Rock Solid vs Wells Cargo Enclosed Trailers: Which One to Buy

Two enclosed lines on one lot, and why we stock both

Pull into 2601 SE Evangeline Thruway and the enclosed row is two brands. Rock Solid Cargo is our volume line, the one with the most units on the ground, and the shell under every Ragin' Custom food trailer we build. Wells Cargo is the premium line, the name that has been on cargo trailers since 1954.

We stock both because they are built for two different buyers. This post tells you which one you are, what each factory puts in the box, and what to look at on the lot.

The two companies

Rock Solid Cargo is young and growing fast. Tony Wright and his son Caleb rolled their first trailers out of Douglas, Georgia in June 2017 on what is now a 40-acre plant, and they sell only through 73 authorized dealers, of which we are the one in Lafayette. Their line is "built to outlast the truck pulling it," backed by a five-year structural warranty on every unit.

Wells Cargo started the category. Maynard W. Wells built the first cargo trailer in Elkhart, Indiana in 1954; the company now runs five plants, the closest to us in Waco, Texas, rates its line for "over 15 years of daily use," and has been part of American Cargo Group since 2018.

What is on the lot this week

Rock Solid: a 6x10 single-axle bullnose, a 6x12 single axle with the blackout package, three 7x14 tandem V-noses, and two 8.5x16 tandems with the Plus 6 package and Polycore exterior. Wells Cargo: a 5x8 single axle in silver and a 6x12 in charcoal, both with ramp doors. Check the live inventory before you drive over.

The frame: both lines run 16-inch walls

The walls are not the difference between these brands. Rock Solid builds on a steel tube frame with tube sidewall posts on 16-inch centers. Its site lists single axles on a 3- to 4-inch steel frame with a 3/4-inch plywood floor and 75 inches of headroom, and tandems on two 3,500 lb axles with electric brakes on both, 75 to 78 inches inside, and a .024-inch aluminum exterior. Rock Solid's brochure is quoted elsewhere as 16-inch floor crossmembers on tandems and 24-inch roof members; confirm those two on the build sheet.

Wells Cargo's Road Force is a "triple 16's" frame: 16-inch floor crossmembers, 16-inch tube vertical posts and 16-inch tube roof bows. The entry FastTrac keeps steel tube main rails, 16-inch crossmembers and 16-inch tube posts but spaces the roof bows at 24 inches.

So it is 16 inches on the walls either way; the Road Force pulls ahead on the roof, a bow every 16 inches instead of 24, which matters for a ladder rack or a rooftop air conditioner.

Roof and skin: where Wells earns the premium

Every Wells line, FastTrac included, gets a one-piece aluminum roof. The Road Force adds a bonded .080-inch aluminum composite panel exterior and a .080 aluminum top wrap; the FastTrac runs a semi-screwless .080 ACP skin. Bonded panels mean fewer screw heads, and every screw head is a place water can get in.

Rock Solid's standard exterior is .024-inch aluminum, screwed on, with screwless as a factory option; the two 8.5x16s on our lot have the Polycore composite exterior. Rock Solid does not publish a roof spec on the pages we read, so stand inside, look up and count the seams. A trailer parked outside here gets rained on most summer afternoons, and a roof seam or a backed-out screw is where the ceiling stain starts.

Under the trailer: the humidity and rust conversation

Both lines sit on steel; what happens to it depends on what the factory sprayed on. Wells lists the entire chassis undercoated on the Road Force and the FastTrac, and the Road Force adds ArmorTech on the A-frame and rear end rail, the two places a South Louisiana trailer rusts first: the tongue that catches every rock off US-90 and the rear rail where the ramp hinge sits in standing water after a storm.

Rock Solid's public pages do not list undercoating, which means you look: we will put any unit in the air so you can see the underside, and our service shop can add it.

If your trailer lives near salt, at a camp in Cypremort Point, on the road to Grand Isle, or in Cameron Parish, ask about the Wells Cargo Wagon SS: aluminum frame to skin, 16-inch tube posts, roof bows and crossmembers, a seamless one-piece roof, torsion axles, Goodyear Endurance radials and a three-year warranty. Wells says it "won't rust even on the saltiest roads." It is a special order in 7x14 through 8.5x24, and it costs more.

Ventilation is the other humidity item: flow-thru sidewall vents are standard on every Wells line; on a Rock Solid, check the unit.

Inside: PlexCore against plywood

Wells lines all three series with 3/4-inch PlexCore decking and 3/8-inch PlexCore sidewalls. Rock Solid's site lists a 3/4-inch plywood floor, and the units on our lot carry 3/8-inch walls. Same thicknesses; PlexCore is Wells Cargo's branded panel. E-Z Lube hubs and 15-inch radials are standard on every Wells line; on a Rock Solid, read the sidewall for the R that means radial and check the build sheet.

Doors, lights and brakes

Road Force: a ramp door with spring assist and a 16-inch ramp extension, a 36-inch side door with a flush lock, LED tail, clearance and dome lights, a 24-inch ATP stoneguard, and electric brakes with a breakaway kit. FastTrac: a 32-inch side door with a bar lock, a 16-inch stoneguard, LED lights, and four-wheel electric brakes on tandems only.

Every Rock Solid on our lot has ramp and side doors, and every Rock Solid tandem has electric brakes on both axles. Its single axles are rated at 2,990 lb, just under the 3,000 lb line where Louisiana RS 32:341 requires brakes on a non-farm trailer. Our 6x12 listing shows a 3,500 lb axle under it; the VIN plate is what a DOT officer reads.

Warranty: five years against three, or one

This is the headline, and it runs opposite to the price tags. Rock Solid, the value line, carries a five-year structural warranty on every unit; Wells Cargo's Road Force and Wagon SS carry three years, limited, and the FastTrac one.

On either brand you do not call Georgia or Indiana; bring it to us and we work the claim with the factory.

Food trailer shells

Every Ragin' Custom food trailer starts as a Rock Solid shell. Rock Solid builds 8.5-foot-wide bumper pulls to 32 feet and goosenecks with 84 inches of headroom, offers extra height, concession windows, vent hoods, electrical packages, insulation and A/C from the factory, and puts a five-year structural warranty under a kitchen that weighs more than most cargo ever will, at a price where a first-year vendor at Festival International can make the numbers work. Wells can be ordered as a shell, but it is not our standard path. Start with the food trailer builder if that is your plan.

Who each buyer is

You are a Rock Solid buyer if:

• You are a contractor, landscaper, painter or mover who needs a lockable box that works every day.
• It is your first enclosed trailer: a side-by-side, bikes or a move.
• The five-year structural warranty is the number you care about most.
• You want to hook up today; we keep more Rock Solid on the ground.
• You are building a food trailer.

You are a Wells Cargo buyer if:

• You are a racer, a touring band or a fleet that plans to run the same trailer for 15 years.
• You want the one-piece roof, bonded skin, undercoated chassis and 16-inch roof bows of the Road Force.
• Your trailer lives near salt and you want the all-aluminum Wagon SS.
• Resale matters; a used Wells Cargo sells because everyone knows what it is.

What to look at on the lot

1. Look up and count the roof seams and roof bows.
2. Count the screw heads per panel, or the absence of them.
3. Crawl under the tongue and rear end rail: bare steel, paint or coating?
4. Read the VIN plate for GVWR, then the tire sidewall for the brand and the R.
5. Work the ramp door with one hand and try the side door lock.
6. Stand inside with the door shut on a hot afternoon and look for vents.
7. Ask for the build sheet, the warranty card, and who handles the claim.

Decision table

Deciding in thirty seconds

If the trailer makes you money and you want the longest warranty for the least cash out the door, buy the Rock Solid and put the difference into shelving. If you want the roof, skin and chassis coating that hold value in year twelve, or you park near salt, buy the Wells Cargo once.

See both, side by side, this week

Our Rock Solid and Wells Cargo enclosed trailers are on the lot now with live pricing on our inventory page, and the next truckload is listed on coming soon. Financing and rent-to-own are available on either brand. Text us at 337-279-2620 with what you haul and where it will park, and we will tell you straight which one to buy. Delivery is free within 50 miles of Lafayette, and we are at 2601 SE Evangeline Thruway, family-owned since 2016.

Sources

• https://rocksolidcargo.com/
• https://rocksolidcargo.com/about-us/
• https://rocksolidcargo.com/trailers
• https://rocksolidcargo.com/brochure/ (crossmember and roof-member spacing)
• https://wellscargo.com/company
• https://wellscargo.com/models/cargo-trailers/road-force/road-force-cargo
• https://wellscargo.com/models/cargo-trailers/fasttrac-models/fasttrac
• https://wellscargo.com/models/cargo-trailers/aluminum-cargo
• https://codes.findlaw.com/la/revised-statutes/la-rev-stat-tit-32-sect-341/
• Unit-level details for the trailers we stock: our own listings at ragintrailers.com/inventory.html.

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