Sanitation, safety and profit: New Jersey dairy discovers the benefits of Johnson's stainless-steel floors for its truck bodies.

Florence, N.J.-based Cream-O-Land Dairy is one of the largest milk distributors in the Northeast. As part of its mission, the company's management team is quite particular about maintaining a clean environment for its products--from the start of the supply chain to delivery in sanitary refrigerated

In 2004, Robert Schneier, an owner and executive vice president of Cream-O-Land Dairy, purchased 55 truck bodies with standard steel floors from Rice Lake, Wis.-based Johnson Refrigerated Truck Bodies.

"The truck bodies are beautiful," Schneier says. "But wear, tear and dampness created an environment for rust to develop on the standard steel floor." Schneier explains that painting and downtime needed to revamp the steel floors can cost almost $1,000 for each repair.

When Schneier began looking for other options, he spoke with Johnson's northeast regional sales manager, Wayne Arnold, who suggested that Schneier consider purchasing future truck bodies with stainless-steel floors.

"We've been more than satisfied with the fiberglass construction of Johnson refrigerated trucks," Schneier says. "The bodies are impervious to moisture, rust and corrosion, and the seamless design offers maximum thermal efficiency with reduced overall maintenance costs. If Johnson said stainless-steel floors were the solution, we trusted that they had solved the problem for us."

So in 2005, when Cream-O-Land purchased additional refrigerated truck bodies from Johnson, they requested them with stainless-steel flooring. According to Schneier, the stainless steel doesn't rust, doesn't require sandblasting or repainting, and there's no downtime associated with upkeep. "In fact, we've been so pleased, in 2006 we purchased additional refrigerated bodies with stainless-steel floors from Johnson," he says. "Long term, the cost savings will be the greatest benefit, especially with the long life and durability of Johnson bodies.

"Another big benefit is the cleanliness of the trucks, which are now all free of rust that can cause unsightly staining on the bottom of milk and other products. I can safely say that the stainless-steel floors help us to deliver clean looking and sanitary dairy products to our customers."--Johnson Refrigerated Truck Bodies, 215 E. Allen St., Rice Lake, Wis., 54868, phone: (800) 922-8360, fax: (715) 234-4628, Web site: www.johnsontruckbodies.com