That sometimes makes route finding a bit more problematic.

 

[Footer]

How often does it move? A popular thing among the dance groups is to build a crate and have it shipped via a freight carrier.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[IamDeeBee]

Thank you all for your insight;

With a cargo van, you have flexibility, plus it is small enough to stay in a regular parking space.

My concern with something like a cargo van is space. We used a cargo van for the first run and got everything to fit in pretty snug. Since then we've added in 4 more 4'x5' flats and are talking about a sub deck. Plus considerations of eventually travelling with some of our own lighting equipment. I feel like we would just be too limited.

Only issue might be these (and any) vehicles carrying commercial plates, as well as towing a trailer, are not allowed on certain highways in Connecticut and NY (if you are headed this way). Parkways are typical of this. That sometimes makes route finding a bit more problematic.

This kind of van would satisfy the space issue. You make a really good point with it being considered a commercial vehicle though. The more I research, and look into all of this the more I don't want to have to worry about driving/parking in the whole equation.

How often does it move? A popular thing among the dance groups is to build a crate and have it shipped via a freight carrier.

This is sounding like a very appealing option. It's currently not travelling too frequently, but the plan is of course to book more places and have it travel more often.
Do you know if the carriers deliver it directly to the venues, and do the venues store the crate? The only issue I can see with this route is that we're more of a black box show than a proscenium mainstage, so some of the spaces we're travelling in might not have the room to store a large crate.

Does anyone have any knowledge about trucking companies that send drivers with the truck? I worked on a show that did this once. We would show up at the venue, a random driver would show up with our truck, we would unload, he would drive off and then someone else would come when we loaded out with a truck, we would pack it, then it would be stored in some facility by the trucking company until our next venue.
I think this would be my dream scenario, but I don't know if this is something a standard trucking company would do, or if it would have to be a national chain that specialized in this. Any thoughts?

 

[TheaterEd]

If your just moving around the area, you could consider calling a local moving company. They might give you a discount if you are loading and unloading yourselves.

Here is one google found http://landing1.allmysons.com/index...&templateid=&gclid=CITegeHa6bkCFc9i7AodBVsA0Q

 

[IamDeeBee]

For those that are curious, here's where my logic train has taken me.
I ran the numbers for our first venue, and here's what i've landed on

U-Haul 14' Box Truck - Our crew will drive
Cost: $262 (Includes gas, mileage)
We will rent the U-Haul from a local branch that is open on a Sunday. We will load the truck Sunday and leave for our venue on Monday morning. A second crew member will follow the truck to the U-Haul location pre-load in. The crew member will drop their car off at the U-Haul location and hop in the truck. We will drive the truck to the venue and unload. The crew member will then drive their truck to the U-Haul location to drop it off, and pick up their car. They will then drive them self back to the venue and continue with load in.
Pros: This option is one of the cheaper ones. It doesn't require any major investment. There is a minimal amount of time spent worrying about parking/storing the truck. The truck has a ramp.
Cons: A crew member has to be away from Load In for some time (Half hour estimated). We won't always have a U-Haul location near us, so this won't always work.

Here is a brief glimpse into the other options that I decided against.

Local Moving Company Truck - Hired Driver
Cost: $541 (Includes gas, mileage)
The big downfall with this approach is that it requires the truck to make it back to it's original check out location. This would require a hired driver bringing the cost up a bit.

U-Haul 6'x12' Cargo Trailer - Hitched to a crew member vehicle
Cost: $132 (No gas or mileage charges)
This was also considered as a possibility with a very similar strategy as the truck, however the amount of space that the truck would offer in comparison dropped this one out of the running.

Freight Shipment - Got initial estimates from UPS and FedEx
Cost: $1,000 - $1,200 (Plus cost of creating a shipment container.
This might be something we can consider if we start going cross country, but since we're looking at staying regional for the moment, the truck is a much most cost effective solution.