Bicycle on Board

jhead64 · May 6, 2012

We want to bring bicycles along with us in our straight truck. Any suggestions on how and where to store them on the truck?

Has anyone tried the fold up bikes from Camping World and if so, do you recommend them?

Also, would be nice to hear of some enjoyable bike routes accessible to us straight truck drivers.

Just trying to find ways to get more excercise out here on the road.

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layoutshooter · May 6, 2012

There are several in here who carry bikes on their trucks. It can be a very good way to get needed exercise while on the road.

One problem, which may not apply to you, is that some customers do not like to see 'personal gear' in the cargo box. If that 'gear' is 'dirty', like a bit of dirt in a bike tire, they may refuse to load your truck.

TeamCaffee · May 6, 2012

I would suggest keeping the bikes in your personal space or buy folding bikes and keep them in a tool box. If you keep them in your personal space in the box of the truck keep them covered and secured we never had any problems. Here are a couple of sites:

This is a group of drivers on Facebook that posts sites they can get to with their trucks or where they like to ride while on the road:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ride-And-Roll-Cycling-On-The-Road/235609605702

Scott Grenerth who is part of this site also has a interactive web site with maps which I cannot find right now. Send a message on the face book page and they will direct you to the web site. Lots and lots of great maps with trails.

layoutshooter · May 6, 2012

A lot depends on the type of freight that you haul. TeamCaffee is correct. Putting bikes in your 'personal space' in the cargo box as they suggest would never be a problem for them. It could, however, be a problem for us.

I don't know what kind of truck you run or who you haul for. As a TVAL/White Glove truck, we could, and have, run into problems with 'personal gear' in our cargo box. We not had a problem for a while since we made a few changes on how things were stored. We even had one customer sort of 'upset' that we carried our furniture pads in the cargo box. They could have been contaminated. All but six of them are enclosed in 'space bags'.

Base your final choice on your business. How you run, who you run for and the requirements of both your customer and carrier. I hope you can work it out to fit your needs, it could be a very good way to get some outdoor exercise.

jhead64 · May 6, 2012

We have never had a problem with customers complaining about anything in our personal space so we should be all right to store them there.

We were considering adding an underbody toolbox and getting the fold up bikes but that all adds up to a lot of money.

Thanks for the link to the fb site. Good info there!

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TeamCaffee · May 6, 2012

We are a dry box and do not have the problem of the moisture or that type of freight. We though ran into the problem of having our box sealed often and could not get to our bikes which is why i suggested the belly boxes.

We have an area at the front of our box that is our space and we have boxes built to hold our stuff and it is kept secured and is not visible to our customers.

LDB · May 6, 2012

There are a few good folding bike makers, Dahon, Moulton, Giant and Brompton among them. One website that at least used to have good deals on leftover Dahons is ThorUSA.

aquitted · May 6, 2012

I saw one where they took A 2X4 and c-clamped it to an e-track load bar and put 2 screw in big hooks in the 2x4 to hang the bike upside down by it's wheels. The loadbar was put on the highest track in the nose of the box.

RETIDEPXE · May 6, 2012

We used to hang them by the pedals in the front of the box between 2 load bars on the highest e-tracks. Need to loosen handlebars and turn 90 degrees and then small strap across 'em. Only once did a shipper, I think Colt's Neck Military Base, made us put them in the sleeper. I wish someone would come out with a somewhat inexpensive bike container that could mount under the sleeper or box big enough for a full size bike to slide in and out. Don't want to spend $500 for a diamond plated or polished alum humer humer box. Some sturdy plastic or fiberglass will do.