Wondering what you all think. I have a small plant nursery just starting out I'm looking at getting either a used box truck or used full size School Bus. What I'm seeing for pricing for both is something about 15 to 20 years old with about 200,000 miles being about $5,000. I wouldn't want to spend much more than about $5,000.
Seems to me that the school bus would be larger and have heat in it which would be an advantage if I'm hauling poinsettias but no heat is not a deal-breaker.
What do you think would be better box truck Ford or Chevy School Bus International or Freightliner what are the advantages and disadvantages of going box truck vs. School Bus what about pulling a trailer? I'm in Michigan so salt is an issue and rust is an issue but it's always been an issue for me.
I have some experience in this. I owned a wholesale ornamental foliage nursery here in FL for 20 years.
You have to watch every expense in the nursery business as profits are razor thin between fertilizer, fungicides, pesticides, supplies (pots, soil, trays, sleeves, and boxes), utilities, taxes, equipment, and insurances (not to mention paying yourself and your help).
You want to consider the yearly cost of insuring a school bus or a box truck on top of the cost of buying one.
For me, I went with a Ford E250 (3/4 ton van) and a cargo trailer.
Like I said, we were wholesalers so most of the product we shipped was "trayed only" so we couldn't stack boxes on top of each other. ( the middlemen wanted the "boxing fee" from the retailers).
If I remember, we installed 1 row (at the 1/2 way height) of e-track in the van and 3 rows (above the floor) in the trailer and bought a bunch of the 2X4 e track sockets.
2X4's fit into the sockets and you just lay 1/4" plywood on top of them.
It was a really versatile setup. When you didn't need the "shelving" you could just lay the plywood on the floor, pop out the 2X4's and you had open cargo space. Took just a few minutes.
The van could fit 30 cases of 18" to 20" tall plants and the trailer could hold 60 cases (both "trayed only" ((unboxed)).
They could hold even more boxed plants because we could just pull out the plywood decks and the 2X4 cross beams and stack the boxes on top of each other.
If you're on a budget, then be aware that maintenance costs on commercial trucks are much higher than light duty vehicles.
You might consider towing a trailer instead.
Box truck. One with a retractable ramp would make loading and unloading much easier. A school bus will be a back breaker and might have special driver's license requirements too. Maybe not for plants though. I'd check for your state.
