Advice - Coast to Coast - First Time!

Hello all!

I've never driven an RV before but have to make a Coast to Coast trip to take an RV back to its rightful location later this year. For that reason we have to do it as quickly (and safely) as possible.

We are two drivers so can rotate throughout the journey.  I wanted to get some advice on what is a reasonable daily distance given our novice driving skills! We need to do 2600 miles total - is three days completely unreasonable - 55mph, 14 hours per day?

Hard work and a little boring but we just need to 'do the job'.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Alternatively if we could do a one way rental then we wouldn't need to do this drive however there are no companies that will rent us for pick up in CA and drop off in NY in June. Again, suggestions and advice welcomed - private hire etc...

Jo

You don't mention the type/size of RV or your age, both of which can affect the answer to your question, but 14 hours a day is a bit much for most folks. One 14 hour day is bad enough, but three in a row is really wearing. Driving an RV, especially the larger ones, is definitely more tiring than driving a car, and requires more concentration. Even a small class C, especially for someone not experienced with it, will tire you more quickly than a car, so you're likely to need more frequent stops to rest.

If you average 55 mph (hard to do) you're talking 15.76 hours a day to make it in three days. But when I drive at 65 mph on the road, with gas stops, food stops and occasional rest stops, I don't average much over 50 mph. At 50 mph you're going to have 13 hours per day for 4 days (52 hours total).

My suspicion is that you'll be a hazard (to yourselves and others) before the second day is out, just because of being tired. Nine or 10 hours a day is more reasonable, and would extend you to 5 days, assuming you're traveling mostly o the interstate highways. If there's very much time on two-lane roads, you'll need to extend that time quite a bit.

Probably some other folks here would suggest even fewer hours per day, but I think 9-10 is the most you should consider. Good luck.

Thank you so much for your response Larry. We are mid 30s but complete novices so want to be reasonable, and above all, safe.  It's a size C and I must admit that I am a little aprehensive about driving something to large...

Thank you for your advice!
Jo

I agree that 9-10 hours a day at an average of 50 mph is reasonable. More than that and you will be dangerous, at least on the second or third day. We just drove 1800 miles in 3 days for a very critical reason, and it was dreadful. DH grew up on a farm driving tractors for 12-15 hours a day, and it was still hard though we alternated drivers every 3 hours or so.

As for the reason you are doing a cross country trip, you are young by RV standards. If this is a bucket trip, have you thought about doing it over multiple years? Maybe do the west coast one year, the Mountain West another, Midwest a third, etc. that was you keep the RV rental cost down significantly. It will be really expensive to drive the RV back across country. Forgive me if you've thought this through and this is the only way to get it done.

Jojobr1982 said:

Thank you so much for your response Larry. We are mid 30s but complete novices so want to be reasonable, and above all, safe.  It's a size C and I must admit that I am a little aprehensive about driving something to large...

Thank you for your advice!
Jo

Click to expand...

"C" is the class, not the size. A C class RV could be 15' long or 40' long.

To drive (anything) safely you need to be well rested and paying attention. One of the biggest risks you face on a long haul like you are going to do, is that you "check out" and stop giving the drive your full attention once you get cruising. Paying attention to the road for 14 hours is tough but doable.

I think at best you're looking at 5 full days. Even then you'll be tired.

Thank you all for your honest advice. Unfortunately it's a case of getting the vehicle from A to B. My husband is doing a west to east cycle race which is why we need the RV. We ideally want to hide the RV to support him on the journey, picking up in LA and dropping off in NY but we can't find a company that will do a one way for us.

If anyone has other suggestions on where we could hire from that would consider a one way, hiring someone to do the return for us etc... that would be also very helpful!

*hire not hide!

With two drivers, you can change off every 3-4 hours and doing 12-14 hours per day is manageable, though that much seat time is boring and uncomfortable.

However, even with mostly interstate driving, an average of 55 mph will be hard to attain. Fuel stops will be needed every 300 or so miles, and probably some breaks to stretch or get meals. Or will you be eating sandwiches for 3-4 days? 

I'm inclined to think that 4 days is a practical minimum. 600-700 miles per day, but you young guys are tougher than me..

You can get multiple quotes as well as do an auction for shipping it back at

http://Uship.com

Think outside the box:

Another option, I have seen quite a few folks arrive in campgrounds with a rental truck full of camping gear.

Rent a one-way truck, load up your own version of life on the road and camp that way.

Plenty of rental trucks offer one way drop offs. Campgrounds come with showers and restrooms. if you're going to be driving that much, you will be eating out a lot, so your cooking may only be at the camp and then it may just be the basics.

You probably already have a house full of useful ready-to-go-camping items to throw in the truck. You may have friends with used camping gear they are willing to sell so they can get new for the next season. A lot of camping gear turns up in yard sales. Inflatable mattresses are pretty cheap these days.

Maybe

https://www.elmonterv.com

http://www.vehiclerelo.com

http://www.apollorv.com/reloc.aspx

I like MissMermaids idea. Use a box truck for a chase vehicle. You can have mattresses or cots, tool box, spare parts, etc.. A place to work on the bike out of the weather if needed.

You can bring along a utility shelter with a portable shower. A simple portable toilet.

Propane stove, cooler with dry ice, couple of folding tables would make a camp kitchen. You don't need actual "camping" gear, lots of blankets, pillows and such would do.

Even buying some camping gear and mattress, it would probably be less expensive than a rental RV. More versatile as well.

That would let you go with U-Haul, Penske, or Budget. All allow one way rentals.

That's an excellent idea ? I hadn't even thought of that!

Thank you so much all!

To answer your initial question, this is really hard to answer without knowing your existing driving experience, but I can say this as a guy in my 40's who routinely drives a fairly large pickup truck (Crew cab F-250) and has a number of years experience with occasionally pulling small trailers.

A couple of years ago I helped an old friend with vision issues drive a E-450 van cab style 26? ft moving truck  similar to a typical class C from Louisiana to western Montana in 4 days, a distance of 2,100 miles with his wife and teenage son following along in a car. 

This was in July and the days were long, more so the farther north we went, yet still this amounted to solid driving with little sleeping much of the way, we were being rushed because the rental truck was 2 days late being available and his wife had to be there to start a new job on a specific date, they picked me up at my house 150 miles into the drive after packing for 2 days and being up all night loading the moving truck.    Leaving my house at noon we made another 450 miles that day stopping at midnight in NW Texas, the next day after about 8 hours of sleep and only stopping for fuel, and one meal at a truck stop we made whopping 880 miles before having to stop and sleep a few hours in a rest area outside Douglas WY at 3 am.  We should have stopped hours earlier, but could not find a vacant motel room, so kept pressing on to the next town for 2-3 hours.  After sleeping for 4 or 5 hours in the front seat of moving truck that does not recline we only made about 350 miles the next day before pulling into a motel at about  3 pm where we collapsed and slept, ate, slept some more until about 7 am the next morning before setting off on the final 300 or so mile drive.  I then spent 2 night there, helping them unload the truck into their new home before catching a flight home and sleeping some more.

How old is the RV?

What route are you taking?

Jojobr1982 said:

That's an excellent idea ? I hadn't even thought of that!

Thank you so much all!

Click to expand...

Another thought before you turn the truck back in, you can pack up all your stuff and ship it back home US Mail, parcel post, which is their slow cheap shipping method.

You can stay in hotels with the truck or in campgrounds.

If camping, bring some electric cords so you can have electricity if you plan to cook and a water hose, but seems like it would be easy enough to eat out on your trip and use the campground showers and restrooms. Mainly you just need a cooler(s) for drinks and foods, and an inflatable bed, some lights. If you want to cook, little electric one burners are $10 and up. A portable toilet can be had for $25 and up. Folding camp chairs or inflatable furniture. I saw a nice L-shaped inflatable couch recently, too funny!

Also an inflatable couch with a pull out bed. Amazing what they come up with next!