Wabash National is North America’s leading producer of semi-trailers. In fact, they’ve built more than one million of them. Leveraging decades of innovation leadership in the semi-trailer market, with more than 200 patents worldwide, Wabash National’s engineers have combined fleet-proven equipment designs with advanced materials to create a line of high-performance truck bodies for Class 5 through Class 8 chassis.
“Re-urbanization and e-commerce trends are rapidly changing the commercial transportation and logistics industry. We’ve leveraged the best parts of our trailer manufacturing heritage to create a line of truck bodies that provide a new level of performance in this changing environment,” says Sean Kenney, vice president of sales.
THE FINAL MILE
Wabash National’s Final Mile Series truck body is designed to reduce maintenance costs, enhance productivity, and maximize the life of equipment. Constructed with Wabash National’s DuraPlate® composite panels, used in commercial trucking equipment for more than 20 years, the dry freight truck body also incorporates semi-trailer-grade components and designs for added performance and longevity.
American-made DuraPlate consists of two external steel skins thermally bonded to a high-density polyethylene (HDPE) core. Available in a variety of core formulations to reduce weight in specialty applications, DuraPlate is the most advanced sidewall material available.
Why the shift from long-haul semi-trailers to truck bodies? The launch of Wabash National’s truck body line comes in the midst of a surge in e-commerce, reshoring, and re-urbanization, in addition to a changing regulatory environment.
“As the transportation industry is faced with increasing regulations and rapidly changing shipper needs, we’re focused on providing breakthrough designs that reduce weight, improve fuel efficiencies, reduce material costs, enhance corrosion resistance, and improve safety,” Kenney says. “Our engineering and production teams have worked hard to design and build a dry freight truck body that delivers greater levels of performance, and we think customers will see immediate benefit in their operations.”
TRANSFORMING OPERATIONS
Eric Cameron, branch manager at American Metals Supply Company in Indianapolis, Indiana, bought his first Wabash National truck body in 2016 and has been more than happy with the results.
“I absolutely believe that Wabash truck bodies have revolutionized the way we can do things,” Cameron says. “I’ve reached out to the rest of our branch managers to let them know that the next time they’re ready to buy a box truck, they need to seriously consider bringing the Wabash product into their fleet.”
American Metals Company is a distributor of metal components for HVAC systems. Its customers include HVAC companies and general contractors who typically seek same-day or next-day delivery. Loads can vary from 10-ft spiral pipe or 20-ft flange material to shrink-wrapped items on a 4×4 skid.
“Our deliveries are not cookie cutter loads,” Cameron explains. “I don’t have the same freight going out to everyone. Which means I don’t have the luxury of just 4×4 skids going from front to back. We need reliable equipment.”
STAND-OUT FEATURES
Some of the standard features on a Wabash National Final Mile Series truck body that differ from comparable models include:
- Bonded DuraPlate sidewalls: Four times stronger than traditional sheet and post models, this feature significantly reduces customers’ maintenance costs and equipment downtime.
- 16,000-lb floor rating: Supporting varying loads and optimizing utilization, this forklift-capable floor allows flexibility to transport items, such as commercial equipment, furniture, and general home deliveries.
- Recessed grab handles: These handles resist dock damage.
- Heavy-duty door track protection: This feature protects the door track during loading and unloading.
- Fully galvanized rear frame and subframe: Galvanization provides a longer life through superior corrosion resistance.
- One-piece extruded aluminum header: This feature eliminates two possible leak paths and offers exceptional damage resistance.
- Rugged corner posts: These posts provide superior strength in high-impact areas from tree limbs and other obstacles. They also maximize capacity, because they provide square interior corners for pallets to fit.
In addition to the standard features that come on a Wabash National truck body, Cameron was impressed by the customer support he received from an experienced Wabash National team that is used to solving customers’ challenges.
Cameron says his Wabash rep, Jerry, “heard everything I was saying, understood what I needed, and knew the solution before we even talked about it. Then we walked through the spec and next thing we know, we had a Wabash truck body. I received the truck body exactly the way that I wanted it and everything was thought through.”
WELCOME TO THE FLEET
Listening to customers and understanding their needs in a changing operating environment—that’s what drives innovation at Wabash National. Reliability in both product and service makes operating Wabash National truck bodies easier and more valuable to customers than any other option available today. That’s why Wabash National offers a warranty that is unmatched in the truck body market: five-year coverage on every truck body part, plus an additional five years on DuraPlate sidewalls.
“We’re confident we make the most durable, longest-lasting truck bodies in the industry. We want our customers to be confident, too,” comments Kenney.
Wabash National has raised the bar in Final Mile transportation by leveraging its R&D test center and applying the same innovative engineering it has poured into its trailer products for decades. The result: high-performance truck bodies unlike any other. Everything Wabash National stands for—now in a truck body.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Find out more about Wabash National products and services, visit www.wabashtruckbodies.com.
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MODERN WORKTRUCK SOLUTIONS: MAY 2017 ISSUE
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