The Godwin Group sets new industry standard in dump bodies with Hardox® 500 Tuf

“At the end of the day, a dump body is a dump body,” says Pat Godwin, President of The Godwin Group located in Dunn, North Carolina, U.S. 

“What makes it different is the durability, and with trucks becoming harder to get and at higher prices, it is more important than ever that we continue our practice of offering high value equipment that is going to last." That’s why the company now builds its entire heavy duty dump body portfolio using only Hardox^® 500 Tuf, the next-generation of wear-resistant steel.

Growing from a one-man, backyard shop in 1966 to a multi-brand operation with five locations across three states, the company’s founder, Pat Godwin Senior, established a simple mantra solidifying six decades of success – Build the best.

To achieve that in the early days, the design philosophy called for thicker steel and stiffing joints to produce a heavier, sturdier dump body option with reinforced floors. While this method produced a durable body, its added significant weight to the overall truck’s design and took money out of the operator’s pocket. 

“They were having to haul less and less,” Pat explains. “You know, whether it’s one extra load or two extra loads, I mean, it all adds up at the end of the year. Now, with the Hardox® 500 Tuf, we can build bodies lighter and stronger than they have ever been before. Not only is the operator getting a bed that’s three times stronger than it used to be, it's actually twelve-hundred pounds lighter. That means every single load he hauls, he can haul twelve-hundred pounds more.”  

That’s a substantial improvement for dump truck owners and operators like Thomas Hamman with Dynamic Trucking. “In our business, we are paid based on weight,” Hamman explains. “So, if we’re able to have all the durability from the steel, while at the same time being able to load more product into our truck, I mean, it’s a win-win for us.”