Fleet Notes
Dana Follis, director of maintenance, Bright Truck Leasing Corp., Garland, Texas
Bright rents or leases Internationals and Freightliners. The Freightliners are powered by Cummins B engines with Meritor 10-speed transmissions, based on past experience for reliability and price. Some of his Internationals have Spicer transmissions for the same reasons.
In addition, some of his straight trucks are International 4700s and 4900s with 5-speed Allison automatics, which drivers love. These are proven, dependable transmissions, Follis says.
Craig Graber, shop foreman, Associated Milk Producers, Inc., Freeman, S.D.
Ten-speed transmissions from Fuller and Meritor work best for AMPI, which spec'd that type of gearbox in its latest Kenworth, Sterling and International power units. "We originally went with 9-speeds," Graber says, "but we went to the 10-speeds for a little more choice" of ratios. "Most of our trucks are straight trucks, though the Kenworth is a tractor. We're pulling pups, and we're actually pulling more gross weight than your average 18-wheeler. But we find no need to have 13, 15, or 18 speeds.
"I've considered automatics, but no one else here. I thought from the driver's point of view, they'd be great. I know that one of the pros (advantages) for going to automatics in fleets is driver retention and attraction. But that is not an issue with us. We're just a very localized operation, so we're not over the road for weeks at a time and have (no) trouble finding drivers. It's not that big of a deal."
John Green, director of maintenance, Trimac Transportation Services, Longmont, Colo.
Trimac runs 193 Class 8 company tractors, primarily Freightliners, hauling mostly dry bulk materials such as cement, lime, fly ash and sand. The trailers are pneumatics with the material loaded from the top and air pressure used to blow out the material into silos. Other trailers carry coal and even molasses. It has more than 700 trailers and two-thirds of the tractors are owner-operated.
Green says the company recently ordered six new Freightliners to pull 13-axle doubles. All will have Fuller transmissions: three with 18-speeds and Cummins ISX engines to pull a payload of about 100,000 pounds of lime from South Dakota down to Colorado; and three with 10-speeds and Cat C-12s to haul cement on interstate highways within Wyoming, each grossing 117,000-pounds.
All of Trimac's trucks are bought through a central purchasing department in Calgary, he explained. Green and his counterparts at other branches generally spec the equipment they need developing a list off the "spec pro" from Freightliner. Then they go through it, making all the changes they want. Green said that he'll then sit down with his branch manager, some maintenance people and a couple of drivers to go over the list.
More Fleet Notes
