Never caravanned before or not quite sure what to expect? Here are some caravan guidelines to help make the caravan more pleasant and fun for everyone including the vehicles who aren't part of the caravan.
Are you prepared? This question should be asked before the cruise not during. Have your VW filled with gas, oil checked, maintenance up-to-date, etc. Do all of this before arriving at the pre-designated meeting location. You might want to empty the bladder too. If it is a long cruise, a pit stop will be planned.
With a caravan made up of many different horsepowered dubs, it will take some preplanning to make it work. Here is a guide for lining up for the caravan. There will be a lead and a tail vehicle to help keep the caravan together. The tail vehicle will be determined at the meeting site. The lead and tail vehicle will have FRS or Two-Way radios and will keep in communication should the caravan get broken up or an emergency within the caravan arises.
Line-Up Order (Just a guide)
(Lead vehicle may not follow this order depending on who knows the route and is
determined to be the lead)
Karmann Ghias
Vintage Beetles
Vintage Buses
Vanagons
New Beetles/Water Cooled VWs
Just try to follow this order as a general rule. Don't worry if someone gets in
the wrong order, just deal with it. If the caravan stops for any reason, try to
keep the same order. If others join us, just let them in wherever you can.
Safety first is the top priority. Don't try to play catch-up by running red lights. The lead and tail vehicle will make sure the group stays together. Don't try to pass another Dub in the line-up. If you find you can't follow a certain Dub than make the change in line-up at the next stop.
Be considerate of fellow caravaners. Allow plenty of room for stopping and accelerating. Remember that the air-cooled dubs are slower and in some cases, need more room for braking. If other drivers who aren't part of the caravan want to pass, let them. Chances are they don't realize that we are a group that are driving together or if they do they just want to get out of our way. If another vehicle gets in middle of the caravan the Dubs in front will slow down as to coax the vehicle to pass so that they aren't trapped in our line-up.
There may be times when the caravan may be broken up due to traffic lights. If this happens the lead and the tail vehicle will work together to get the caravan back in line. If it is a long stretch of traffic lights, they can agree on a stopping point to get the caravan back together. If it isn't a long stretch than the lead vehicle can get into the slow lane and slow down until the rest of the pack catches up.
Emergencies or Break-Downs. If your vehicle breaks down or you have an emergency, please put on your flashers or flash your headlights and pull over to the shoulder if possible. Try to pick a spot that is flat and not next to a guardrail. The tail vehicle will be responsible for pulling over with you and radioing the lead vehicle to let them know what is going on. The caravan will continue on until they can safely pull over. Once the problem is determined, we will decide what to do at that point.
Radio Communications. If you have a FRS radio, you're welcome to bring it along. Help the others who don't have a radio by letting them know what is going on if possible. Don't use the radio to bad mouth anyone. That means in the caravan or otherwise. This is not the way we want our club to be known. Remember when you're talking on the radio there may be children listening.
October 2001