Chris Olson, director of product management for Supreme Corporation, a leader in truck body manufacturing, says the following are among the fundamental questions to ask when spec’ing refrigerated truck bodies:
- What product(s) will the truck be transporting?
- What type of packaging will be used for the products?
- How much product weight will be transported?
- What is the temperature of the product(s) going into the truck?
- What temperatures need to maintained?
- Are trucks pre-cooled prior to loading? (Pre-cooling helps to maintain product temperature during the loading process.)
- What is the ambient outside temperature range the truck will be working in?
- How long (time-wise) is the delivery route?
- How many times will the door be opened during each route?
- What body interior dimensions are required?
- How will the truck be loaded (hand truck, pallet jack, forklift, hand stack, etc.)?
- What type of flooring best fits the application?
- What types, sizes and quantities of doors are needed?
- Is a liftgate required? If so, what type and capacity?
- How is the cargo to be secured?
