You need to properly maintain and use
your dump truck body to minimize the risk of damage and malfunctions.
You can follow these seven rules for
minimizing dump truck body safety risks to ensure that your custom
truck body functions efficiently, productively, and safely.
1. Only Unload on Level Ground
You need to make sure you're on level
ground every time you unload your dump body. Level ground is
essential because balance is essential to safe dump truck operation.
Any truck with a dump body in the bed
is slightly less stable when the bed is lifted because of the way the
center of gravity shifts. You place yourself at risk of tipping over
any time you unload your dump body on uneven ground.
2. Install a Liner
Liners are important to ensure that
loads in dump bodies easily and smoothly flow out from within the
dumpster during unloading.
Liners minimize the chances that the
contents of the bed become stuck during unloading. Therefore, liners
improve both work efficiency and safety.
Any time a load becomes stuck in the
bed, the chances that the truck becomes unbalanced are increased.
Install a liner so that the load in the bed comes out as quickly as
possible every time.
3. Be Aware of Weight Capacities
A dump body has a weight capacity that
should never be surpassed. The operator of a dump body can easily
overload the bed without realizing it if he or she is not aware of
what the maximum weight capacity is.
Overloaded dumpsters are less stable
and more difficult to control. They also won't run as efficiently as
they should. Simply stay within the weight capacity to promote safety
and keep the dump body and truck assembly in the best possible shape
over time.
4. Ensure Proper Alignment
A truck and its bed can become
misaligned over time through regular use. You need to ensure proper
alignment whenever you're using your truck.
If the alignment between your truck and
trailer is off, the vehicle will be less stable and more likely to
become unbalanced and topple over. Alignment issues also make your
truck and bed assembly more likely to jackknife when backing up.
Have your vehicle regularly inspected
to check for proper alignment and be sure to address any issues that
come up immediately.
5. Keep the Truck Bed Down When
Moving
Never drive your truck with the bed
raised. A raised bed can strike obstacles up above, like power lines,
and cause damage. Also, a raised bed makes the truck slightly less
stable.
You want to ensure maximum stability
any time your truck is moving, so always lower the bed before driving
either forward or backward, even if you're going slow.
6. Maintain Your Dump Body
A lot of dump truck owners and drivers
overlook maintenance of the body because they focus on maintenance of
the truck itself.
A malfunctioning dump body is hazardous
and creates a variety of problems including stability and
loading/unloading hazards. Maintain your dump body by handling tasks
like lubricating pins and bushings, monitoring tire pressure, and
inspecting the lift cylinders and suspension.
7. Load the Dump Body Evenly
When loading the dump body, place the
load right between the bed rails. An evenly distributed load ensures
maximum stability. The load should be spread over the bed and not
concentrated in one area.
An unevenly distributed load
decentralizes the center of gravity of the load. If the center of
gravity is off, the truck is not stable and is more likely to tip
over or show handling issues.
Contact us at Diamond
Truck Body Manufacturing
to find the right custom dump body for
your needs.
