July 2008, Work Truck - Feature
How to Select & Specify Service Bodes
By Joe Bohn
Body Construction Specifications: Steel vs. Aluminum
Body material plays a significant role in overall upfit cost. The vast majority of large fleets, for example, favor steel service bodies for their cost and durability.
A steel service body life can be virtually limitless, though it will show signs of wear more readily than fiberglass or aluminum, according to Eric Nelson, truck engineer with Wheels.
For that reason, steel bodies are also preferred by fleets that trade trucks in on a three- to five-year cycle, which lease and fleet management companies have determined is the best cycle to achieve maximum dollar return for a used service-body vehicle. Complete units, sold with body and chassis intact, provide the best resale.
"There are any number of independent contractors who don’t want to spend the up-front money for a new unit and just want a unit that runs and works for a few years," Nelson says.
Kinder Morgan is among the fleets using steel service bodies. The service bodies are typically mounted on Ford Super Duties, have a basic Knapheide 108-type design with flip-top compartments, and are primarily used for carrying tools and parts. The company operates its trucks on a "one-time lifecycle" basis, according to Drozd.
"We go for a product with a decent price," Drozd says. "We own our own vehicles and keep them until they’re worn out. Then we retire the whole thing off the books."
The bodies are "terminated" along with the chassis, when the latter wear out — typically about seven to eight years/120,000 to 150,000 miles.
Conversely, at BP Products North America, "We try to use aluminum. In some cases, we use fiberglass to keep the weight down," says Smolar. The longer-lasting appearance benefits of these materials (which still have steel understructures) also help increase their resale value.
Smolar’s fleet includes more than 1,100 light- and medium-duty trucks. The light-duties are typically spec’ed for a 10-year/100,000 mile trade-in cycle, though they usually reach their mileage limitation first, Smolar adds.
At that point, the company remarkets the bodies with their chassis.
Maintenance & Ship-Through Affect Choice
Maintenance and ship-through also affect a fleet’s choice of an upfitter. Regional upfitters may offer an opportunity to save money; however, if the fleet is national in scope and has vehicle accident issues, for example, a regional upfitter may not have locations for adequate servicing.
"On any given day, there are many options for having the same piece of equipment installed," Nelson says. "Often, we get three different quotes on bodies and chassis.
For a ship-through to work, an upfitter and/or distributor must be located next to a major truck plant. The order for the equipment installation and upfitter is given to one of the Detroit 3 truck manufacturers, for example, which handle the logistics of delivering the vehicle to a designated dealer. WT