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WHEN SPECIFYING THE CHASSIS for a work truck, the ultimate objective should be to ensure that the completed vehicle will be optimized for its intended application. Doing so will result in a safer, more productive vehicle while minimizing the overall life-cycle cost of ownership.
In his Work Truck Show presentation, "Top 10 Elements for Developing Better Chassis Specifications, Robert Johnson said that fleets too often select a chassis for a given application based on intuitive factors, including past experience, recommendations from others, or just a guess as to what size and chassis are needed.
"Instead of relying on this type of decision process, you should follow an orderly procedure for identifying your chassis requirements," he said. "In order to properly spec the chassis, you must first identify a number of factors, such as the second unit (upfitting) requirements, completed vehicle performance criteria, regulatory, and other design constraints. These requirements will ultimately determine the final design of the completed vehicle and therefore drive the chassis specifications.
"The overall design and specification process can be broken down into 10 discreet steps. Following this process will help ensure that your completed vehicle will be the right vehicle for the desired application."
Here are the 10 steps, with examples of the types of information that need to be identified in each step:
Identify basic application requirements.
What will the vehicle be used for? What are the performance requirements for the second unit? What is the projected duration of the application? What type of second unit body and/or special equipment is desired?
Johnson warned that customers who automatically buy the same model truck as the one they are replacing may be surprised to discover that capacities have changed.
"Because trucks weigh over 1000 pounds more these days, if you buy the same...