Class 8 Specs
One Big Operator Specs It Your Way
Sometimes it's good to know you're right. You are if you're a customer of Ruan Leasing. The Des Moine, Iowa-based company owns about 8,000 power units, and buys 1,100 to 1,200 a year. It has preferences on specs for the tractors it runs through its own transport fleets. But it sets up trucks and tractors per customer requests, too - and some specs get interesting.
Ruan was once known for a high degree of standardization and customers had to like it. "Until the mid-'70s you could have any kind of tractor you wanted as long as it was a red International with a Detroit Diesel," recalls Chad Johnson, vice president of vehicle maintenance and purchasing. "Of course, in those days we were far more concentrated on transport than leasing."
Internationals now make up about one-third of Ruan's fleet, with Freightliners and Volvos accounting for most of the other two-thirds. There are also about 700 Macks and a few other makes it got through acquisitions and because of customer requests. Its preferred diesel supplier has been Cummins, but it also has about 1,000 Caterpillars and those Macks, plus International engines in International midrange trucks.
Customer application and preference determine what should be bought for each, Johnson says. A Ruan engineer sits down with the customer and goes over his operation in detail so he knows exactly how the vehicle will be used. If the customer and his drivers want a certain make of tractor or engine and they make sense for the operation, they are what Ruan buys.
Engine choices are sometimes based on application. In one instance (and Johnson doesn't want to publicly name names), a certain make and type of engine didn't hold up in a high-load, off-road situation, but another did. However, the first engine was fine for other duties. Experience is the teacher in such cases.
The ability to uprate engines for higher horsepower is valuable at resale time. For example, "we might buy a big-block engine and run it at 430 hp in our own operation, then uprate it to 500 hp if that's what the used truck buyer wants," Johnson says.
For rental units, Ruan stocks road tractors with big "condo"-type sleepers because that's what most customers want, unless they have weight-sensitive operations. Usually that means a tractor with a basic 42-inch sleeper or a daycab. Ruan Transport uses such units in its bulk hauling operations, he says.
Want something really lightweight? Ruan has a small group of tractor-trailers that haul aluminum coils into a plant that turns the material into beer cans. Each rig must haul two 30,000-pound coils while not exceeding the 80,000-pound limit. So spec'ing specialists came up with a tractor-trailer unit that weighs just under 20,000 pounds. Compared to the usual road tractor, one of these featherweights scales at less than 13,000 pounds, thanks to a smaller engine, fewer batteries, no passenger seat and - of course - aluminum wheels.
There is some commonality among most of Ruan's Class 8 equipment. Maintainers have found that long-stroke brake chambers are more forgiving for brake adjustment, working well through a greater pushrod stroke and making adjustment less critical, Johnson says. And unitized steer axles, with "buttoned-up" wheel ends whose bearings are preset and seals installed at the axle-maker's factory, greatly increase bearing and seal life, and cut instances of lube leaks, which can ruin brake linings.
Ruan specs the detailed parts that you probably do - air dryers, fuel heater/water separators, engine block heaters, engine brakes, air-ride suspensions, air-slide fifth wheels, heavy duty drivetrains, long-life brake linings, right-side motorized mirrors and power windows, sun visors, high-back air-ride seats, and middle-level or premium interiors. All contribute to driver comfort, smooth operation and reduced maintenance and operating expense.
