Make Work Trucks Work for your Construction Business

Reduce your fleet’s operating costs with transferable service bodies.

Whether a construction company runs one service vehicle or a fleet of 100 or more, it is crucial to manage those vehicles in the most economical way to improve your company’s financial health.

In a world with soaring fuel prices, reducing fleet costs has become nearly impossible. And with the increased cost of steel, plastics and other manufacturing materials, replacing service vehicles can significantly drain a business owner’s profit margins. A fleet manager cannot control these variables, but different strategies can be used to reduce operating costs.

Transferable service truck bodies provide one strategy to reduce fleet operating costs. Transferable service bodies for pickup trucks clamp to the bedrails (instead of bolting into the pickup truck bed) by using a four-corner mounting system that squeezes or locks under the bedrail and requires only a socket wrench to tighten or loosen the clamps. To prevent the service body from slipping around, a rubber mat can be placed on the bed of the pickup. The unit can also easily slip on and off the truck with a forklift or a set of four lifting jacks similar to a camper jack system.

Transferable truck bodies come in lightweight fiberglass composite units or more traditional steel and aluminum construction with side storage compartments along the bedrails and full length pullout drawers that can handle up to 1,000 pounds of parts, tools and equipment.

Using service bodies can result in significant savings because they can be used on a range of pickup trucks from lightweight to heavy-duty 1-ton trucks. These units fit all major models. And the fuel savings from using a lightweight slip-on truck body on a fuel-friendly truck can be substantial.

Reduced Downtime

When a truck needs maintenance or repairs, the transferable truck body can be moved quickly to another truck—this eliminates the downtime that often occurs when a technician’s tools and equipment have to be transferred to another truck. Not only does the company save valuable work time, but the technician does not have to deal with the frustration of using a borrowed truck body.

Added Security

Truck bodies also offer tool and equipment security that prevents costly break-ins and theft. Double-lock doors and side compartments provide the security necessary to prevent the cost and downtime of losing valuable equipment and the time associated with replacing them.

Faster Replacement

Replacing service vans and trucks is a dreaded but necessary part of doing business. When purchasing a new vehicle, the transferable truck body can simply be moved from the old truck to the new one. And transferable truck bodies can outlast multiple trucks with limited warranties as high as 10 years on the service body.

Since the service body does not have to be replaced, this results in substantial savings to the company—and a pickup truck has a higher residual value when you trade or sell one with a higher resale value.

The savings associated with introducing a transferable truck body program into your fleet can provide your company immediate and long-term benefits.

Construction Business Owner, November 2011