Solid Wood Products 



2701 



Almost all van and platform trailers are 8 feet wide (outside dimension) and 

 from 26 to 50 feet long, with an average length of 40 or more feet. Standard truck 

 flooring is 1-1/16 to l-Vs inches thick with \-V4 and l-Vs the most commonly 

 used thicknesses. The standard "board" width is 12 inches, with the boards 

 running continuously for the length of the trailer (fig. 22-65 top). Assuming a 1- 

 ys-inch-thick floor and a 40-foot average length, 300 square feet (34.4 cubic 

 feet) of wood flooring is required for each van or platform trailer. This aggre- 

 gates to a national market of an estimated 57,000,000 square feet (6,530,000 

 cubic feet) per year of l-ys-inch finished floor material. 



The average cost to produce a trailer was approximately $7,000 in 1975. The 

 material cost of wood flooring averaged $320 per trailer — about $1 per square 

 foot. 



Oak performs well according to several industry spokesmen and it is the 

 principal; species used. Southern pine is also used, but to a lesser extent. 



Manufacturing processes. — Laminated oak flooring for the truck trailer 

 industry is typically produced from #1, #2, or #3 A common hardwood lum- 



3 screws 4 

 (o. c. per strip) 



TRAILER LENGTH 

 /I 26'- 50' 



CROSS SECTION OF 

 LAMINATED FLOOR STRIP 



CAR LENGTH 



^ III I I I I M ZiV 



[*-i2! J{ t 



CROSS SECTION 

 OF LAMINATED 

 WOOD BOARD 



Figure 22-65. — (Top) Truck trailer glue-laminated wood flooring. (Bottom) Railcar 

 flooring. (Drawing after Fergus et al. 1977.) 



