Essential Chemical Solutions for Work Trucks: Adhesives, Sealants, and Coatings You Can Rely On

Work trucks are indispensable across numerous industries, and their durability and performance are critical factors in operational efficiency. These vehicles are subjected to demanding conditions daily, including the transportation of heavy loads, exposure to various weather elements, and navigation through rugged terrains. Applying appropriate chemical solutions ensures these vehicles operate efficiently and safely.

Several key products can be used to keep your work truck operating at maximum efficiency and ensure its longevity. We’ll look at some of those products here.

2024 Work Truck Industry Update: Navigating Change and Looking Ahead to 2025

The work truck industry in 2024 has experienced significant changes driven by sustainability goals, regulatory updates, and advancing technologies. Fleet managers are increasingly prioritizing greener operations, adopting smart technology solutions, and responding to economic pressures to remain competitive.

Here's a closer look at the top trends shaping the work truck industry and what we can expect heading into 2025.

Sustainability and Green Technology

What to consider when choosing work truck lighting.

Work trucks are durable vehicles built to handle heavy loads, withstand adverse weather conditions and rough terrain, and endure high mileage. The lighting you choose for your work truck has to match that durability. Work truck lights must be highly durable to function properly in all types of weather, plus they have to withstand vibration and impacts. Today’s LEDs offer long life, low power consumption, and resistance to harsh environments.

Rotary ventilators are widely used in large fleets of commercial vans. They’re generally specified for three reasons:

The first is to extract fumes or stale air from vans for driver and passenger comfort, health, and safety. This applies especially to vans carrying gas cylinders, inflammable liquids, chemicals, or other potentially harmful volatile substances.

Another is to minimize condensation within vehicles. Cooled air inside a vehicle mixed with warmer, humid external air or vice versa can result in severe condensation, poor visibility, mold growth, and musty smells. Vehicles are especially prone to condensation:

Adequate ventilation significantly reduces the damage to equipment and goods inside the vehicle and the deterioration of the vehicle’s interior through water build-up and mold growth.

Whether you're going off-road, off the grid, or off to work, you want to be sure your vehicle has the right gear for the day's adventure. We know how important it is to have a reliable, safe ride and one well-equipped for the day's journey- whatever that may be. You work hard, and your truck should work equally as hard for you.

With the costs of fuel and products rising – you want to be sure your truck is in it for the long haul. Protecting your vehicle with the right products not only preserves the life of your truck but it gives you peace of mind. There are several easy ways to ensure your truck is in top shape. Most manufacturers have a recommended list of maintenance items at mileage intervals to help make sure your vehicle is working correctly and has a long life span.

One of the best ways to take care of your vehicle is to stay up to date on routine maintenance – Staying up to date on recommended factory maintenance is crucial to the longevity of your vehicle. A preventative maintenance schedule keeps you from dealing with costly repairs down the line.

A simple maintenance checklist will help you stay on track for repairs and maintenance for commercial vehicles, trucks, and vans, or your adventure vehicle or pickup truck. Below is a list of five easy things you can do to take care of your vehicle.

The Genesis™ Power Plate from Austin Hardware® – A Green Solution for Your Business.

Austin Hardware® is excited to introduce an eco-friendly solution for your vehicle– the Power Plate by Genesis™. Our new line of products includes an inverter charger and lithium-ion batteries. With these products, you can power tools, equipment, and accessories, including air-conditioning, on any utility vehicle without idling the engine.

If you want to extend the life of your vehicle and save on fuel costs with an easy, greener energy source, keep reading below.

The current challenges for Fire Truck and other specialty vehicle manufacturers are complex and ever-changing. Challenges include supply chain volatility, rapid design changes to accommodate electrification, and new ways of differentiating between manufacturers.

Supply Chain Simplification:

Using adhesives, such as Plexus®, can help simplify supply chain troubles because a suitable structural adhesive can replace multiple SKUs of different fasteners. As a result, Plexus adhesives dramatically reduces the risk of line-down situations due to specialty fastener stock-outs. In addition, SKU reduction by replacing with one structural adhesive can lead to significant inventory cost savings.

Even if you’re not ready to eschew fasteners altogether, applying Plexus adhesives along with mechanical fasteners at the ends can still help simplify the supply chain. This style of manufacturing leads to very fast throughput and “one-piece flow.”

Current events have caused many manufacturers to shut down and then reopen. This can cause large backlogs of orders and have manufacturing teams scrambling to get product out the door. Plexus structural adhesives have been utilized to increase the production of parts per hour, decrease the number of manufacturing steps, and reduce the amount of floor space required to manufacture goods.

Plexus products provide a wide range of structural adhesives that offer primerless adhesion for multiple materials. These adhesives often deliver as much strength, or more, than traditional joining techniques, with the added benefit of improved manufacturing output.

You rely on your pick-up truck to haul all sorts of things. Whether it’s for work or play, you use your truck hard and want it to last a long, long time. You also know that the cargo you’re hauling around can scratch, gouge, dent, and ding your pick-up’s bed, reducing its useful life.  

To protect the bed from damage and rust, you can install a bed-liner. The two most common types of bed-liners are drop-in and spray-on.  

Drop-in liners are typically hard plastic or rubber and are “dropped in” to the back of the truck. Unfortunately, unless the drop-in liner is specifically designed for your truck’s make and model, this may not be the best option.  

When it comes to work truck safety, staying safe on the road is just as important as keeping your equipment safe, secure, and up to date. In addition to keeping your truck safe, it is essential always to follow DOT guidelines and ensure that your team knows local and state safety regulations.

Keeping your work truck means knowing when to stay safe and finding the right products that assist with your safety and peace of mind. At Austin Hardware®, we know trucks, and we know a thing or two about providing quality parts and products for your work truck.