Life Span of a Dry Van Box

Most company will rotate their trucks at 4 years and trailers at 7-10 years. Most will last longer than that with regular maintainace. Your main enemy is road salt attacking the frame. If you are looking at an older one than that, my main concern on the box would be frame condition. You can fix the rest.

If you are talking about a straight truck, then of course mileage on the engine and transmission comes into play.

 

I run a 48ft Great Dane that's 11yrs old.It just had the brakes redone and some electrical work.It has 510,000 miles on it but it's in perfect shape.As Allow Me said,I always run light.16,000 pounds is a heavy load for me.

 

10 years is about right as long as it's taken care of and you don't have forklift drivers with speadable fork's/clamps (paper) pushing and bowing the wall's out or getting in a hurry and damaging if not ripping the door's off. I've noticed how the nose of the trailer up the wall's deforms when a tractor is backing under it.

 

we are still running rail vans built between 1979 and 1984....they are JUNK.....the landing gear on all of them is extremely stiff, the floors are falling apart, and they NEVER have door ties (they are all swing doors)......you pretty much have to carry rope or a bungee cord or something

 

Purely anecdotal, I'd guess Scheider lifespan of 53' van at 12 years.

 

Pulled a couple Antiques for the Boss we used for Storage in 96 they had been built in 63. Even took one of them to Philly and back with 52K lbs of Bolts out and 50K lbs of Honey back in it. Man that was weird only had a 40foot Trailer behind my 88 KW that trip. I got some weird looks that trip.

 

Depends upon the quality of moisturizer you use and how dry it is.