SlideZilla elevated and lower sliding trays can be installed together or separately to maximize your truck bed’s storage. (Photo provided)

Municipalities are seeing the benefits and flexibility that come with the “monster storage” solutions offered by the SlideZilla line of truck sliding trays.

SlideZilla is designed and manufactured by MORryde International Inc. MORryde has been a leader in the recreational vehicle industry for almost 50 years, providing suspension solutions, fabricated parts, chassis upfitting and a popular line of sliding cargo trays to the RV, and now the truck industry. The success of sliding cargo trays in the RV industry was the springboard to develop SlideZilla for the truck market.

Municipalities are finding applications for SlideZilla to be many and varied. A county highway department in Indiana recently purchased a SlideZilla elevated and a lower sliding tray combination for a 6 ½-foot bed Chevy pickup truck, to be used for traffic data collection. The transportation department manager was most excited about upgrading from the minivan that has been used in prior years.

Double the work, double the play.

Traffic data collection includes installation of two rubber strips across a road connecting to an automatic traffic data recorder. The “puff” of air from each vehicle pass captures the speed of the vehicle, the total quantity of passes and additional data. Each installation takes about eight minutes to lay the strips, secure the ATR box with chain and padlock and tether the strips to the ground with metal stakes. The removal process takes about three minutes to uninstall and store the equipment in the truck.

Before, the rear seats of the minivan were removed and all of the supplies and materials were stored in plastic totes and bins. This required multiple trips back and forth to the county garage throughout the day to load and then unload the materials at the traffic site. Climbing in and out of the van and digging through totes wasn’t very efficient for the installers, and was very time consuming.

After seeing SlideZilla at the NTEA Work Truck show in Indianapolis, Ind., the highway department decided to move out of the van and into a full-size pickup with SlideZilla sliding trays. SlideZilla’s elevated tray was used to store the rubber hoses and the lower sliding tray was used for the ATR units, chains, hand tools, metal stakes and miscellaneous supplies.

SlideZilla was able to provide installers with ease of loading and unloading for both the rubber hoses and the collection boxes. The lower tray provided immediate access to hand tools and the required supplies to complete the job in a timely manner.

According to supervisors and management, SlideZilla was able to reduce the overall time at the installation site by over 50 percent. This was a great help to the team, as the county targets 50 installations for each day. This goal was now more than achievable and could be revised upward.

Other municipal departments have found SlideZilla to be an ideal storage solution when it comes to work site efficiency and greater storage capacity. Buildings and grounds departments have utilized SlideZilla to haul flowers, trees and plants on the elevated slide along with shovels, rakes and other tools on the lower slide. This allows for a betterorganized truck bed and offers greater access to the bed area. SlideZilla mounted above the wheel well is ideal for an ATV or quad used by a parks department. The optional ramps allow an ATV to be driven onto SlideZilla and will provide at least 14 inches of storage space below for other equipment and gear. This allows SlideZilla to reach into the leisure truck market, as weekend warriors look to haul their ATVs and snowmobiles. SlideZilla gives them the ability to easily access their gear in the lower tray while hauling their toy in the upper tray. In some cases SlideZilla eliminated the need for the truck owner to haul his ATV on a trailer.

Elkhart County, Ind., utilizes both elevated and lower Slidezilla sliding trays to work more efficiently.

SlideZilla is also finding a niche in the work truck market. Truck body upfitters are finding SlideZilla greatly improves their parts and tool organization. Previously hard-to-reach items can easily be slid out and accessed, and heavier items are no longer tough to access. SlideZilla also offers optional hidden storage trays that utilize space underneath the elevated tray or on the side of the truck bed body. These help SlideZilla achieve the goal of providing “monster storage” to its users and owners.

SlideZilla is rated for a 1,000-pound capacity for both the elevated and the lower sliding trays. With at least a 66 percent extension, the sliding mechanism allows greater access to items stored in the truck bed. SlideZilla can be used in conjunction with a truck cap and fits most full-size pickup trucks.

Monster storage is the goal of SlideZilla, and it is proving to be the reality for municipalities looking to better utilize their fleets.

Information provided by MORryde International Inc.