Last year, he says, “I turned $65,000” gross on “about 100,000 miles, with $18,000 worth in fuel.”
And a big bonus: “I don’t have to fool with a log book,” he says, given he’s typically at 9,100 GVW overall, with a 4,000-pound payload tops, and he doesn’t haul any hazardous materials. You don’t even necessarily need a CDL to run in a cargo van, unless the company requires it.

“It’s beautiful, sun shining,” he said from the road early this month on his way home, where he sleeps every night.
Yet another bonus: “I used to have a bigger truck and had to go through the scales. If [inspectors] are having a bad day, they’ll let you know it — I don’t have to fool with that.”
The 74-year-old says he runs about 100,000 miles in a year, already with nearly 30,000 miles on the new Nissan at only three months old. It’s capable of hauling up to two high-loaded skids, perfect for his auto parts-related operation.
On cargo van longevity generally, Finley says, “we’ve had some drivers get a million miles out of one or two,” though he typically trades between 400,000 and 500,000 miles — at that point, a big-ticket item like an engine or transmission is “liable to go bad,” he adds.
Find more pics from my visit with him in Nashville at DMW headquarters below.