Aerial Lift Application
Aerial Lift Application
SECTION FEATURE system and hydraulic drive to load, transport, take up, and payout cable or wire, while the open flatbed configuration provides additional space for equipment and materials. A wireless remote allows the operator to control the reel while positioned away from the truck, providing visibility during loading and operation.
Closer to the Operator
How much service bodies can carry is vital, but it’ s also important to consider how the operator is going to use them. That is pushing more attention toward controls, lighting, steps, and other features designed around the users.
Aerial service bodies are seeing greater emphasis on safety and access, with features such as stairstyle entrances, grip-strut steps, grab handles, anti-skid surfaces, lighting, improved ingress and egress, secure compartments, wireless controls, and improved visibility.
PALFINGER, for example, has incorporated stair-style entrances to provide three-point contact when accessing the truck bed, along with increased lighting and International Organization for Standardization( ISO) symbols on controls to make operation more intuitive.
Royal Truck Body uses grip-strut rung steps and Line-X throughout its cargo areas and compartments, while work platforms include notch-outs to accommodate outriggers.
Technology is also bringing more truck functions within the operator’ s reach. Summit’ s ASE Phase 5 integrates crane, body, and chassis functions through a main touchscreen, in-cab panel, and wireless remote. Operators can control outriggers remotely, use automated setup and teardown functions, and access diagnostics and maintenance information.
Summit Design Engineer, Christian Glascock, explained, the remote“ allows the operator more functions at their fingertips than previously, reducing the need to return to the truck to turn on each function.”
Connected, Adaptable Trucks
Features are useful for operators, fleet managers, and beyond, but adding more elements isn’ t the goal.
Terex offers numerous different body configurations that include cabinets with adjustable hooks and shelves, LED lighting inside the cabinets, and customized bins that can be tailored to store and organize specialized jobsite materials.
Instead, the focus is on making trucks easier to configure, monitor, maintain, and adapt.
Stellar also sees technology integration becoming more important, including space to house, charge, and operate battery-powered equipment, along with wireless crane controls and Crane Dynamics Technology( CDT) for more precise operation away from the load.
Connectivity is moving into compartment security as well. Royal Truck Body pointed to electric locking hardware, notifications when compartments are unlocked, and ignition-codeable locks.
Terex sees connectivity playing a larger role across the service body and truck.“ In the coming years we would expect to see more creature comforts for service bodies,” Pinkalla said.“ Features such as electronic compartment locking systems, automatic compartment lighting, vehicle connectivity, and integrated fleet monitoring technologies are becoming more attractive to create a more connected, automated, and productive utility truck.”
Altec, meanwhile, expects continued interest in modular design and alternative materials.
“ I expect there to be more of an effort to further understand how other material types could meet customers’ needs and expectations in both performance and overall price,” Katherine Niebuhr, business development manager, work trucks at Altec, explained.
“ Structural improvements, new materials, improved paint, and anticorrosion materials are all in-demand features that extend service bodies’ lives in the field,” Niebuhr continued.
These trends together point toward service bodies that are not only more connected, but also more adaptable over the life of the truck. As applications change and fleets continue to ask more from each truck, that flexibility may be just as important as the equipment installed on the body itself.
Part of a Complete System As service body trucks are asked to do more, carry more, lift more, it’ s important to consider the body, aerial device, and chassis as partners. They have to increasingly be viewed as a single work system, with payload, storage, access, controls, and application requirements influencing each other.
And the goal isn’ t to simply load the truck up with as much equipment as possible. The truck should be configured so the equipment, crew, and application all work in tandem from the start.
10 l Equipment Guide- October 2026