Mickey Truck Bodies, based in of High Point, North Carolina, produces more than 1,000 beverage trucks per year for the North American market.

Mickey Truck Bodies depends on Hydro to supply a large volume of aluminium extruded components. Hydro produces up to 30 different shapes with orders totaling millions of pounds of extruded components per year.

Hydro also provides extrusion design assistance. In the past year, this has involved the addition of 15 new extrusion shapes to meet the changing requirements for the beverage trucks.

Our design assistance has helped  Mickey Truck Bodies incorporate new, lighter shapes to reduce overall truck weight without sacrificing quality or performance. Lighter weight trucks are more fuel efficient – a major competitive advantage given today’s high fuel prices.

Three alloys for up to 30 shapes

Depending on how the extrusions are to be used, Hydro extrudes one of three alloys, primarily sourced from our own casthouses.

For extrusions used in the core structure of the beverage trucks, a 6061 alloy is used because of its higher strength. For most other extrusions, we use either a standard 6063 alloy, which is an excellent all-purpose extrusion alloy, or 6005A, which runs a bit more efficiently than 6063 and also is an excellent all-purpose aluminum alloy.

Sourcing from our casthouse not only assures a consistent supply of raw material for this huge volume, but also allows us to better control the quality of the aluminum itself.

The extrusions are produced at our facilities in Belton, South Carolina, using the eight-inch and 10-inch presses, depending on the shape. We provide standard fabrication services, including miter cutting and straight cut-to-length, as well as punching holes for some of the profiles.

Customer service a key to success

Customer service is essential with any customer, especially a large volume purchaser such as Mickey Truck Bodies.

Our Belton plant is located close to Mickey Truck Bodies’ facilities and can respond quickly to changes in customer requirements. Hydro maintains a nearly perfect 100 percent on-time delivery record, with truck-loads of Hydro extrusions arriving in High Point every two weeks. Standard packaging is used to protect shipments.

Financial stability assures strong partnership

Hydro started working with Mickey Truck Bodies about four years ago when we offered to build dies for them and run metal samples, on spec, so they could judge Hydro’s quality in action. This demonstration provided an opportunity to become a supplier when Mickey Truck Bodies later needed to make a vendor change.

Mickey Truck Bodies cited Hydro’s financial stability, especially in today’s economy, as one of the reasons that made the switch to Hydro more attractive.

Recycled aluminum essential

Mickey Truck Bodies is committed to green transportation practices. For this reason they place a high value on receiving extruded components from Hydro that contain more than 70 percent recycled aluminum.

So next time you see a beverage truck, think of Mickey Truck Bodies – and Hydro.