Fold down the sideboards of trucks and trailers

Well, that's the trade-off, you either take flatbed for easier loading, or you use a sideboards to sacrifice easier loading.

Sounds like a good improvement in terms of options. - Even if the sides are foldable, there's still a trade off in the weight of the thing. Also there could be an effect that after taking a certain amount of damage, the deformed sides could either be stuck closed or unable to close.