Deck for a service vehicle

In a service vehicle including

• two spaced frame members extending longitudinally of the vehicle, one on each side of the longitudinal centerline of the vehicle;
• ground engaging means on said chassis whereby the vehicle may traverse the underlying terrain;
• a generally horizontal deck mounted on said chassis for receiving and carrying a load to be transported and extending to each side of said centerline;
• and
• a loading/unloading apparatus mounted on said vehicle at a location to one side of said centerline and operable to locate on or remove from a load on said deck;
• the improvement wherein:
• said deck includes a generally horizontal plate defining an upper deck surface and at least two spaced elongated box beams supporting said plate and extending longitudinally of said centerline generally parallel and in proximity to a respective one of said frame members and secured thereto, each of said box beams including a flat bottom wall and two side walls extending generally upwardly from opposite edges of said flat bottom wall, the one of said side walls remote from said centerline being substantially vertical, the other of said side walls nearest said centerline extending at an obtuse angle from said flat bottom wall toward said centerline, both of said side walls being secured to the underside of said plate;
• cross braces extending generally horizontally between said other side walls of said box beams at spaced intervals along the length of said box beams;
• and
• a gusset plate secured to one of said box beams one side wall and extending generally horizontally away from said centerline to said loading/unloading apparatus location to support said loading/unloading apparatus.