Life on the Road as a TD

M

MikeJanis

Banned
Wow, I was just checking my travel plans for the next couple of Viking Tour events. The next events I am directing are at Coonie's in Logansport, IN on March 24-25 then off to Cleveland, OH for a pitstop to visit my daughter for her B-Day then Down to Columbus, OH for the Viking Events at Cornfed Reds on March 31-April 1 then back home to the Atlanta area.


Here are my stats:

Total Drive Time = 26 Hours, 21 minutes
Total Miles = 1,631
Estimated Fuel Usage = 148 Gallons @ 11 miles per gallon (yeah, my truck is a gas hog especially when loaded with tournament gear)
Estimated Fuel cost = $371.00 @ $2.50 per gallon
Estimated Tolls = $20
Estimated Food Cost while traveling = $200
Total Nights in Hotels = 10
Estimated Lodging Fees = $500
Estimated Road Kills = 1 Possum, 1 Bird, 3 Raccoons, I'm hoping for NO Deer this time. (this could help reduce my food cost)
Estimated total expenses = $1,090.00

This trip will put my 01 F-150SC close to 275,000 Miles which means I spent an average of $62,500 on fuel so far traveling to Viking Tour events in the last 5.5 years and about 5,000 hours driving to them which is about 208 full 24hr days of driving or 416 days of driving at 12 hours per day.


Mj
 
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Mike

10 nights in Motels seems like a lot for 4 days of tournaments. 11 miles a gallon!!! You need one of those new Toyota trucks.... lol
 
ScottW said:
You forgot:

"Posting a list of expenses to AZB - priceless."

:D
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ScottW, I wish those were the only expenses.

The PRICELESS category falls under the list of friends I have made on the road all these years.
 
Snapshot9 said:
11 miles a gallon!!! You need one of those new Toyota trucks.... lol
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I have seriously been considering buying a foreign vehicle to help save on expenses but to me that's like buying a foreign cue. It just doesn't seem worth it to me to save some dough and as a side effect cost someone here in the US their job.
 
Mike... have you considered a small(er) motorhome... gas would be about the same... and you'd save a lot on hotel bills (vs. RV spot for some of the nights on the road)... and you'd also save on meals... as you could make some of your own in the m/h... fwiw. :)
 
cigardave said:
Mike... have you considered a small(er) motorhome... gas would be about the same... and you'd save a lot on hotel bills (vs. RV spot for some of the nights on the road)... and you'd also save on meals... as you could make some of your own in the m/h... fwiw. :)
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I have considered it but there are way too many negatives about the MH.

A: Water for showers and bathroom.
B: Emptying waste
C: Repairs, my exes dad had several New Motorhomes and it seemed like all he ever did when he was at home was fix something.
D: Travel Time - A MH would take me much longer to get from A to B
E: Way too much money for what I would need.......

Mj
 
Wow! 265,000 miles on an '01...that's lots of driving. So, other than the 11 mpg, how do you like the truck? Reliable? A suggestion, if you gear fits under one, you might consider a tonneau bed cover. We put one on our Ford Ranger, and highway mileage climbed. An open pickup bed has quite an air drag.
 
pwd72s said:
Wow! 265,000 miles on an '01...that's lots of driving. So, other than the 11 mpg, how do you like the truck? Reliable? A suggestion, if you gear fits under one, you might consider a tonneau bed cover. We put one on our Ford Ranger, and highway mileage climbed. An open pickup bed has quite an air drag.
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Yeah, I got one of those from ARE. The truck has been pretty reliable. So far I have only had to replace Tires 4 X, Entire Front Suspension including upper and lower ball joints, arms, springs & shocks 1x. Rotors 3 x brakes ??? too many to count. Compressor 1x, front window 5x. It's been in 6 accidents including 1 deer, 2 telephone polls and 3 hit and runs while parked.

The big problem is that I have a 5.4 Supercharged motor in the truck. Pretty much the same thing as a Ford Lightning.
ENGINE AND DRIVETRAIN
For 2001, the SVT Lightning's SOHC 5.4-liter Triton� V8 engine develops 380 horsepower at 4,750 rpm, Torque output is increased by 10 foot-pounds, to 450 at 3,250 rpm.

Which led to another problem of 43 tickets ($200 a pop) in 5 years with 6 driving under suspensions at about $500 per. You don't event want to know how much my insurance cost is. It would make you sick !

And all this because I love the ACTION !
 
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Mike, we all know that pool doesn't bring all the dollars....I'm sure people would put you up for a night or two....hell, I got a couch and a shower you can use - it ain't the Marriot, but it's the right price :D

Lemme know if ya ever head to Jax, you got a place to stay...

Oh, and stop driving a Ford....it's embarrassing that somebody can have good taste in cues and drive a POS :D
 
Big Perm said:
Mike, we all know that pool doesn't bring all the dollars....I'm sure people would put you up for a night or two....hell, I got a couch and a shower you can use - it ain't the Marriot, but it's the right price :D

Lemme know if ya ever head to Jax, you got a place to stay...

Oh, and stop driving a Ford....it's embarrassing that somebody can have good taste in cues and drive a POS :D
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Thanks for the offer. I'm gonna put you on my list of places to stay this summer when I'm broke and riding my MC to save costs.

Mj
 
Reading this thread has only reminded me of how the Viking tour is coming to Coonies, relativly close to my hosue, and how dissapointed I am that I won't be able to go. :(
 
thrasher789 said:
Reading this thread has only reminded me of how the Viking tour is coming to Coonies, relativly close to my hosue, and how dissapointed I am that I won't be able to go. :(
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Sorry you can't make it to the events.

Please send your friends.

Mj
 
MikeJanis said:
Yeah, I got one of those from ARE. The truck has been pretty reliable. So far I have only had to replace Tires 4 X, Entire Front Suspension including upper and lower ball joints, arms, springs & shocks 1x. Rotors 3 x brakes ??? too many to count. Compressor 1x, front window 5x. It's been in 6 accidents including 1 deer, 2 telephone polls and 3 hit and runs while parked.

The big problem is that I have a 5.4 Supercharged motor in the truck. Pretty much the same thing as a Ford Lightning.
ENGINE AND DRIVETRAIN
For 2001, the SVT Lightning's SOHC 5.4-liter Triton� V8 engine develops 380 horsepower at 4,750 rpm, Torque output is increased by 10 foot-pounds, to 450 at 3,250 rpm.

Which led to another problem of 43 tickets ($200 a pop) in 5 years with 6 driving under suspensions at about $500 per. You don't event want to know how much my insurance cost is. It would make you sick !

And all this because I love the ACTION !
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Mike, I've been in the car biZ for years, and you can either get a high mpg car, tho it sounds small for your needs, but my recommendations if its got enough room, and you can get a very low mileage 30-40 K for 9-10 grand is a late model Crown Vic. That 4.6 V8 is superb, and its rear wheel drive, gets 26mpg all day long. With all the amenities your fatigue would be about NILL. The highway patrol, the cab companies and a ton of traveling sales people utilize this forgotten car, its extremely reliable and problem free, its a great drivetrain. Climate control, +++ allot of other amenities you'd be surprised. Its hard to put a price on no fatigue as one ages.
 
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Island Drive said:
Mike, I've been in the car biZ for years, and you can either get a high mpg car, tho it sounds small for your needs, but my recommendations if its got enough room, and you can get a very low mileage 30-40 K for 9-10 grand is a late model Crown Vic. That 4.6 V8 is superb, and its rear wheel drive, gets 26mpg all day long. With all the amenities your fatigue would be about NILL. The highway patrol, the cab companies and a ton of traveling sales people utilize this forgotten car, its extremely reliable and problem free, its a great drivetrain. Climate control, +++ allot of other amenities you'd be surprised. Its hard to put a price on no fatigue as one ages.
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Island Drive, thanks for the note. Unfortunately, the Crown Vic is too small to carry all the equiptment I travel with for the tour. Right now the F-150 isn't even big enough.

As far as the fatigue goes....I'm nearing 40 and you are right. It's killing me. My left arm/shoulder are all messed up and my doc said it has a lot to do with the way I drive. Heck, I have to pull over and take naps every couple of hours these days.

Gett'n old stinks!

This year, my 1st year since 1991 I finally splurged and bought Health Insurance from Kaiser. It sucks being self employed. Unfortunately, I have put off several major health problems these last few years so I am sure I will get my monies worth over the summer months when I am not doing events.
Mj
 
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MikeJanis said:
Thanks for the offer. I'm gonna put you on my list of places to stay this summer when I'm broke and riding my MC to save costs.

Mj
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Cool, stay in touch and have safe travels...
 
Mike, now you're bringing the tour down to Texas you might be able to add a few armadillos to your road kill list! Can't beat a bit of variety!!
 
chilli66 said:
Mike, now you're bringing the tour down to Texas you might be able to add a few armadillos to your road kill list! Can't beat a bit of variety!!
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Randy Goettlicher will be directing those events.

I'm sure I will make my down there in the near future. When I get there I plan on running around my old stomping grounds in LaPorte, Baytown and Shady Rivers were I used to live. If i'm lucky I might even catch a few Dillos that I painted back when I was a kid. If you happen to spot any running around with the letters MJ on their backs, you know I was there.

Mj
 
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