Demand for recreational vehicles is soaring as corporations, media outlets and others establish base camps in the devastated Gulf Coast region.
“By Tuesday or Wednesday of next week, all of our RVs will be in Louisiana,” said John Montgomery, owner of the American Dream Vacations RV rental center in Denver.
Most of the calls, at this point, are coming from deep-pocketed companies that can afford RV rental fees that range from about $3,500 to $8,800 a month.
Cable network CNN called Montgomery on Friday to rent 14 motor homes, the last units he had free before Labor Day weekend.
In addition, CNN is paying $2,000 a vehicle to have the RVs delivered to the New Orleans Airport.
More RVs will leave Denver for the 20-hour drive to southern Louisiana after the holiday weekend, Montgomery said.
The American Dream Vacations headquarters in San Antonio rented its fleet of 120 motor homes by Thursday, according to company founder Steve Franklin. Hurricane-related customers include Verizon, Nextel, T-Mobile, Sprint, Albertsons and Whole Foods.
Motor homes, which have electrical generators and tanks for fresh water and sewage, can be parked anywhere to provide instant, self-sufficient housing.
Even trailers – which require water, sewer and power hookups – and tent campers are in hot demand, said Ben Angel, rental manager with Nolans in Denver.
“There are millions of people looking for something to live in,” Angel said.
He has already sent RVs to Baton Rouge, La., to house helicopter pilots aiding the rescue effort and repair workers from Douglas County-based Time Warner Telecom.
He has misgivings about leasing motor homes to other dealers in Texas and Louisiana who are desperate to get more units.
“As much as we would like to help those folks down there, it’s scary putting a million and half dollars’ worth of inventory down there,” Angel said. “How do you know they don’t start jacking those things up and selling the tires and the appliances and we end up with a shell of a motor home?”
Staff writer Ross Wehner can be reached at 303-820-1503 or rwehner@denverpost.com.
