New ideas for getting the goods there and for getting the job done evident at this year’s Work Truck Show
The growing popularity of online purchases is increasing demand for delivery vehicles, and based on some of the new truck bodies shown at this year’s Work Truck Show, truck body manufacturers are responding.
Even trailer manufacturers are crossing into the truck body market in an effort to meet the needs of long-standing customers and to generate some new ones.
Other trends apparent at this year’s show are the growing need for lighter vehicles. This is showing up with an increase in bodies made from lighter materials—particularly aluminum—and composite truck bodies that save weight with the added benefit of avoiding rust and corrosion.
Here are some examples of the introductions at this year’s event, held March 15-17 in Indianapolis:
The truck shown here has the Precision Distribution Consulting system installed in one cargo bay. In practice, the system would be installed in all of them. This photo shows it being applied for keg delivery. A similar system for parcel delivery is installed on the street side of the truck.
To reduce tare weight, the body can be made of Supreme’s proprietary FiberPanel honeycomb composite sidewalls. The composite panels plus other customized features can reduce the weight of the body by 27%. This translates into a 1000-pound reduction on a 26-foot body. www.supremecorp.com
Going the final mile. Wabash National has entered the truck body market, leveraging its reputation among its motor carrier customers that are adding straight truck applications to complete in the growing “final mile” market.
Wabash has become North America’s largest trailer manufacturer thanks in large part to its DuraPlate sidewall design. The new dry-freight van shown here at The Work Truck Show uses new DuraPlate panels that incorporate a polypropylene honeycomb core to reduce panel weight by 22%. It also leverages the deep bottom rail design that has proved popular with trailer customers. The deep aluminum extrusion adds strength, and it provides an integral scuff plate for a snag-free surface during loading and unloading.
Wabash also offers a refrigerated body that touts 20% better thermal efficiency, the result of no metallic contact. The new composite body also saves weight by being molded in such a way that the strongest portions of the body are matched with the areas where stress is greatest. It has the same 16,000-pound floor rating as its dry-freight counterpart.
The body mounds to the chassis with a system of galvanized hangers and galvanized rail that is bonded to the body. www.wabash-trailers.com/products/truck-bodies
New upfit facility. John Forbes, president of Utilimaster, announces that the company’s upfit facility in Kansas City is now operational. Located near the manufacturing plant where Ford produces Transit vans, the facility installs cargo van equipment under the name Spartan Upfit Services.
“Spartan Upfit Services is a cost-effective, modernized fleet upfit assembly operation dedicated to the customization of cargo vans and other midsize fleet vehicles servicing the utility, telecom, health care, construction, food and beverage and parcel-delivery markets,” Forbes said.
Spartan offers a combination of kits and base packages with corresponding customized services, while common vocational packages are available for quick delivery. Recently launched in Kansas City, the operation is getting its start in a new 50,000-square-foot building allowing vehicles to be processed via the Ford Ship-Thru Program. www.spartanmotors.com/upfitservices/
An eight-foot service box weighs just 600-lbs, the company says. The panels, imported from Switzerland, are an inch thick and weigh 1.434 pounds per square foot. They are weather-resistant between -40°F and 176°F. The company offers a variety of options, including central locking systems, windows LED lighting, refrigeration, and shelving systems. ErgöVan USA is a subsidiary of Copanco USA. www.ergovan.net
Sidewalls feature flush-mounted cargo management track system. The E Track systems are integrated prior to truck body assembly and are compatible with traditional captive decking and cargo management systems. The all-metal floor system is designed to reduce weight and increase cube. Retractable rear steps ease getting in and out of the truck body. www.morgancorp.com and www.celltechmetals.com
The body is 15-20% lighter than comparable designs, according to Morgan, the result of its non-corrosive panel construction and its floors—stain-resistant phenolic flooring in the dry freight body and an aluminum “silent floor” in the reefer. NexGen bodies are designed with elastomeric gaskets in the connection profiles that provide the ultimate protection from water intrusion. Current production is available from Pennsylvania, Oregon, and California plants with continued production rollouts planned for the Midwest in 2017. www.morgancorp.com/dry-freight/nexgen/features.php
Upfitter-friendly food truck. There are more than 200 food truck upfitters in the U S, and Morgan Olson thinks it’s time they had a walk-in van that they don’t have to remove standard shelving things out before they can begin upfitting the vehicle as a food truck.
“The design of the Foundation food truck gives food truck upfitters roughly a 25% head start on building these custom kitchens,” said Rich Tremmel, Morgan Olson’s vice-president of sales and marketing.
The new Foundation walk-in van is just that—the foundation for food trucks. Key features include heavy duty, reinforced steel roof beam support for various sized exhaust fans and ceiling mounted air conditioners. The entire width of the walk-in van body has been increased to 96” providing food truck operators additional “work space” in their mobile kitchens. The side-walls of the walk-in van body have received special attention with the addition of reinforced, extruded “H” beam sidewall studs (16 “ OC) featuring pre-drilled wire chase holes to help upfitters run the many wire service connections needed to power these mobile food kitchens. www.morganolson.com
Gull wing about to fly? Reading Truck Body displayed this concept body—an aluminum version of its Classic II service body but with gull wings providing access to the compartments from the top. For certain applications, the gull wings help maximize storage. This particular body is designed for a Ram 3500. www.readingbody.com
The UltimateFX service body is all-composite—including the understructure. The UtilityFX is the all-composite body for cutaway work van applications.
New and improved. RKI Inc displayed a number of new options at The Work Truck Show. They include a new weld-free shelf option for H series truck boxes that is adjustable in two-inch increments, an updated slide-out option for all of its service bodies (also adjustable in two-inch increments), and updated drawer systems for vertical compartments. The company also has a new service body for 37-inch Ram chassis. www.rki-us.com
Modular truck body. Bedrock Truck Beds are built in modules in order to reduce SKUs. Example: the headache rack is adjustable to fit multiple trucks. The spare tire is modular, and the mudflaps are mounted on an adjustable mudflap kit. The company has been in operation for just over two years. It is a sister company of Ranch Hand Truckfitters. www.bedrocktruckbeds.com
The reinforced stake pockets allow easy addition of sides—either by inserting 2” x 4” stakes or Knapheide-manufactured side accessories. Underbody tie-downs provide a reinforced points to attach cargo straps. www.knapheide.com
New trucks and equipment at The Work Truck Show
Removable liftgate. The new LiftGator removable liftgate earned the NTEA Innovation Award at this year’s Work Truck Show.
The Liftgator XTR model can lift 1,200 pounds. The LTE version has a capacity of 900 pounds. Each model mounts in a standard 2” or 2½ receiver hitch. It is equipped with a set of rollers that enable it to move easily to the back of the truck and slide into the hitch. It comes with its own battery mounted within the liftgate. More than 20 lifts can be completed on a single charge, and the self-contained battery system can be recharged using a truck’s seven-pin trailer connector or any 110-volt wall outlet.
It is designed to fit pickups or chassis cabs equipped with flatbed or utility bodies. No truck modifications are required. The Liftgator can be installed or removed in less than three minutes. It works with hitches with hitch heights of 24 inches or less and floor heights of up to 48 inches. When installed, LiftGator does not interfere with the sight line of the truck’s brake lights. When not attached, its three-section foldable platform gives the unit a small footprint that takes up little storage space. Liftgator’s Jason Russo demonstrates. www.liftgator.com
Parker Chelsea also announced increased capacity for its 823 Series PTO. The extra capacity comes from high capacity bearings and gear designs that to provide a torque rating up to 750 lbs. ft. The 823 Series is an eight-bolt power take-off that offers four shift options. The seven internal gear ratios provide a wide variety of speeds. Seven output options range from companion flanges for remote mounted equipment to SAE “C” direct mount flanges and shafts. www.parker.com/chelsea
The Generation II plow line update includes a 20% expanded ground clearance as well as an increased stack and transport height for excellent snow stacking. Along with these improvements, Buyers engineered new prop feet for easy dismount. A new, single-piece chain lift and improved harness makes installation easier. New LED plow lights and a welded light bar design provide better visibility, and an improved A-frame optimizes support and balance.
The new VXF and HD/EX models are built to fit current SnowDogg mounting patterns allowing for easy transition. An easily removable panel provides for simple maintenance of the Generation II plows and the hand-held remote increases functionality. www.SnowDogg.com
The eCanter will be the first 100% electric work truck designed and produced by a major truck manufacturer, the company said. The Class 4 vehicle with have a 15,995-pound GVW rating and a payload rating of 9,380 pounds. It has a practical range up to 100 miles. It can be quick-charged in an hour and will fully charge in eight hours.
The eCanter may have a different powertrain, but it will utilize standard Canter specs, including 151.6-inch wheelbase, C/A, 33.5-inch-wide frame spacing, and body mounting system.
Fuso also announced at The Work Truck Show that it is partnering with PSI, General Motors, Powertrain, and Allison to offer gasoline-powered medium-duty trucks. Three models—the FE130, FE160, and FE180—will be available with the PSI-GMPT Vortec Series 6.0-liter V8 and Allison 1000 six-speed automatic transmission. They will have be available with PTO openings. They will be produced at Daimler’s Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation plant in Gaffney, South Carolina. Full launch will be in the first quarter of 2018. www.mitfuso.com
