Trucking companies are working to improve the total cost of ownership by focusing on making upfitting easier for truck equipment manufacturers.
Part of the effort at Ford to improve total cost of ownership is to focus on making upfitting easier for truck equipment manufacturers. Recently, for example, the company launched a new Body Builder Advisory Service website that contains Special Vehicle Engineering bulletins, publications such as Body Builder Layout Books and information on the OEM’s Qualified Vehicle Modifier (QVM) program. The site also houses a Body Application guide, which provides guidance to customers on vehicle size pairing.
Isuzu also offers an online upfitter guide for body companies to use when upfitting their models on the manufacturer’s medium-duty truck chassis. The company works closely with several body manufacturers in the U.S. and Canada.
The Peterbilt Medium-Duty Body Builder Manual provides body builders with information to guide the planning and installation process for bodies or other equipment. The manual has dimensional information, guidelines for mounting bodies, modifying frames and electrical wiring. The manual, according to the manufacturer, can help reduce overall costs through optimized integration of the body installation with vehicle selection.
Available from Kenworth is a Medium-Duty Cabover Body Builder Manual that provides detailed sections on safety and compliance, dimensions, exhaust and aftertreatment, frame layouts and body mounting, frame modifications and electrical systems.
“The manual contains information and guidelines useful in the truck body planning and installation processes,” explains Kurt Swihart, Kenworth’s marketing director. “Early in the vehicle definition and ordering process, body builders can often contribute valuable information that reduces the ultimate cost of the body installation. This key information helps to ensure that the truck is specified correctly and will be ready and set up appropriately for efficient turnaround by the body builder.”
For more on this topic, see The right solutions: Manufacturers providing medium-duty trucks designed for fleet customers’ applications.
