Copious amounts of freight are hauled across the country on a daily basis using pickup and delivery (P&D) bodies. A lot of thought must be put into these boxes – also referred to as dry freight bodies – during the spec’ing process to be certain a fleet is operating at peak efficiency.
The first detail fleets should focus on is the type of cargo being transported.
“We start by asking a million whys,” explains Pete Gracia, executive director of strategic accounts at Morgan Corporation (www.MorganCorp.com) – a producer of truck and van bodies in North America for more than 60 years, specializing in Class 4 to Class 7 vehicles. “What are you hauling? How do you load? How do you unload?”
The freight being hauled in the back of the truck also influences chassis needs, which must be determined before a P&D body is spec’ed.
“The body needs to have the correct chassis to handle the load/payload request from the customer,” says Natalie Beasley, marketing communications manager at Supreme Corporation (www.SupremeCorp.com) – a manufacturer of truck bodies and custom vehicle solutions for more than 40 years.
The gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the chassis, coupled with the fleets payload needs, will affect what body can be utilized.
Additionally, fleets need to make sure their drivers are comfortable and not straining to get in and out of whichever body is utilized.
To ensure a driver – and ultimately the fleet – is operating at the most efficient levels, fleets should consider the following aspects when selecting a dry freight body:
- Body size.
- Doors.
- Liftgates and/or ramps.
- Walls.
- Roof.
- Lighting.
- Floors.
- Safety and protection features.
BODY SIZE
Dry freight bodies come in all sizes, but many medium duty fleets opt for bodies that are 26’ long and have a 103” inside height.
Medium duty trucks used for pickup and delivery applications generally are 18’ to 28’ long, in two-foot increments. In most cases, medium trucks are offered in outside widths of 96” and 102”, with the majority opting for 102” to maximize on the payload. The ranges of height on these bodies start at 85” and increase in six-inch increments for additional options of 91”, 97”, 103” and 109”.
The reason that 109” is the highest height is because that translates into an outside height of the body – from the ground to the top of the roof – of 13’6”, Morgan’s Gracia says, noting it’s the legal limit for height.
Although these are common dimensions, manufacturers can customize the body size to fit a fleet’s specific application. The body length is driven by the wheelbase of the chassis chosen by the customer, and other variables factor in as well.
“The sizes are determined by the customers’ need, including how they load and door opening requirements. Chassis OEM guidelines also determine what size body will work for what chassis,” says Supreme’s Beasley. “The chassis will determine length, height and width.”
She adds that the use of pallets requires a minimum body width and height, and fleets that utilize forklifts for loading and unloading will need a minimum GVWR and door opening in addition to a reinforced floor.
DOORS
When considering doors, fleets should determine the amount of room required for unloading and loading.
Swing doors require adequate clearance on both sides to open the doors and do not always work well with liftgates due to the locking mechanism on the rear swing doors. So more often than not, a roll-up door is utilized on the back of a pickup and delivery truck body because it does not interfere with nearby vehicles.
“If using a liftgate, roll-up doors are preferred to get that gate as close to the floor as possible,” says Supreme’s Beasley, noting roll-up doors provide maximum opening, are good for tight areas where swing doors do not have room to operate, and makes it easier to pull in and out of a dock.
For example, if a driver is on a street with a lot of traffic and he’s double parked, there’s no need to swing those doors out, adds Gracia of Morgan, estimating 90 percent of dry freight bodies use roll-up doors. “When you swing open a swing rear door, there could be an obstruction out there, and you also don’t want him swinging a door into a traffic situation.”
However an overhead door reduces the interior height of the body due to the door’s track.
“When hauling large skids or pallets, a rear overhead door track protector might be specified,” adds Beasley. “This protects when moving skids from the inside of the body from damaging the overhead door tracks.”
Side doors are used more for short deliveries – one box being dropped off, for example. While swing doors are the most common type of side doors, roll-up and sliding options are available also.
Side doors provided ease-of-mind if security is an issue. Instead of rolling up a rear door and exposing all the cargo, a side door can allow a driver to remove a small amount of freight and keep the remaining cargo protected.
Beasley adds that side doors may require a stepwell, depending on the size of the body.
LIFTGATES/RAMPS
Determining if a liftgate or ramp is right for a fleet must be determined on a case-by-case basis. Often, ramps are utilized when loading/unloading applications are done by hand or with a hand cart, while larger loading/unloading requirements often necessitate liftgates.
“Ramps will work with most any truck body as long as it has a flat floor,” explains Beasley of Supreme. “Ramps typically have a lower floor height due to the incline of the ramp.
“Most medium duty applications will have a liftgate,” she continues. “Liftgates have a minimum floor height requirement.”
“One of the more popular options in recent years is all the liftgate companies developed a liftgate/walk-ramp combination,” Morgan’s Gracia adds. “There’s still a tuck-away liftgate, which tucks under the back of the body. But then you can also access a walk-ramp that we put in between the body long rails.”
Gracia says he has seen an increase in liftgates recently, because fleets want to make it as easy as possible for drivers to load/unload without straining themselves.
“I think any of the major fleets would tell you they want to make sure the vehicle is, from a driver comfort standpoint, the best, safest vehicle they can put out there on the road,” Gracia says. “Instead of having my driver getting in and out of this truck body all day long, I would prefer to have them use the liftgate to unload.”
“Most applications will allow either a liftgate or ramp, depending on the chassis frame height and GVWR,” notes Beasley, adding a lower capacity liftgate can be specified to accommodate certain applications.
WALLS
When selecting a material for a dry freight body’s walls, Supreme’s Beasley says to consider your fleet’s need for:
- Impact resistance.
- Water resistance.
- Fade resistance.
Gracia of Morgan explains there are three types of material commonly used in most pickup and delivery truck bodies. These include:
- Aluminum skin and post – a popular selection as sidewalls are constructed with 48” wide aluminum panels that are attached to posts inside the body.
- Plate – a durable option as 48” wide panels of galvanized steel make up the outer surface. A polyethylene plastic core material is then bonded between the steel outer surface and an inner skin.
- Fiberglass reinforced plywood (FRP) – an outer surface and inner surface of fiberglass is bonded to a plywood core.
Aluminum is likely the least expensive option. Plate and FRP bodies are slightly more but comparable in price to one another. Cost and durability often factor into a fleet’s decision, but Gracia says other items, like decals on the side of the body, can influence purchasing decisions too.
“Aluminum sheet and post body has rivets every 48” where the panels are joining together. If you’re going to do a full-body decal on the sidewall of the body, it may not look as good if you were doing it on a FRP body – which is a smooth sidewall, or a plate body – which is basically smooth. There’s no fasteners on the outside wall when you do a plate body or an FRP body,” says Gracia.
ROOF
There are two basic choices for a dry freight body roof material: aluminum or translucent.
“The translucent roof is basically fiberglass, and it has a 10 percent translucency. So 10 percent of light gets through,” says Morgan’s Gracia, adding there are no advantages to either material in terms of durability. “The advantage of that over an aluminum roof is purely visibility inside the truck.”
Even if the weather is overcast, there is more visibility inside the body when utilizing a translucent roof. However, translucent roofs have a tendency to make the truck body warmer if running in hot climates.
Fleets also should consider roofs that are crowned to assist drainage or reduce the load placed on the roof by snow.
LIGHTING
If a translucent roof does not provide enough visibility, or if deliveries are made at night, additional lighting will be required.
Truck bodies that are 16’ or shorter – regardless of roof type – will almost all have one dome light, says Morgan’s Gracia. Bodies that are 18’ or longer typically have a minimum of two dome lights.
Supreme’s Beasley notes there are many different lighting options available, including:
- Halogen.
- LED.
- Incandescent.
- 18” fluorescent.
- Spotlights, work lights, etc.
For years, the industry used incandescent lights on the dome lights. In a lot of cases, fleets have gone to LED dome lights,” adds Gracia, as they offer a better light output and longer life.
Floors
In pickup and delivery applications, wood is the most affordable and the primary type of floor.
“In almost all situations, we are using a 1-1/8” laminated hardwood floor. That’s what I would say is an industry standard,” says Morgan’s Gracia.
Floor materials include:
- Wood.
- Laminated hardwood.
- Composite flooring.
- Apitong flooring.
If a truck needs to be cleaned frequently, a covering – such as an aluminum or steel treadplate – might be utilized.
When spec’ing floors for a specific application, fleets should consider what the truck’s expected payload will be. What’s more, consider if a forklift or pallet jack will be used for loading/unloading application, and find out if the floor needs to be reinforced.
SAFETY AND PROTECTION FEATURES
There are a number of features to consider in order to keep drivers, trucks and cargo from being harmed during pickup and delivery applications.
Gracia of Morgan says the most popular cargo constraint utilized on sidewalls is E-Track.
“That runs, normally, front to rear on the sidewalls of the body. It can be recessed in between the plywood, or it can be surface mounted on top of the plywood,” he explains, adding there is no standard location for this, but rather it depends on what cargo is being loaded and transported.
F-Track, another cargo restraint option, can be recessed in the floor, while a channel is also put in the ceiling across the width of the body. Then a fleet can put load bars in those slots, so cargo can be secured and prevented from shifting side-to-side while driving down the road.
Additionally, tie-rings can be added on the wall or floor – wherever a fleet might need them. However, Supreme’s Beasley notes tie-rings are not rated as high as E-Track or F-Track.
In order to protect the truck itself from damage during loading and unloading, a scuffplate should be installed along the walls.
There are a number of variations of scuffplate, according to Gracia. He says 3/4” laminated hardwood – normally 12” high – is the most popular option, while wood, steel and plastic materials also can be used.
For the same reason scuffplate is used on the sidewalls, a reinforced front wall may be installed as well. This limits the damage done by forklift and pallet jack operators bumping into the front of the body.
On the outside of the body, aluminum rub-rail is often installed to protect the exterior of the dry freight body.
The outside of the body often will be protected by aluminum rub-rail. Fleets are also installing back-up cameras and sensors on the outside of the vehicle for added safety.
Again, there are many option and variations associated with spec’ing pickup and delivery bodies. There is not a universal solution for all fleets. The key to securing the best truck involves an in-depth look at what each individual fleet wants to accomplish.
