Trucks made to order

Which size of truck to choose

Start from the cargo, not from the truck. First the pallets and the volume, then the body length, from the length the wheelbase, and only last the payload of the chassis.

The second fork is the licence category. Up to 3,500 kg gross weight category B is enough — one-tonne and 1.5-tonne trucks and some two-tonne ones. Above that category C is required, and that changes the demands on the driver more than the difference in chassis price does.

Third, the rated payload is not the usable payload. The weight of the body, the subframe and the refrigeration unit comes out of it, so the truck is picked one step up: for two tonnes of cargo you take a three-tonne chassis, not a two-tonne one.

Pallets are counted by the inside dimensions, not the outside ones: the panel takes 100 mm off each side. A 3.2 m body holds 2–4 euro pallets, a 4.2 m one holds 6, a six-metre body 8 to 11, and a 7.5 m body 15. The full calculation is in “How many pallets fit in a van”.