How Much Money Does Armored Trucks Carry

Armored Truck

An armored truck is a vehicle designed to securely transport currency and other valuables.

Groundwork

Earlier the advent of armored vehicles, securely moving currency and valuables was achieved either by deceit or past force of arms. In the case of cant, a courier in plain clothes would deport valuables disguised as a normal package or small piece of luggage. The courier traveled as a passenger on public means of ship, and although he was armed, his principal protection lay in appearing to exist an average traveler. The principal restriction of this method was size. In lodge to protect large shipments of valuables, man has long relied on a force of arms. Early on caravans surrounded themselves with armed troops. Spanish galleons bristling with cannons carried treasure from the New Earth. In more modern times, stagecoaches carried locked simply far from impregnable strong boxes of iron and wood, while a guard "rode shot-gun" to ward off thieves. Railroad postal service cars were outfitted with safes and were guarded past heavily armed regime troops. The failure of this method was ever twofold. First, although cargo was relatively safe while in its large, protected vessel, eventually it needed to be placed in smaller, more vulnerable vehicles to exist carried to its terminal destination. The second problem was that no matter how many soldiers, swords, rifles, or cannons guarded a travelling precious cargo, a larger force of thieves with more than swords, rifles, or cannons could be rallied to steal the cargo. Every bit weapons became expressionless-lier and more than compact, this became more of a problem.

The first attempts at commercial armored trucks were inspired by the combat success of military armored cars in World War I. After the war, a marked increase in vehement robberies of payroll clerks and messengers conveying deposits brought about the demand for safer ways to send cash. In 1920, a Chicago area delivery visitor called Brink'due south started converting school buses into security vehicles by attaching steel plates to the lower trunk panels and barring the windows. Each bus was followed past a Model-T motorcar filled with armed guards. The first true commercial armored car was built that same year in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for a St. Paul police force principal turned private detective Mike Sweeney. Sweeney designed the car and put it into service for his Sweeney Detective Bureau.

Early armored cars only wore steel plating on their body panels; they retained the wooden floors of the truck chassises on which they were congenital. This concluded in 1927 when thieves buried explosives in the road and blew upward a Brink'southward truck carrying $100,000 in payroll money. In the 1930s and 40s, manufacturers experimented with aluminum, which has a distinct weight advantage over steel. The metallic was found to fatigue and scissure later on a curt time and was discontinued. The 1970s worldwide fuel shortage spurred manufacturers to try lightweight plastic armor and smaller, more fuel-efficient chassises, just the results were similar to those with aluminum and the traditional steel regained its dominance in the industry.

Raw Materials

The material that makes upwards nearly of an armored car is also what makes it armored.

An armored car is basically a big, sealed metl box and is thereby very hot inside. The windows do non roll down for obvious reasons, so most trucks have four roof vents with a baffle to obstruct any direct lines of fire into the truck. The gun ports installed in each door utilise a spring-loaded plate that must be slid open up from the inside to preclude assailants from using them to burn down into the vehicle.

The walls, floor, ceiling, and doors of an armored car are all made from steel. In recent years, both galvanized and stainless steel have been used to gainsay trunk rust and corrosion. The steel is hardened to increase its bullet resistance, either by heat handling or by adding high levels of chromium (a very hard metallic) and nickel (a very dense metal) during the forging process. In some applications, a ballistic fiberglass textile known as woven roving is used to line the interior of the body. The windows of the truck are either made up of several layers of automotive drinking glass or of layers of glass mixed with layers of bullet-resistant optical plastic.

Design

Four equally important goals must be considered in the making of an armored truck, several of which work against each other. The outset consideration is ballistic resistance. Manufacturers use hardened steel in thick-nesses varying from 0.125 in (0.317 cm) to greater than 0.25 in (0.635 cm), depending on the level of resistance required to build virtually of the body of an armored truck. Windows are made bullet resistant by using laminated glass in thicknesses between i.l in (three.81 cm) and 3 in (7.62 cm). Utilizing a mixture of glass and bullet-resistant optical plastic allows a much thinner and lighter window. Windshields are placed at a 45-caste angle to assist in deflection and to lower wind resistance. Tires are armored with a u-shaped hard plastic liner. If a tire deflates, it can run for several miles on the structure of this crush. Steel ram bumpers and forepart grill guards allow a driver to push through another vehicle that may be used as a roadblock. Increasing a truck'southward level of ballistic resistance means increasing the thickness of the steel and glass used and this works against the 2d design consideration—weight.

Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) measures the maximum a motor vehicle tin safely weigh, including its cargo and passengers. The boilerplate GVW for a "route truck," which makes everyday pickups and deliveries for banks and merchants, is 25,000 lb (11,350 kg). The average finished road truck weighs 12,000 lb (5,448 kg). This leaves xiii,000 lb (5,902 kg) for cargo and guards. Reducing the finished weight of a truck allows for greater cargo weight. Decreasing the amount of armoring is not an bonny option, so trucks that demand to booty heavier cargo, such as coins, must be built on larger, heavier chassises. A tandem-axle truck designed to haul large pallets of coin tin can have a GVW up of 55,000 lb (24,970 kg).

The third blueprint consideration is security. Clearly, bullet resistance is of petty use if the truck's operators and cargo are non securely separated from the outside world. With this in heed, security measures are aimed at installing and maintaining barriers. Almost armored cars operate with two armed guards—a driver, who never leaves the vehicle, and a second guard known as a hopper, who rides in the cargo hold and carries valuables to and from the truck. The driver'southward compartment is separated from the cargo area by a steel bulkhead. The doors through which the hopper travels are fitted with slam locks, which automatically lock when the door swings shut. Once these doors are locked, the commuter must reopen them electronically from the inside. Inside the cargo area, the hopper may place valuables inside a locked box, or he may use a drib safe, which has a one way chute and tin can just exist opened one time the truck has returned to its home facility. The gun ports installed in each door employ a spring-loaded plate that must be slid open up from the within to prevent assailants from using them to burn into the vehicle. The security requirements necessitate additional steps to achieve the final design goal—crew comfort.

An armored car is basically a large, sealed metal box and is thereby very hot inside. The windows do non coil down for obvious reasons, so nigh trucks take four roof vents with a baffle to obstruct any direct lines of fire into the truck. Trucks are also fitted with dual air-conditioning and heating units, and then the hopper and driver can independently arrange temperatures. The walls, ceiling, and floor of the cargo expanse are lined with lite-weight cream-board insulation to further regulate inside temperatures.

The Manufacturing
Process

Chassis

• 1 The production of an armored car begins with the commitment of a bare heavy duty truck chassis. The chassis arrives with complete bulldoze railroad train (engine and transmission) and suspension systems. Some manufacturers accept commitment of a chassis with a full cab, which they cutting off. Then they reuse many of the interior pieces. Others apply a cowl chassis, which only arrives with fenders and a hood.

Trunk

• 2 The body of an armored truck is built much in the aforementioned mode a business firm is framed. First, sections of square steel tubing are laid out vertically on a table known as a jig that represents the shape of an individual wall. Then lengths of steel aqueduct called hat rails (considering the cross section resembles a apartment-brimmed chapeau) are laid horizontally at specific intervals across the vertical sections of tubing and tack-welded to hold them in identify. Shortened sections of tubing and hat rails are used in sure areas to exit spaces that will become windows and doors. The process is repeated on the appropriate jig for each wall and for the roof, floor, and bulkhead.
• 3 Meanwhile, large sheets of hardened steel are being formed into outside body panels. The sheets are start cutting to the right size past enormous hydraulic shears. The cut panels are then rolled onto a table where the openings for windows and doors are cutting with high temperature plasma torches. Some manufacturers employ welders to operate the torches, while some use computer-controlled robotic arms to handle the cutting. With this robotic system, plans are fatigued on a computer; the computer then instructs the robotic arms to cut the verbal shapes and dimensions to match the plans. The robotic arms slide vertically forth an overhead track to reach vertical cuts, while rollers in the cut table slide the steel across the path of the torch to handle horizontal cuts. The panels are then rolled onto various hydraulic presses where the necessary curves and angles are formed. Once the steel has been cut and formed into its appropriate shape, information technology is fitted against its corresponding frame and welded or riveted in place.
• 4 The floor is the first construction to be lifted onto the waiting chassis. First a sheet of hardwood is placed on the chassis' frame runway to insulate against vibration. So the floor is placed on the hardwood and is attached to the chassis at several points with a number of c-shaped clamps. The walls are then each lifted onto the chassis and are tack welded or temporarily clamped where they join the floor and where their corners meet. So the roof is placed on summit of the walls. One time the entire structure has been checked for straightness and fit, all the joints and seams are thoroughly welded or riveted.

Outfitting the interior

• five Now that the body has been given its structure, the pieces that will make it a functioning armored truck are put in identify. Starting time, hinges are bolted to the door frames and the doors are hung and adjusted for straightness. Armored truck doors are hung on strap hinges, which extend horizontally across the face of the door to support the weight of the armoring. The hinges comprise sealed grease fittings to allow the doors to swing smoothly.
• vi Next, foam-board insulation is pressed into the spaces betwixt the steel tubing of the body panels. Then an interior sheet of steel is welded or riveted to the tubing. Some manufacturers apply a fiberglass ballistic cloth chosen woven roving in identify of the interior steel lining. Layers of woven roving are infused with an epoxy and placed into a mold in the shape of the interior panels of the truck. The layers are pressed together in the mold and when dry, course a solid piece.
• seven Once the interior has been lined, the bulkhead separating the cab from the cargo area is fastened in place. Then any shelves, bins, and safes are installed in the cargo surface area, and the vents are fastened to the roof and the gun ports are fitted into the doors.

Finishing

• 8 The first step in creating a finished armored truck is to grind down any rough or irregular welds and to seal any seams with caulking. And then the interior is primed and painted, and the exterior is sprayed with numerous layers of sealant and primer before existence painted to the customer's specifications.
• 9 Once the paint is dry, the electricians wire the truck (all wire in an armored truck is run through exposed conduit for ease of maintenance), and the heating and ventilation engineers install the rear air workout and heating unit. Side by side, the glass is installed; the locks are installed; the mirrors, bumpers, running boards, and grill guards are attached. The interior soft trim such as seats and belts, visors, and door handles are replaced last to avert damage while other work proceeds. Finally, the finished truck is driven to a separate paint berth and the entire underside is sprayed with a corrosion resistant undercoating.

THE LIFE OF AN ARMORED TRUCK

Surprisingly, the first function of an armored truck to need replacing is the chassis. The added weight of the armoring plus the weight of the cargo shortens the lifespan of the truck's suspension, braking, and mechanical systems. The steel body, withal, rarely wears out. For many years, fleet owners would remove the body from a worn chassis, refurbish it, and mount it on a new chassis, often as many equally three times. Today, owners take found it more than economical to sell older trucks in the burgeoning overseas markets. Trucks that are besides old to be sold overseas are disassembled and the steel is sold as scrap.

Quality Control

Most manufacturers use the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Standards for ballistic resistance as a betoken of reference for the armoring and windows on their trucks. UL tests various materials for their ability to withstand fire from a variety of weapons and rates the materials from Class 1 to Class iv. Class 1 offers the everyman resistance (a shot from a large caliber handgun) and Class 4 offers the highest. The trucks them-selves are considered commercial vehicles and therefore must comply with standards set by the U.S. Section of Transportation. But nearly of the manufacture'due south quality control and design specifications are determined past what the insurance companies that underwrite armored carriers are willing to take. The insurance underwriters determine acceptable armor levels, type and number of locks, and near stringently, operating procedures.

The Future

The armored truck has ever relied on a testify of forcefulness for its security. It is a massive, locked steel box filled with armed guards. Aside from stronger and lighter alloys of steel and laminates of glass used in its construction, the basic design will likely remain the aforementioned. The increased and varied placement of automated teller machines (ATMs) has created a demand for trucks based on smaller chassises to haul lighter but more numerous cargoes. Increased use of global positioning satellite (GPS) systems, which allow a dispatcher to track the verbal position of each truck, will create greater efficiency in routing the growing number of trucks and may act as an boosted deterrent to potential hijackers.

— Michael Cavette

Source: http://www.madehow.com/Volume-4/Armored-Truck.html

Posted by: justicebeirsed.blogspot.com

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