Quality Plastic Matters: UHMW Door Guards for Refrigerated Trucks

A truck and trailer after-market accessories manufacturer in the Minnesota region had been experiencing failure with some refrigerated truck door guards they were making out of low grade reprocessed UHMW. The guards were a square u-shape that fit around the bottom of the truck doors, and the existing material had been cracking and pulling apart in the application, causing warranty and production issues for the customer. They approached the team at our Minnesota location to see if we could help.

After visiting the customer’s location, our Cope team determined that the product issues were due to the material being used. Knowing that one of our material partners offered a higher molecular weight reprocessed UHMW that would stand up better in the application, we worked with them to secure the material. 

Once the material was secured, the Minnesota team produced a small run of parts for the customer, who then performed the final fabrication steps in house. The customer installed them in the field and found that the new UHMW material held up beautifully in the application. They engaged Cope to produce all of their parts to fulfill the production needs for this product.

Since the success of this project, we have expanded our partnership with this customer, continuing to find other ways to support their business. We continue to work together to improve the quality and effectiveness of their fabricated plastic parts.