General Aluminum, based in the Dallas suburb of Carrollton, is using a proven delivery system on their straight trucks to help improve the bottom line. The demountable truck body system, by Demountable Concepts, transforms a straight truck into a much more flexible piece of equipment. In essence, it allows a non-CDL straight truck to operate like a tractor-trailer.

Like most window manufacturers, General Aluminum would process orders, pull and stage product then wait for their trucks to return. Loading could not begin until the trucks were back at the warehouse. This regularly resulted in overtime and loading that often continued into the next morning. Drivers would have trouble meeting early delivery requirements. So with rising costs and sub-par service, General Aluminum started to look at alternatives.

A few of the “solutions” that were considered all had drawbacks. Using tractor-trailers could give the company the option to preload the next delivery run, but that meant a more expensive driver and a more difficult truck to navigate tight yards in. A second shift for loading would allow all product to be loaded after the drivers returned but came with too high a price tag. Having extra straight trucks to preload would mean no overtime or missed deliveries, but fleet operation costs would be doubled.

After researching various alternatives, the decision to go with the demountable truck body system was made. Using non-CDL straight trucks, the company now can preload a free-standing body at the warehouse while the truck uses a second body to make deliveries. When the drivers return, a ten-minute operation to swap bodies is all it takes to be ready for the next day. In fact, General Aluminum now reports many drivers making two trips per day with no wait time.

According to Corporate Director of Transportation, Bill Profka, “The Demountable System helped facilitate reduction in overtime, utilization of driving time and fixed cost expenditures, which all impact the bottom line.” The company plans on continued use of the system as they replace aging trucks in their fleet. Bill Profka adds, “The system is driver friendly and easy to use, its been a pleasure doing business”.