Your Guide to Utility and Service Truck Metal Fabrication

Learn how to give your utility truck the strength to perform our toughest jobs.

Utility trucks perform the important work of building, repairing, and maintaining our community’s roads, building, and electrical infrastructures, while service trucks transport essential equipment and workers (like firefighters!) to help protect our communities from fire and other disasters.

Here’s what you need to know when choosing a metal fabrication partner to help build the toughest trucks out there, so you can perform some of life’s most important work.

Choose the right type of metal

Vehicle parts can be made out of a variety of metals including aluminum, brass, carbon steel, copper, and stainless steel. But not all metals are created equal, and it takes a special kind of metal to support the kind of work performed by utility and service trucks.

Think of the just a few of the different types of utility and service trucks that complete some of our toughest jobs:

For these heavy-duty, hard-working trucks, steel is often chosen for its strength and affordability, and certain types of steel offer protection against corrosion. Lightweight aluminum is considered better for fuel economy and rust prevention.

More and more, people will combine metals for a balance of durability and efficiency, with some reinforced areas using high-strength alloys or tread plates.

Think about the truck metal fabrication process as much as the metal itself

As you’re selecting the right metal for your utility or service truck, it’s also helpful to think about the metal fabrication process you’ll be using. After all, having the right metal is great, but if the metal parts aren’t shaped correctly and properly welded to maintain the truck’s structural integrity, it can be ineffective, even dangerous.

When building trucks that could be driving over tough terrain, driving through harsh environments, and regularly supporting various weight requirements from equipment and workers, you’ll want to make sure you choose a metal fabrication partner that provides precision truck fabrication support like:

Look for ways to incorporate sustainability

Focusing on sustainability is a win-win for both the planet and the economy. People that embrace practices that promote metal utilization save money on energy, waste, and compliance with regulations. In the long run, this leads to cost savings and supports a greener industry.

And small, cost-efficient changes during the truck metal fabrication process can go a long way! A few ways sustainable metal fabricators help maintain the environment include:

Advanced techniques like laser and plasma cutting make precise cuts, leaving less unused material

Taking scrap metal and turning it into new products

Using innovative equipment that monitors energy usage and tweaks production methods to lower emissions

Using nesting software that reduces product costs

Expect price and cost transparency

A trustworthy metal fabrication partner should offer price transparency from the beginning and make the quoting process easy.

While it’s not uncommon to need to collaborate with a partner to price out a metal fabrication job, especially for custom metal fabrication requests often needed for utility and service trucks, be wary of quoting processes that are overly long where the price changes frequently.  

Also, everyone is looking for affordable prices, but watch for metal fabricators that quote extremely low prices that could mean a lower-quality metal and fabrication process.

Ultimately, you want a partner that has a deep understanding of truck metal fabrication, so they can thoughtfully and quickly help you get to a price that gets you exactly what you need for your utility or service trucks.

Reach out to the Metal Services of Blooming Prairie team for your unique truck metal fabrication needs

We help customers find innovative solutions that meet their truck metal fabrication, installation, and repair needs. If you design it, we can build it.

Connect with our team today to discuss your project. 