[springfever]

Do any of you use old beverage trucks to move plant material? I have been truck shopping and ran across an old beverage truck. It has 5 bays on each side with roll up doors. This got me to thinking about transporting plants so they don't get beat up. You could letter it up to make a huge billboard going down the road. Maybe even deliver plants to DIY's or go down the street selling plants. The ice cream man does it. The Schwans man does it, why not our industry? If this is done properly and professionally, does anyone see any draw backs here? Maybe this is the "out of the box" idea I (we) have been looking for. Share your thoughts please! I am interested in kicking this thing around a bit.

[Lanelle]

Is there a way to control the temperature in the bays? Just thinking that the plants would 'cook' in the summertime if the temp can't be controlled. Might work, otherwise.

[GLAN]

I am seeing more and more Box Trucks being used.

[Paydaze7]

i think the next truck i buy will be like a 24' international box truck, they practically give them away...

Originally posted by GLAN
I am seeing more and more Box Trucks being used.

[dan deutekom]

Interesting idea. In our area beverage trucks are configured so that the bays each fit a standard skid and are very heavy duty due to the weight of the liquids. Our local farm store receives it's bulk fertilizer ingredients in special bags that fit on standard skids (2.4 cubic yds). These used bags can be had for $20.00.
You could sell a whole landscape on a truck. Plants, lockstone soil sand base. All nicely packaged so that there is no mess on the home owners drive. Charge a deposit for the pallets and bags. A few vents and fans will take care of the heat problem. Tow a skid steer with forks behind you to unload.

Is America ready for that


But for a hardscaper it might be a thought.
2 or 3 pallets of stone, enough base and bedding sand, tools and no mess dumping hmmmmmmm

[TrickyDick]

The grower we buy most of our annuals and perennials from uses old beer trucks for deliveries. Great for small stuff like that. Probably not real versatile for a landscaper though.

[Dale Wiley]

A lot of them around, but the payload on them is poor. They had to be built very heavy to handle the beverage loads, but that makes them a bit heavy to haul an economical number of plants.

We over analyze every thing we do as far as transportation goes. I probably go over different scenarios in my head for 6 months before buying something.

I look at weights, payloads, intended uses, down stream uses, versatility, and on and on. I have made some good decisions and buys in the last couple of months.

We use a single axle enclosed trailer with racks, towed by a 3/4 ton pickup with service canopy with 3 racks and floor for hauling plants from the nursery to buyer. We can get over $ 4,000 wholesale and that makes a good load.

Cost of the pickup and trailer was under $ 12,000. And the truck works in the landscape or sports field when not delivering plants.

There are a ton of those 24 foot box vans out there, but virtually all of them are trashed and very high miles.

I broke my old truck rule last week, and bought a 2001 F 350 Super Duty 4WD Powerstroke with a 6 speed. Nice truck, tows like a semi.

[springfever]

Dale,

Do you have a picture of your rig for reference?

[Stonehenge]

I've seen cube vans (probably also called box trucks here) used for this purpose, and in the monthly used iron magazines those things are a dime a dozen. Could probably get a welder to fab something up for $500 for shelving, or you could weld it yourself if you're handy.

I guess it depends on the plant volume you're talking about.

[Dale Wiley]

I have a picture of the trailer, I can e mail you, its just a single axle enclosed with removable wooden racks....

The pickup is in the shop getting a new engine in it right now , along with new seats, a/c, shocks... I will have to drive it another 170,000 miles now

We use a trailer for the plant deliveries, because I am not a fan of dedicated trucks / vehicles that sit around. Trailers, I don't care if they sit, they don't cost much and are cheap to insure.

When it is not delivering plants, since the bulk of our plants go out April, May, June and sporadically over the winter, it gets put to other use.