A trailer whose floor is a moving conveyor or slat chain that walks the load out the rear gate into the paver hopper. Because the bed never tilts, it works under power lines, bridges and tree canopy, and the controlled discharge reduces the truck-end segregation that comes with dumping from a raised bed. Many crews call any live-bottom trailer a Flow Boy after a well-known brand.
We're under the overpass all day tomorrow, tell dispatch live bottoms only, no end dumps.
Also heard as
- Flow Boy
- live floor
- horizontal discharge trailer
Related terms
End dump
A dump truck or trailer that raises its bed and unloads out the tailgate, the standard way to feed a paver.
Belly dump
A trailer that unloads mix through gates in its floor, laying it in a row on the road ahead of the paver.
Segregation
Separation of coarse and fine aggregate, or of hot and cold mix, that leaves open, low-density spots in the mat.