POWERGRAMS

40 The steel sheets are cut with plasma lasers to each specified size. A 20-ton roller curves the giant sheets, then workers weld the halves together, adding horizontal steel side segments, fronts and tailgates. Raw dump bodies weighing about 7,000 pounds move via rollers and carts to the next areas along the long factory line: Welds are examined, rough steel chipped off and sandblasted, priming and paint applied then dried. As the dump bodies begin to resemble what will soon hit the road, a 5-ton overhead crane lis them onto the "incomplete vehicle chassis" sent to Fayee by national truck manufacturers. Ox Bodies has a dedicated parts department in a separate building on site. Workers add hinges, hydraulics, mounts, hoists, valves, electronics, liners, tarps and hundreds of other essential parts and accessories. Each truck goes through an 80-step quality inspection; any deficiency sends the vehicle back to the production line. Trucks worth $130,000 to $150,000 when they arrive on the outside lot will leave valued at $160,000 to $180,000 or more. Ox Bodies has three drivers who deliver completed trucks on request. "When it leaves here, it's ready for the customer to get to work," Griggs says. "I've been in the business a long time but have never worked at a place that is so insistent on safety, quality, on- time delivery and cost efficiency," says Crawford. By Chuck Chandler Ox Bodies annually builds thousands of dump truck beds and accessories.

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