Cargo Box Update

**OntarioVanMan** · 12-18-2008, 11:19 AM

Originally Posted by moose

Thanks LOS...
i am kind of shopping for a 22' reefer Box...
just to do my homework...
just in case...
or maybe i'm just curios gorge or something...

next questions :

how heavy will it be ?
in compare to a dry box.
how match will it costs, installed ?
just a rough idea.
are you keeping your LG ?
what kind of warranty do you get ?
when can i taste my first deer ?

Moose.

interesting concept.....moose eating a deer...

**layoutshooter** · 12-18-2008, 11:23 AM

We are not yet sure on the total weight, it can change a bit during the mounting process. I will post the figures when it is complete. I have a Holland Lift gate and it will remain on the truck. That was part of the engineering problem. The box has to be built around the lift gate and since few trucks use Holland (mainly Alumi-Junk) it took awhile to find the parts needed. I don't know how the weight compares to a dry box since I have never ran with a dry box. As to cost, roughly $25,000 installed and rigged. I am not firm on that since it was an insurance job and there was depreciation on the old box etc. The box is specked to handle TVAL requirements at -25C at +120F. We specked it to handle desert temps. As to tasting venison, you are welcome over to the house whenever I am here. We ALWAYS have venison when we are home. Nothing like Bambi Chilli!!!!!!!!! The steaks are great and the Tenderloins, mmmmmmmmmmmmmm, sorry, but the tenderlions have already been re-cycled. They are now back into the food chain. LOL Layoutshooter

**layoutshooter** · 12-22-2008, 09:49 AM

I am now sitting in the drivers lounge at Morgan in Janesville, WI. What fun!!!!!!!!!! Anyone want to know the news from a July 22nd paper? It is so cold here I would have to use heat in the cargo box to get it up to -25c!!!!!!!!!! All joking aside, I am sooooo happy to be here and have the work started. They tell me that they might complete it by this afternoon. Layoutshooter

**mjolnir131** · 12-22-2008, 02:32 PM

i am so happy for you (because being out of the game drives you crazy) and feel your pain at the same time . waiting is part of our game but the waiting when your truck is at the doctors has to be the worst! seconded by the Monday morning wait till businesses gear up and the boards start moving

**layoutshooter** · 12-22-2008, 03:55 PM

You are soooo right. Layoutshooter

**layoutshooter** · 12-24-2008, 10:58 AM

THE BOX IS ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It looks really good, I hope it works as advertised. It is back in the shop in Toledo getting the reefer hooked up and the TVAL probes etc down. We hope to be back in service no later than Jan 8th, with any luck we will be back up and running on the 5th. Layoutshooter

**OntarioVanMan** · 12-24-2008, 11:30 AM

Thats good news!!

**Scott101** · 12-24-2008, 06:25 PM

congratulations!

Can't wait to see the pictures...

**layoutshooter** · 12-24-2008, 06:44 PM

Pictures will follow a bit later. I don't want to get in the way of those working on getting the truck ready for TVAL testing. We are still hoping to get into FedEx for testing on the 29th, if not, we will make the Jan 5th date for sure. Layoutshooter

**mjolnir131** · 12-24-2008, 08:28 PM

yea!!

areyou going to put those air fin thingys(that is a technical term) on the back of it?

**layoutshooter** · 12-25-2008, 09:42 AM

Do you mean Air Tabs? I hope to later this year. I would love to now but money is soooooo
tight having been out of service for so long. I have talked with several who have them and they all love them. For the time being I will have to focus on the basics only. Oil changes etc. I will be building the shelving for my White Glove stuff on Friday or Sat. Layoutshooter

**ATeam** · 12-25-2008, 10:48 AM

Have you thought about not using shelving?

When acquiring equipment, our philosophy was: if we need it once, we will probably need it again, so buy it. It has been a long time since we needed to buy anything new, but the approach produced a larger collection of equipment than you see on most straight trucks. None of it is stored on shelves.

Shipping cases on wheels store the items we use less frequently. An open-top box sits on top of the shipping cases to store the frequently-used stuff. Furniture pads are folded, stacked and strapped onto a furniture dolly. For small jobs, four pads sit loose and handy on top of the stack. Straps are kept in plastic buckets that sit on the floor between the cases and pads. Load bars (E-track shoring beams) keep everything in place. The pallet jack, hand truck and tripod dolly sit out where we can get at them and are strapped to the walls.

There is more but that gives you a sense. The idea is to mount everything on wheels. The box is 16 feet long. If we get an odd-ball WG piece of freight that is 16 feet long but not too wide, we can move the gear to the sides in an instant. That generally does not happen since we are in a CR-unit and the offers are usually limited to 12 feet. If necessary, we can move all gear forward in a a couple minutes to provide 14 feet of full-width space for freight. Our carrier knows we have 14 feet of usable space.

The huge advantage of having your gear on wheels is cleaning. It is a piece of cake to move the gear aside or out of the truck to clean the back.

Storing furniture pads on wheels also makes it a breeze to wheel the pads inside a building if you need to pad wrap a number of pieces before moving them to the truck; or to wheel them into a landromat if you want to wash them.

Keeping permanent shelving out of the truck also makes it easy for technicians to get at the reefer components and plumbing if they need to.

Ours is a reefer truck. Reefers produce condensation. To help dry the truck after a reefer load, beams at the front of the truck create a 2" space between the front wall and the equipment. The equipment rests against the beams, not the wall. That and the wheels the equipment sits on provides good air flow over the top, bottom, front side and back side of the equipment.

Finally, with no shelving built into the truck, you save that weight.

I am not at my own computer now. When I get back to it, I will attach a photo of our no-shelf technique.

Shelving built into the front of the truck is a common technique that has served people well for many years. We went with no shelves for the reasons stated above.

**layoutshooter** · 12-26-2008, 08:46 AM

That is a very interesting method for storing your gear Phil. I would like to see a set of pics on it. Our shelfs can be moved. We use E-Track 2X4 sockets to hold them. On the odd chance we have a piece of freight that is over 19ft (only twice in 2 years) we just raise the shelfs up to a higher row of E-Track. We are going to re-use our exsisting shelfs, we are just going to have to cut them down a bit due to the smaller inside dementions of the new box. I do have a 2 inch space between the back of the shelfs and the wall to allow for air flow. Layoutshooter

**jaminjim** · 12-26-2008, 09:22 AM

Phil had some great pictures, posted last year, but they are gone??

**Moot** · 12-26-2008, 11:04 AM

I did a brief stint in the household goods biz. Most of the pads and skins were stacked and strapped to dollies and then strapped to the wall of the trailer. A piece of 3/4 inch plywood can be cut to increase the "base" of the dolly. This can keep the pads from hanging over the edge. It also allows for 2 milk crates to sit side by side and be stacked 2 or 3 high.

Like Phil said, simple to move about. Makes it easy to sweep the floor. Just remember to strap them to the wall.