Box Trucks, Cab-Chassis Trucks

A box truck, also known as a “cab-chassis” truck, is different than a step van, primarily because the body, or “box”, sits on the chassis instead of being built around a frame. A cab chassis manufacturer such as Chevrolet or Freightliner supplies a road-ready truck which includes a completely enclosed cab. Picture a Ford F-150 pickup truck with its bed removed. You see the cab, then frame rails behind it. The truck is drivable as it is but needs some sort of body to be complete. The two main cab chassis truck styles are the straight truck (GMC Topkick, International 4300) and cab-over(Isuzu W5500) or tilt cab (UD/Nissan). Side note: when people say box truck in the tool business, they usually mean an Isuzu cabover or it's GMC and Chevy versions, although an International 4300 and GMC C5500 could also be considered a box truck. Gets a little confusing.

After purchase by the truck builder, the cab chassis is shipped to a body company such as Supreme Industries or Utilimaster. An aluminum or FRP body is built and installed on the chassis and bolted down. Box-type bodies are separate units and can usually be built in advance of the chassis arriving. Some advantages of the box truck are a comfortable driver area designed by the truck manufacturer, better highway driving, flat body interior floor (no wheel wells), and interchangeability of the box to another truck. Another advantage is greater availability at truck dealerships, which sometimes results in faster delivery than a step van, which are highly specialized and require pre-planning and a longer lead time to acquire the correct body configuration. Truck dealerships can stock a cab-chassis without a body and configure it in after the sale in different ways for the purchaser, whether it is for landscaping, wrecker service, or tool sales. A disadvantage of the Box truck is the lack of access to the cargo area from the cab, unless an opening is created by either the body company or the truck interior builder. Some box trucks, in particular the tilt cabs such as the Isuzu/GMC/Chevrolet W4/W4500/W5500 series, and the UD 1200 – 1600 series, cannot be modified for access at all.

Creating access to the rear cargo area from the cab is accomplished by cutting a hole in both cab and body. The opening can be either a full walk-thru – about 60” – 66” tall - or crawl-thru, an opening about 42” tall. Many tool dealers want to be able to make the move from cab to rear and vice versa without leaving the vehicle. Compared to a step van, the drivability of a box truck is usually smoother and almost always quieter due to the enclosed cab. So what’s best for you, a box truck or a step van? Like Bill O’Reilly on Fox News says – you decide.

Cab-chassis trucks are manufactured by all the major truck builders, and are available in a wide range of GVWs, from 14,250 lbs. GVW to over 33,000 lbs. GVW. While still outnumbered by the step van in the tool business, the box truck-step van gap is shrinking. The box truck is used more often in the commercial truck world outside the tool business, and as mentioned above, has greater availability on dealership lots. New box trucks for the tool business start around $66,000 (Isuzu/GMC). many are in the $95,000 - $115,000 range (C6500/7500, International/Freightliner M2) and can exceed $140,000 (Kenworth, Peterbilt, International 26' ) in medium-duty configuration.

Tool Truck Body Styles

The Step Van; the P30

The Medium Duty Truck