High-sided, hand-loaded bodies have maintained a small share of the refuse truck market in every part of the United States, even today. These bodies are the least expensive to purchase and maintain, and can carry a respectable payload, especially when the refuse collected is loose and un-bagged (such as the waste stream was until the 1970s). The problem of loading height is still a major disadvantage, which is overcome only by human labor. The Stratton Equipment Company was a manufacturer of hydraulic lifting devices, and sometime after the Second World War introduced the Hydro-Loader, lifting platform. This was a truck attachment that carried loader and barrel to the top of the truck body and back down again. The platform folded flush with the body during transport. Hydro Loaders were popular in the Chicago area, but were advertised nationally. 
In the mid-1950s, an interesting auger-screw loader attachment was developed for attachment to the tailgate of a standard dump truck body. The 12" x 48" screw was powered by a hydraulic motor, with oil supplied by the truck PTO. It pulverized small batches of refuse, which were carried up an incline and through and opening in the end gate of the dump body. Stratton is not known to have ever built bodies, only attachments. When the company ceased operations is unknown. 
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