Fleet and Commercial Body
Box Truck and Cargo Body Repair, Aluminum, FRP and Composite Panel
Typical range
$750 to $15,000
Shop hours
5 to 80
Labor rate
$210/hr
The short answer
Box and cargo body repair rebuilds corner posts, rear frames, top rails, side skins, and floors on aluminum and composite dry van bodies. Work runs $750 to $15,000, or 5 to 80 hours at $210 per hour plus materials. In shop body and structural work only.
01
What this work actually involves
The Inland Empire runs on box trucks. Warehouse and distribution corridors along the 10, the 15, and the 60 through Ontario, Fontana, Rancho Cucamonga, Eastvale, and Jurupa Valley put thousands of dry vans against fixed steel dock plates every single day, and the bodies wear in a completely predictable pattern. Rear frames get pushed, bottom rails get scuffed through, corner posts get bowed, and rear door hardware slowly loses its geometry until the doors need a shove. None of that is a collision claim. It is dock life, and it is why we scope bodies by component rather than by panel.
Construction dictates method. A sheet-and-post body has vertical aluminum posts riveted through an aluminum or FRP skin into a bottom rail and top rail, so a damaged section can be cut out and a new post and skin panel spliced in without touching the rest of the side. A smooth-side composite body is a bonded panel where the skin is structural, and cutting into it without understanding the bond line turns a two-panel repair into a wall replacement. We identify which you have before pricing, because the same size dent prices very differently on the two.
Floors and rear frames are where deferred repairs get expensive. A hardwood floor that takes standing water through a failed bottom rail seam rots from underneath at the crossmembers, and the first symptom a driver reports is a pallet jack wheel that drops. By then you are replacing decking, and frequently crossmembers, not just a seam. In shop body, paint, structural, and equipment install only. Engine, drivetrain, or DOT inspection work is not performed.
Location: All work is performed at our Yorba Linda facility. We do not offer mobile, roadside, or fleet route service.
02
What the job includes
- Corner post replacement and rear frame straightening on sheet-and-post bodies
- Aluminum and FRP side skin panel section replacement with correct rivet spec
- Top rail, bottom rail, and scuff band repair and replacement
- Composite and bonded smooth-side panel repair at the bond line
- Hardwood and composite floor decking replacement, full or partial
- Crossmember and floor support repair where the deck has failed from below
- Roof panel repair and reseal after clearance bar and low canopy strikes
- Rear door frame squaring so doors latch without force
- Body-to-frame mount, U-bolt, and subframe repair
- Seam sealing, refinish, and conspicuity tape reinstatement across the repair
03
When you need this service
- Rear doors that need to be pulled or lifted to engage the cam locks
- A bowed or dished corner post visible when you sight down the side of the body
- A bottom rail worn through or torn open at the dock bumper line
- A pallet jack wheel dropping into a soft spot in the floor
- Daylight visible at a seam or a rivet line from inside the dark box
- Rivet heads working loose or smearing along a panel lap
- A roof crease or split after a clearance bar or tree limb strike
04
How we do it, step by step
- 01
Body construction identification
Sheet-and-post, smooth-side bonded, or hybrid. This single call determines whether the repair is a spliced section or a bonded panel, and it changes the price substantially.
- 02
Structural survey inside and out
Posts, rails, crossmembers, and floor checked from both sides. Dock damage looks like a scuffed skin outside and a bowed post inside, and the post is the actual job.
- 03
Priced scope by component
Each post, panel, rail, and floor section priced separately so your fleet can authorize structural items now and defer cosmetic items to the next cycle.
- 04
Cut-out and structural replacement
Damaged posts and rails cut out and replaced with matching extrusion, then welded or riveted back using the original attachment method rather than whichever one happens to be faster.
- 05
Skin and floor rebuild
Skin panels spliced at a lap with the correct rivet type and spacing, decking replaced in matching thickness over sound supports, and every new fastener sealed against water entry.
- 06
Door frame squaring
Rear frame measured and squared so the doors seal on their own geometry. A door adjusted to fit a racked frame is a repeat visit.
- 07
Seal, refinish, and release
All seams sealed, repaired areas refinished to fleet color, conspicuity tape and unit lettering reinstated to the original layout, and the box water tested before it leaves the property.
05
Pricing and posted rates
| Item | Rate or range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Typical job range | $750 to $15,000 | Varies with extent of damage and parts availability |
| Shop hours | 5 to 80 | Quoted after teardown, not before |
| Body and paint labor | $210 per hour | 2026 posted rate |
| Paint supplies | $55 per paint hour | Calculated automatically on every estimate |
| Body supplies | $5 per body hour | Calculated automatically on every estimate |
| Parts | 100% markup under $100, 35% over | Special order parts require a non refundable deposit at order |
| Deposit | 50% at authorization over $2,000 | Additional 25% when parts arrive on jobs over $10,000 |
| Sales tax | 7.75% on parts and materials | Labor is not taxed |
Insurance billed jobs may be billed at carrier negotiated labor rates that differ from the posted retail rates above. See all posted rates.
06
On the insurance side
Dock wear and impact damage often exist on the same body. We separate the two on the estimate with photographs, because carriers pay for the event and not for the accumulated scuffing around it.
07
Vehicles we do this work on
Vehicle
Box Trucks
Box trucks put a separately built cargo body on a cab chassis, and the joint between them is where most failures start. Rear frame
Vehicle
Parcel and Furniture Delivery Trucks
Walk-in step vans and parcel bodies are aluminum-bodied, low-stepped, and cycled harder than any other commercial vehicle on the r
Vehicle
High-Cube Vans
High-cube vans trade a tall roof and maximum interior volume for a large flat sail area and a roofline that clears almost nothing.
Vehicle
Beverage Delivery Trucks
Beverage bodies use a row of individual side bays with roll-up doors instead of one cargo space. High door cycle counts, bulkhead
Vehicle
Curtain Side Trucks
Curtain side trucks trade fixed walls for a sliding tensioned curtain so a forklift can load from either side. The curtain, the to
Vehicle
Reefer, Refrigerated Trucks
Refrigerated bodies are insulated sandwich panel with a sealed interior liner, and any breach of that envelope costs fuel, cargo,
08
Questions about box and cargo body repair, aluminum and composite
Frequently asked questions
How much does box truck body repair cost?
Work runs $750 to $15,000, or 5 to 80 hours at $210 per hour plus materials. A scuffed bottom rail section and one skin panel sits at the low end. Two corner posts, a straightened rear frame, ten feet of skin, and a partial floor replacement sits at the high end. Parts carry 100 percent markup under $100 and 35 percent over $100.
How many days will the box be out of service?
A single skin panel splice is two to four working days. A corner post with rear frame squaring is five to ten days. A partial floor with crossmember work runs two to three weeks, mostly because the box has to be emptied, decking sourced, and every fastener resealed. Extrusion for older bodies is the usual schedule risk, so we confirm stock before teardown.
Is it worth repairing an older body or should we replace it?
We price both and let the number decide. A body with sound posts and a rotted floor is almost always worth repairing. A body with multiple bowed posts, a pushed rear frame, and a failing floor on a chassis with high mileage is usually the point where a remount or a replacement body wins. We give you the repair figure in writing so the comparison is real.
Do you fix the refrigeration unit or the chassis while it is here?
No. In shop body, paint, structural, and equipment install only. Engine, drivetrain, or DOT inspection work is not performed here, and refrigeration unit service is handled by a refrigeration vendor. We repair the box, the structure, the doors, and the finish. Anything mechanical gets documented and photographed for whoever handles that side of your fleet.
Can you match the body to the rest of our fleet after a panel repair?
Yes. Panel repairs are refinished and blended, fleet lettering and unit numbers are reproduced, and DOT conspicuity tape is replaced across the repaired area to the same layout. On a wrapped body we can reprint and reapply the affected panel section rather than rewrapping the entire side, which usually saves several thousand dollars.
09
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More fleet and commercial body work
Ready to move on box and cargo body repair, aluminum and composite? Bring it to Yorba Linda.