WASHINGTON, NC: Focusing on improved worker safety and ergonomics, product longevity, and lower maintenance requirements, Hackney USA of Washington, NC, and Independence, KS, has introduced the first entirely new product in the beverage delivery vehicle market in over six years: the Hackney e/Dm.

"The Hackney e/Dm is a big evolutionary step for this industry," states Hodges Hackney, president of Hackney International and director of USA National Accounts Sales. "We are introducing more than 30 new or substantially reengineered features on both the trailer and the truck body versions. Every detail was inspired through customer input, and created by an R&D team that includes the engineering leaders who, in our opinion, wrote the book on aluminum beverage delivery vehicles. With the e/Dm--named for enhanced ergonomics, greater durability and lower maintenance--we’ve wrapped everything we’ve learned into a terrific package."

"The Power Step and Hand Grip System on the e/Dm provides a much safer environment for route salesmen and helpers accessing each individual bay," comments Mike Tucker, Hackney president and COO. The system consists of a specially designed C-channel bottom rail that allows a 6-inch lower step up into a bay, along with a sturdy 2.5-foot-long hand bar and hand grip area at the outside edge of each bay wall.

The Hackney e/Dm employs the company’s new chassis alteration method that essentially allows a custom working height. Newly developed engineering techniques for this chassis alteration method can provide customers with the lowest possible practical working height for their particular needs.

Other new safety features introduced and reengineered specifically for the Hackney e/Dm are a lighter, spring-loaded slip-resistant bar step in the wheel-housing area, and a low profile slip-resistant pull out step below the raised front bays in route trailers. Hackney has retained the company’s highly successful tapered trailer and body design that reduces product shifts and jammed doors, and dramatically improves rearward visibility versus that of "square" delivery vehicles. What’s more, the Hackney e/Dm has newly standardized drop shelf locations at 42-, 45- or 48-inch clearances. The shelf holes are made more durable with internal reinforcement, and no exposed edges extend into the bay.

The Hackney e/Dm door innovations and improvements enhance what is already regarded to be the industry’s smoothest door system. Door slat joints are precision matched to slide easily around the upper track radius. A three-sided ABS door track insert also facilitates the smooth operation of the door and helps prevent door track wear. A new counterbalance that is customized for individual bay widths provides optimum lift, and a new extended shaft roller eliminates roller separations for lower maintenance costs.

Durability is certainly a major emphasis in the new product. "Our new Endurance-Plus Rear Bumper System was developed by listening to customer advice," explains Curtis Brookshire, engineering leader on the Hackney e/Dm project. "This lighter, all-aluminum bumper utilizes a corrosion-resistant bolt-on design with innovative wraparound rubber dock bumpers to prevent damage to the bumper corners. The bumper is further reinforced with a support beam connected to the chassis, allowing for a much more durable bumper system. We’ve also incorporated a single or double locking hand truck compartment that we believe is more adjustable and more durable than anything that’s ever been on the market."

Among more than a dozen new or substantially reengineered durability features, the Hackney e/Dm trailer also includes an upgraded air suspension system, upgraded tires and axle, hub piloted wheels, and the industry’s strongest and largest king pin plate.

"We made the decision to keep certain features from earlier models that were already working well in earlier models," says Hackney engineer John Thompson. "Examples include our extruded aluminum floors with integral stiffeners, our torsionally rigid tubular components, our one-piece longitudinal components, our roof-to-rail overlap and drip molding. These features combined with Hackney’s unique interlocking braces system already make a Hackney body or trailer the most durable in the industry."

Lowering maintenance requirements is always an important issue in beverage delivery vehicles, and chief among those issues is wiring. "For the Hackney e/Dm, we created the new Easy-Plug Wiring System that works with just one sealed connector on both trailers and bodies to make it easy to use and maintain," says Julius Brauer, veteran Hackney engineer. "All intermediate connectors are also sealed and the wiring is simple and protected. There’s no easier to maintain wiring out there."

Trailer landing gear has also been upgraded, and easy to maintain LED lamps are standard on the Hackney e/Dm models. Three-sided track liners make door maintenance easier and new lock cylinders are corrosion resistant. "All-in-all," states Brauer, "the Hackney e/Dm should be the easiest to maintain beverage delivery product that’s ever been on the market."

The Hackney e/Dm is manufactured by Hackney, a division of Specialized Vehicles Corporation.