Posted by Paul on Tuesday, November 14, 2000 at 13:46:46:
In Reply to: 2 Silly Questions.... posted by Tim Way on Monday, November 13, 2000 at 16:52:18:
The reasons for one lock were multiple. At first it was to keep you from standing in traffic while locking the door on narrow two lane roads. It was also cheaper to do this. Save $1 and if you build 100,000 units, you save 100,000 bucks.
After it was no longer neccessary, it was still done for a few more years as companies with large fleets that were stored over the weekend in buildings could put more vehicles in a small area. Drive the first truck in and park it next to the wall. The driver will get out and lock it. Then drive another one in and do the same. If you park the trucks with the drivers side against the wall you can get a LOT of equipment in a small area. I learned this when I was driving a truck. A lot of the older drivers mentioned this and one weekend (a holiday weekend of course) I didn't have enough seniority to get off early so I did the park deal. You had to be limber but you could get 10 trucks in the space of 7.