Heavy Duty Trucking, November 2018

HDT NOVEMBER 2018 94 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM ometimes small changes can have the biggest impact on a fleets operations Wisconsin based Dearco Glass Paint Decorating has a fleet of 10 trucks with custom bodies designed to haul large flat pieces of glass to manufacturers glass shops furniture shops fabricators and other customers around the upper Midwest The trucks are fitted with a custom body designed by Marion Body Works which has worked with its longtime customer to make small changes to Dearcos trucks over the years to meet the companys needs Weve been tweaking the Marion body and we kind of got it where we like it says Dearco President Jeff Knope But they found one more way to improve it Some of Dearcos trucks were fitted with a strap and buckle curtain system mostly to protect the glass during bad weather In the winter months especially salt on the roads and ice and snow could make delivering a clean sheet of glass a hassle But the curtains werent perfect In a day when a driver might make 30 stops along a 300 mile route just unbuckling the straps and keeping them clean of road gunk became its own problem Knope says he wasnt going to live with the old curtain system forever because it slowed his drivers too much Some of his trucks are uncovered anyway so he had decided he was either going to go without it or switch to new sliding curtains he had seen on other trucks The previous curtain worked but it was just too much monkeying around he says I see these sliders everywhere so I knew there was something else out there and Marion came through Cargo control product maker Kinedyne had recently introduced a new sliding curtain system called the Kin Slider Sliding curtain systems are in frequent use in Europe and Kinedyne felt that there was an untapped market in the United States The company partnered with a European provider to bring it here Longtime Kinedyne customer Marion Body Works knew Dearco was looking for a sliding curtain for its trucks The Kin Slider QR 30 second Curtain Side Vehicle Access opens at either end with a Glass hauler makes deliveries a little easier with curtain system With the Kin Slider system Dearcos drivers are more efficient with their deliveries no longer having to bend down to unbuckle several straps to load and unload glass By adding Kinedynes new Kin Slider curtain side system to its glass delivery trucks Dearco Glass Paint Decorating made deliveries more efficient kept its product clean and made its drivers days a little easier latch release mechanism located on the front and back that can be moved with ease and quickness that the old multi strap curtains couldnt match Kinedyne tailors the curtains to fit any size trailer or truck body from medium duty trucks up to 53 foot trailers The curtains are made of a PVC coated vinyl able to withstand a wide range of temperatures They slide on rollers located on top and bottom rails creating a watertight wall with no need for tensioning according to Kinedyne Right away Dearcos drivers could be more efficient with their deliveries no longer having to bend down to unbuckle several straps to load and unload glass Eric Smitsdorff product manager for Kinedyne says the system is useful for any fleet making large deliveries with multiple stops The sliders can be fitted to box trucks beverage trucks and may see applications in the burgeoning last mile delivery segment We saw some other sliders out there but Marion recommended this one and this is the way to go says Knope Dearco has been using a truck with the Kin Slider system for almost a year and plans to use this design for its trucks going forward By Steven Martinez Web Editor smartinez@ truckinginfo com FLEET SNAPSHOT WHO Dearco Glass Paint Decorating WHERE Shawano Wisconsin OPERATIONS Commercial and residential glass and mirror fabrication and delivery serving Wisconsin and upper Midwest FLEET SIZE 10 trucks FUN FACT On trucks without a curtain side Dearco uses cardboard to protect glass from the elements which works until the cardboard gets too soggy CHALLENGE Improve the efficiency of glass deliveries while keeping the product clean and ready for customers FLEET TALK S PHOTO DEARCO GLASS PAINT DECORATING