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Al! CV bodies are vulnerable
to bad driving habits or poorly trained forklift drivers.
Brian Jarvis investigates the
body repair scene and looks at the customer support offered by three bodybuilders.
When trucks and trailers are involved in road accidents they often need expensive repairs.There are the usual fairy stories such as the bridge height sign was missing' or 'a tree swayed out and! swerved', but more believable causes are reversing into dark yards or narrow, unlit entrances to loading bays.
At this time of year ice, fog and high winds increase the chances of side swipes when changing lanes, hitting road signs or being rammed from behind. Hasty offloading with forklifts or careless traffic in ferry terminals are also common causes of damage.
Many minor incidents result in scratches, scrapes or gouges along the sides or front corners. Rear-end damage to shutters, tail-lifts or under-run bars can go unreported for some time, especially if vehicles are being worked constantly on busy contracts.
Unlike the larger trailer builders, many truck body producers support their customers themselves, whatever the distance involved. We spoke to three Solomon Cornmercia15, Aire Truck Bodies and Bevan Motor Bodiesand visited CV garage Ring Road,which has forged close links with Schmitz Cargobull.
Solomon Commercials
Located north or Manchester, Solomon's repair site takes on refurbishing, repair and remount contracts as well as modification work."Someone with a fleet of singlecorn partment fridge bodies may win a contract requiring dual-temp trucks:we'll convert the existing vehicles over," says manager Anthony Clegg. "We have the ability to send a fully equipped vehicle anywhere in the UK and repair on site if necessary.
We can handle blacksmith work, renewing extrusions, shutters, tail-liftseven fridge repairs," he adds.
Specialist equipment includes overhead cranes and panel-handling equipment for all sizes of repair, from side panel replacements, roof sections and bulkheads to rollover damage. "After all," says Clegg,"if you can build bodies, its easy enough to dismantle them for repairs too."
Solomon handles general body repairs, accident damage and occasionally fire damage. In this last case the sides and roof are usually replaced along with the fridge system and most of the wiring-not least because it all has to be stripped out to determine the extent of the damage. If the floor is burnt too it usually becomes a full flat-pack rebuild.
Chassis remounts are a regular task where the truck has reached the end of its planned life, as are fridge upgrades; Solomon has just replaced 52 Zennotti units for one customer.
The firm is renowned for its high-gloss bodies, and its repair section doesn't have much trouble duplicating this effect.
Much depends on the extent of the damage. Sometimes three-element G RP (glassreinforced polymer) panels can be repaired in the paint shop by using special fillers and respraying a whole panel but with a large side hole it is possible either to plate it or transplant a small section.The hole's location is also an important factor; pallet or forklift truck damage usually occurs closer to the lower edges where extra care is needed to avoid weakening the sides or the body's temperature control capability.
Solomon uses a specialist paint shop and has done so for the past 15 years, but any livery and graphics are applied in-house.
On new body builds, the company excels at the 3.5-tonne GVW sector, mainly on the home delivery front. However. director Mark Solomon deplores the shocking lead times on large rigid chassis an order made today will not be delivered until early 2009.
Aire Truck Bodies
Not many specialists can match Aire Truck Bodies' Body Care service, which operates as a wide-ranging sales support network from its site in Tipton,Sandwell.
The operation is run by Simon Dryburgh using a group of 17 mobile litters in comprehensively equipped Mercedes-Benz Sprinters I Jsing the latest IT equipment they can have all the parts delivered on-site ready to begin whatever work is necessary.
The litters operate nationwide and can tackle virtually any type of body or equipmeni repair.This sometimes includes testing, rebuilding and certifying tail-lifts of all types, The Tipton workshop is busy too, handling up to 15 cases of damage repairs at any time, mostly rigid boxvans up to 18 tonnes A great deal of the damage is caused by a combination of bad weather, poor visibility and inexperienced drivers.
When standard GRP bodywork is damaged, the panel can crack and delaminate. Determining the extent of this damage entails cutting away the obvious areas then working outwards to reach unaffected areas."Don't delay repairing it for too long." Dryburgh warns,"bec,ause damaged panels will soon absorb moisture which can very quickly work its way down between the layers."
Unless you treat it straight away, the moisture content increases the body weight which in turn will affect the payload.
A small area can be easily patched up,but if a quarter or more is removed it will affect the structural strength of the side so it's far better to replace the whole side. It's less labourintensive so this is also the cheaper option.
GRP panels for trucks up to around 7.5 tonnes are relatively easy to obtain but sourcing larger panels of 20ft and over can take several weeks as they usually have to come in from the Continent.
Temperature-controlled bodywork isn't a core business, but ATB is a Schmitz service partner and can carry out a certain amount of repair work to its trucks or trailers. This is normally limited to light external damage or plug repairs, but in the case of GRP reefers with more extensive damage Aire can rebuild a bulkhead or even a complete side.
With a complete side panel respray it's hard Lo spot the repair.
Bevan Motor Bodies
Nnother large bodybuilder group that -irovides customers with on-site assistance is Bevan Motor Bodies.
In addition to being a major producer of L'iRP dry-freight CVs, manufacturing boxvan, airtainsided and drop-sided bodies, it also provides its customers with a comprehensive repair, refurbishment and refinishing service.
Based in Halesowen,West Midlands, Bevan's aftercare department has 15 mobile engineers at its disposal, working from VW Crafters and Transporters.
"This is an extremely proactive. UK-wide mobile repair service that can get to work sites quickly and deal with PG9 jobs and accident damage, or in support of our Body Maintenance packages too," says director and head of department Chris Hare.
However, more extensive jobs such as smashed front panels, buckled cant rails and side raves, or rear end shunts are usually referred back to the factory.
The mobile engineers' vans are equipped with everything from MIG welding gear and an SKVA generator to 110 bar compressor, gas bottles, access ladders and curtain repair tools.
They can handle a range of repairs from damaged side and rear under-runs to mud wings, tail-lifts. lights and other fittings; they can even finish the job with some light spraying.
But one of the biggest wear items of all is the common or garden rear shutter, and Bevan's engineers are sufficiently experienced to repair or replace them.
Only last week one of its Scottish engineers visited Tuffnell 's busy fleet in Perth, where two Bevan delivery vehicles needed their shutters replacing. "Over a period of time, they either wear away or simply shake themselves apart," Hare reports."But we can either change the wear parts and get it working again or swap it for new.
"The boards themselves should last forever," he adds,"but it boils down to educating the drivers.'They need reminding not to drive around with it up in the roof, or to leave sack barrows lying loose in the back on their return journeys," •