Is this normal or abbeynormal?

[EastCoastCB]

Insurance from Progressive using a commercial policy for non-commercial use is $450/6 months or $900/12 months. I need a 6 DAY policy.

They'll charge you some sort of minimum if you try to cancel after six days. I'm not made of money at all but I kept my policy since they wrote it so that way they're less likely to hassle me. I couldn't get ANY policy for my last bus. I'll be damned if I lose this one!:wink1:

 

[Brewerbob]

They'll charge you some sort of minimum if you try to cancel after six days. I'm not made of money at all but I kept my policy since they wrote it so that way they're less likely to hassle me. I couldn't get ANY policy for my last bus. I'll be damned if I lose this one!:wink1:

Yeah in the grand scheme of things $450 ain't too bad. Then I can drive it to the scrap yard with the seats, drive it to the metal fab and pick stuff up, etc.

 

[Thomas1985]

Bring at least $1000 for gas and incidentals.

-Thomas

 

[Brewerbob]

Bring at least $1000 for gas and incidentals.

-Thomas

$525 for diesel at 1407m/8mpg*$3g. I've got camping meals I could bring if I really want to do it all dirty.

That's why plastic was invented. There's a valid argument for not using credit cards but debit or credit cards and you can track your receipts to the penny.

 

[sdwarf36]

And as far away from the exporters as possible. The more they have to pay to get em a thousand miles or so home, the better chances they won't bid as aggressively.

This one always made me scratch my head + go wtf :
I briefly worked at a Mitsubishi Fuso/Iveco dealer around 1995. When we would get traded in box trucks with around 200k on them, a lot of times they were pretty rusty. And no matter how bad they were, they would still go for $2k -2500. Who would buy these roaches? Ecuadorians. And Hondurans. They would be driving them back-FROM CONNECTICUT!
I'm no expert in macro economics-but labor must be pretty cheap or they go for big bucks once they get south of the border. Don't they have shitty box trucks in Texas?

 

[superdave-SKO]

Insurance from Progressive using a commercial policy for non-commercial use is $450/6 months or $900/12 months. I need a 6 DAY policy.

ya the first year it was 850.00 but it dropped to 350 for the second year. if you get it insured keep it.

 

[cadillackid]

the exporters in florida buy a ton from missisippi alabama and noit as many from texas.. the exporters in Texas seem not to bid up the newer stuff... the like the older mechanical ones..

and as I kind of found out sort of by accident they dont want short busses. (hence how RedByrd was born)....

Brewerbod: imagine how I felt when I half-assed bidded on a bus in texas and then WON it.. didnt know much about it.. went to pick it up and drove it damn flawlessly from texas to florida.. and then Realized it is a BETTER BUS then my first one and I paid 1/3 the price for it and it has most of the stuff I had to add at extra cost to the first one.. yeah Lesson learned.. if you find the right bus at the right price and its 1400 miles away GO GET IT!!!!
-Christopher

 

[cadillackid]

oh and pack some TOOLS!! if you have to fly down, then pick a hoitel before you pick up the Bus and UPS a box full of tools ahead of time to your hotel and then you'll have some tools for your ride home..
-Christopher

 

[Brewerbob]

Dude, in soooooo in over my head. The right bus would be a 90 pax but those are hard to find at $2k. Once I get the thing I plan to cut the roof off it?!!? Who the **** does that? Guys with body work experience. My only body work experience is crumpling sheet metal. Hope not to do that.

 

[Brewerbob]

oh and pack some TOOLS!! if you have to fly down, then pick a hoitel before you pick up the Bus and UPS a box full of tools ahead of time to your hotel and then you'll have some tools for your ride home..
-Christopher

Will stay with a buddy. Either ship mine down or but a ghetto set from Horrible Fright.

 

[cadillackid]

my horrible fright tools just replaced an air compressor and a thermostat and except for using a gear puller and a drill (to install the air dryer) they did it all..

the gear puller couldve been rented.. and an air dryer wouldnbt be installed along side the road..

but even though i was at home with my garage full of tools, it was an exercise to see if my on-board set was enough to make a decent size repair should i need it.. only thing I was short was the gear / pulley puller and deep well sockets wouldve helped in a couple places.. so I added some deep wells in my onboard set and dont worry about the puller.. thats rare to bneed that making a roadside repair..

-Christopher

 

[Brewerbob]

Oh once it's built, it will have dedicated tools. I'll keep the MIG onboard.

 

[superdave-SKO]

love h freight tools, still got my 20 dollar grinder I bought 5 years ago. some stuff is junk but most of it is a great deal, things you only use a few times a year.

 

[Meddle]

Insurance

Got a policy thru Progressive for $210 a year. They cancelled me 1 month later. Said they can't insure it because it's a converted school bus? I thought I made that perfectly clear when I got the policy. Got another policy thru Allstate. $113 per 6 months. My stated millage per year is 1000. ( still more working on it than driving it ) Coverage is 100,000 / 300,000. Once again I hope I made it very clear that this is a school bus conversion. It's been a month now and I haven't cancelled yet.

Good luck to all!

 

[k9karl]

ebay;

i just bid on a bus this morning as well. auction ends thursday at 8 pm. not from texas thou,,

 

[Brewerbob]

First, I lost the bid on the bus. I bowed out at $2k. I was going to be upset if it sold for $2150 but it ended at $3450 so I don't feel too bad at the moment. That particular auction site doesn't take plastic and I only have $2k in cash at the moment.

So, back to waiting for an 84 or better yet a 90 pax bus to hit the auctions/CL/etc.

Got a policy thru Progressive for $210 a year. They cancelled me 1 month later. Said they can't insure it because it's a converted school bus? I thought I made that perfectly clear when I got the policy. Got another policy thru Allstate. $113 per 6 months. My stated millage per year is 1000. ( still more working on it than driving it ) Coverage is 100,000 / 300,000. Once again I hope I made it very clear that this is a school bus conversion. It's been a month now and I haven't cancelled yet.

Good luck to all!

Damn, how are you getting such low rates? I don't know what Progressive was using for mileage. I forgot to mention and they didn't ask.

 

[EastCoastCB]

First, I lost the bid on the bus. I bowed out at $2k. I was going to be upset if it sold for $2150 but it ended at $3450 so I don't feel too bad at the moment. That particular auction site doesn't take plastic and I only have $2k in cash at the moment.

So, back to waiting for an 84 or better yet a 90 pax bus to hit the auctions/CL/etc.

Damn, how are you getting such low rates? I don't know what Progressive was using for mileage. I forgot to mention and they didn't ask.

Its not really the passenger count that dictates how long a bus is. An "84" and "90" are almost certainly the same bus with slightly different seating configurations. My bus is 40 feet and is only rated at "78".

 

[k9karl]

First, I lost the bid on the bus. I bowed out at $2k. I was going to be upset if it sold for $2150 but it ended at $3450 so I don't feel too bad at the moment. That particular auction site doesn't take plastic and I only have $2k in cash at the moment.

So, back to waiting for an 84 or better yet a 90 pax bus to hit the auctions/CL/etc.

Damn, how are you getting such low rates? I don't know what Progressive was using for mileage. I forgot to mention and they didn't ask.

same thing here. i thought the one i was bidding on would top around 2500.00 but i was wrong!!

 

[Brewerbob]

Its not really the passenger count that dictates how long a bus is. An "84" and "90" are almost certainly the same bus with slightly different seating configurations. My bus is 40 feet and is only rated at "78".

FYI... certainly not saying you're wrong. I just don't know.


I saw on another forum of actual bus drivers that the max 40 foot length law is NOT a law bus was merely a standard. Some states had laws that were being revised to allow the Thomas and Blue Bird 90 pax buses. Those posts were from around 2005ish so those then new buses are now getting to our auctions and price points.

I have no idea what the laws nor the standards are for distance between seats. I do know there are certain requirements on window size so even if you cram them in there like sardines, you still have to have the chassis length for the windows. That said, I could see a 72 and a 78 being the same. But a 90 the same as a 72??? I just don't see that happening.

The VA bus I went and looked at is a 78 pax (I think) and it measured roughly 32 ft from driver to rear. It was an International FE. I just don't remember if it was 72 or 78 but pretty sure it was 78.

 

[EastCoastCB]

FYI... certainly not saying you're wrong. I just don't know.


I saw on another forum of actual bus drivers that the max 40 foot length law is NOT a law bus was merely a standard. Some states had laws that were being revised to allow the Thomas and Blue Bird 90 pax buses. Those posts were from around 2005ish so those then new buses are now getting to our auctions and price points.

I have no idea what the laws nor the standards are for distance between seats. I do know there are certain requirements on window size so even if you cram them in there like sardines, you still have to have the chassis length for the windows. That said, I could see a 72 and a 78 being the same. But a 90 the same as a 72??? I just don't see that happening.

The VA bus I went and looked at is a 78 pax (I think) and it measured roughly 32 ft from driver to rear. It was an International FE. I just don't remember if it was 72 or 78 but pretty sure it was 78.

Just look at how many rows of windows the bus has, forget the passenger count man.
The longest school bus you're gona find is a 40 footer. Sure- some schools own and operate tour buses, but we're talking north american, nat'l chrome yellow school buses here.
My bus had several smaller seats that could have been ordered as full size seats to expand the capacity to 80-something. The school district ordered the small seats near all the exits to make it easier to evacuate. Not every bus comes like this. My bus has a side exit that not every bus has, as well.
It all depends on the district that ordered the bus. The amount of rows of windows will be the quickest way to tell how long a bus is, at least roughly.