Load and Hauling 

Some key questions that need to be answered concern the truck loads that you expect to haul. For example, you will need a different chassis spec when hauling bulk loads such as asphalt, sand or gravel than you would if you hauled mostly demolition debris.

If you’re planning on visiting a lot of demolition sites, you will need to have the body and suspension beefed up to handle the pounding it will take from the large pieces going in the dump body. Your body supplier will have input on this.

The hauling question is related to the environment or roads you are operating in. Are you going to spend a lot of time on very rough job sites, or will most of the hauling be long distances on smooth gravel and sealed roads?

If you will be going off-road a lot into rough terrain, you’ll need a suspension that is heavier duty and has more articulation. But if you are hauling longer distances, you’ll need to consider the trade-off between the ease of dumping and the ability to haul more truck loads per trip. For example, a transfer dump will allow you to haul more with one driver, but it will take longer to unload. Double bottom-trailers carry a lot of payload, too, but with those you’re limited on where you can drop the truck loads — it’s a lot harder to dump gravel into a hole for a swimming pool, for instance, with bottom dumps.