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Hello!

My husband and I RV'd to storms for 8 years, but switched 2 years ago.  I don't think there is a right answer to this question, but here's some of what we considered when we decided to change.

Purchase price, including payments if neccessary or lack of investment income, if not

Tow vehicle- either behind a motor home, or in front of a trailer/5th wheel.  We towed a large 5th wheel and had to have a big F350 to do it-

Insurance on both of the above

Increase in gas costs to travel to  and from the storm.  Can also increase gas cost at storm if your using large truck to pull trailer

Loss of time at storm due to increase travel time while towing (average 1 day extra due to towing, and as much as 1 day extra getting "set up" in park)

RV parks run from $350 a month to $900!

Costs to have local phone connected, internet, etc.

Some RV parks do not have septic and you must pay the Honey Wagon to get your waste water- $25/wk? 

Licensing, taxes, storage, maintenance, chemicals, breakdowns, etc

With all that, we LOVED our RV- it was home away from home!  But when we factored in all of the above, and realized that we were incurring costs year round and not just while working, it made sense for us to go to a hotel. 

Corina

Well I haul my 5th wheel. Have for a while. Good tax deductions on trailer, can cook if I want, I know who has slept in the bed.

Got this trailer after paying $600 a week for a motel room.

I bought an older ('72') Airstream travel trailer to have ready for this summer's use.  It was mostly restored and I get good mileage towing it at 70 mph, unlike my other trailers.  I don't like goose necks and 5th wheel towing.  This tows great without an equalizer hitch as well.  It is quite economical buying an older one so long as you check it out and know how to fix some things, and providing you get an Airstream. I found it is much easier to renovate an Airstream than a house.   It is much more solid than the more typical travel trailer I had before.  I am getting satelite Internet because of the problems getting a good cell signal in the country, and quite often the towers are down after a major storm.   I had a problem finding good, if any, motels in Missouri last year after the tornadoes and ended up having to drive as much as 30 miles at the end of a day to find one.  I decided then that I would have a trailer for this year. 

If you have a lot of farm claims like I did, it will probably require towing the trailer to the claims, although in most cases I could have unhitched at a central location, scope a couple or 3 claims, then go back and hitch up and find a Walmart for the night and cranked up my generator to run my computers, lights, and a/c.

Rick Hansen

Having your own roof over your head is heaven sent.  $70 a night for a hotel or $600 for a month at an RV Park.  You can get a great 5th wheel or TT for $8000-$1,3000 or all the way up to $75,000.  It is well worth the expense.  It does lengthen your travel time but if you are packed & walk out the door the minute you get the call, you can make it on time. 

Having said all that, it is pure personal preference and comfort in pulling 30 ft behind you!   We pull a 5th wheel to storm sites and would do it without it!  My clean sheets, my dishes, my electrical or generator, my washer/dryer all under my roof!

It only takes one "major storm" deployment where you end up near 'ground zero' and absolutely NO hotels, NO restaurants, No services of any kind for weeks to learn to REALLY APPRECIATE an RV.  In 2004, there were adjusters who had to drive over 100 miles each way, every day from their hotel to their claims.  My fifth wheel and I spent a couple of days in the Wally-World parking lot, but found a campground/rv park within two miles of the cat office.  While all of the other adjusters were out trying to find hotels, I was set up and running claims.  While the other adjusters were wondering where they would get to take a shower, I was dressed and ready to roll.  While the other adjusters were looking for a place to sit down and work their claim files... restaurant, library, parking lot, I was in the office section of my fifth wheel travel trailer processing my claims.  Ever walk around in a motel room in your white socks??? They don't stay white for long.  Those "hairs" in the tub.. sink...  bed???  

What I'm getting at, is "there's no place like home" when the "home" is your own RV.  I get a tax write off as both a second home, and as an office.  I know WHO has slept in that bed... ME.  I know who sat on that toilet... ME.  I know who's leftovers were in that refrigerator... ME.  I know who used that shower... ME. 

My first "adjuster rv" was an 18.5 foot pull-behind travel trailer by Pioneer.  (model 18t6).  Had a full-sized bed, shower, toilet, vanity sink, stove, refrigerator/freezer and double sink, sofa/sleeper and a dinette set.  Simple.  Perfect for one adjuster working alone (under 6' tall).

After Katrina forced my family to evacuate out of New Orleans, I traded in the little rv for the "perfect adjuster rig".  The floor plan of my new fifth-wheel is PERFECT for adjusting.  It is a big unit, and fuel TO and FROM the cat site is a bit expensive, but once there... it IS home.  My "fiver" is a 36 foot Colorado fifth wheel, model 32QB-M5-BS.  It features three slide-out rooms. The front section features a queen size bed, full closet and dresser, vanity, under-bed storage with safe and a 19" TV with DVD.  The bathroom area features a separate full-size shower, enclosed toilet room with second vanity and dressing area.  The middle section features the living room with full size sofa-sleeper, 27" TV with DVD & surround sound, Dinette Set, Full Kitchen with Refrigerator/Freezer, Microwave, Stove and Oven, double sink with sprayer, plenty of counter, drawer and cabinet space.  The REAR section is a full office, with full-size desk, sofa/sleeper and two bunks that fold down from the ceiling (for those extra guests).  This allows me to truly separate Work from Home while deployed.  Satellite, wireless internet, on-board generator and other accessories make this the perfect rig for our line of work.

Best of all, I am pulling it with a 2006 Chevy 1500HD, with a 6.0 liter gasoline engine, and get about 9-11 mpg while pulling the rig.  That's actually better mileage than a class C motorhome.

You can check out the rig at www.thorindustries.com/rv and look on the DUTCHMAN section for the 32QB-M5-BS floor plan.

regards,

sz

In 2004 I was sent from Frances and a nice motel to Ivan and spent eight days searching for a room while tiring to handle claims. Five of those days were spent in my rental car. When I did get a room it had no power,cold water and broken glass in the carpet. How much I lost in productivity is hard to say but I never wanted to go through that again. When I got a decent room it was still without power for another two weeks. When I got home I took my time and found a very nice one owner truck and one owner travel trailer. The trailer is 26ft with an 8ft slide and is very comfortable  the truck gets 6-8 mpg while pulling the trailer 12-14mpg in town and 16-18 mpg hwy. The most I paid for a month rent was $650.00.While they were both 1994's the trailer still had the plastic covering on the seats and carpet and looked like new. I put a 15k max for both and paid just over 12k for the package The trailer even came with a 5000watt generator. Take you time and do some research there are some good deals out there. In 2005 I took the trailer to Pensacola in june and found an rv storage lot that charges $20.00 per vehicle left it there and flew home. Dennis hit in July had an rv spot right off I10 in Milton. Katrina Hit went to Hattisburg and found an rv park in Collins. I handled claims in about a fifty mile radius of the park. Then Wilma hit found an rv park in Margate right in the middle of my claims. I used the generator for power five or six times. I have satilite tv, a wireless aircard and even if a park isn't available right away there is always wall marts parking lot and rest areas for a few nights. Since I live on the west coast I leave the rigs stored in Gulfport in the off season  now but also fly down there and use it for fun several weeks a year. I agree it is not cost effective to use on all storms and in all areas but for me it is my home away from home and rv folks are usually very nice and do great parties for thanksgiving and xmass.

floorplan

Steve, Isn't your truck a bit light to tow your rig? I would guess the tongue weight and the towing weight dry and unloaded would exceed the specs on a 1500. I'd guess the tongue unloaded would be 1600-1800 lbs and that size has to weigh at least 10,000 lbs-12,000 lbs minimum empty, and probably another 2000 lbs at least loaded and carrying some water. I don't know of any 1500's or F-150's that get that kind of rating to them. Engine may pull it ok, but suspension and brakes would concern me. Wait til you take that hummer on something like the grapevine and your life could get real exciting.

Although I wouldn't recommend it for most storms, I bought a Winnebago View for Katrina because I expected a housing shortage.  It was my only vehicle.  It cost more, but I ate in my own kitchen every meal, I had a bathroom all the time (I could shower and change clothes in the middle of the day), I even took naps when I could.    Plus I had all my equipment, papers etc with me at all times.  Once in a traffic jamb on I-10 after 2 hours of almost no movement, I couldn't help smiling when I went to my frig and made a meal.

I got 15-17 MPG, which matched my Ford Explorer.  Plus I often stayed near my claims for several days before returning to a RV park, so I saved driving time and lots of gas.

One insurance agent with a large office also let me plug into his building and use his water whenever I was in his area.  He also let me use his high speed internet - a real god send in Louisiana.

The View is 23.5 ft. long, but it was as easy to handle as a van.  I could park in regular parking lots as long as I backed into the parking space and stuck the tail over the grass.

I could easily stick a folding ladder inside the View through a large side compartment door (the 23J and 23B models can do this).  Plus I was able to reach tall roofs from the top of the RV as long as I could pull up to the house.

I even used it for Wilma down in the Homestead, Florida area with no problem.  However, if I had been given claims in downtown Maimi, I probably would have gotten tired of using it.

I sold the RV within 2 months after I returned from the CATS.  It cost me $9000 including my sales tax and the price drop.

The time I saved not driving back to a set point everyday, or working in the RV while everyone else was fighting rush hour, helped me complete 218 claims in those 3.5 months.

Not sure I would do it again, but for Katrina, it was worth it for me. I really injoyed the whole time I was in the RV.