Trucks at Work Blog

“I just love my truck.” –Jeffrey Glanville, veteran truck driver and owner-operator

At first glance, you might not think the 110-inch studio sleeper adorning the back of Jeffrey Glanville’s 2006 model Kenworth W900 is all that practical. Yet if you talk with him for a while, pretty soon you come to understand that this mammoth sleeper is actually a huge boon to him and the job he performs week after countless week on the highways that crisscross the U.S.

A native of Jamaica, Glanville has worked for Interstate Van Lines based in Springfield, VA for over 20 years now – with a goodly portion spent driving long haul routes. In moving industry parlance, he’s known as a “super van operator” – an owner-operator whose specialty is loading up, transporting, and then unloading at destination a family’s worldly possessions long distances.

It’s some of the toughest work in the trucking business for a driver, because not only are you logging a lot of miles, you’re spending back-breaking hours emptying a house, loading everything onto your trailer, then reversing the process at destination – all the while face-to-face with customers that, at bare minimum, are on pins and needles.

Yet Glanville loves the work – and finds his big rig is an important tool in conveying to the customer his ability to take care of their household goods. “You drive up in front of their house with this truck, with everything shiny, and it changes their outlook,” he told me.

[For a tour of Jeffrey’s truck, watch the video below – he’ll also tell you a little bit about why he likes his job so much.]

Again, though, there’s a lot practicality built into Glanville’s truck. For example, it’s equipped with a shower [attached to a 40-gallon water reservoir] so he doesn’t have to waste precious time at the end of a long, exhausting day waiting in line at a truck stop to clean up. “You can wait three to four hours for a shower sometimes,” he told me. “Having my own shower allows me to clean up, relax and then sleep.”

His sleeper also comes equipped with all the comforts of home – stove, microwave, refrigerator, kitchen-style booth for eating, a full bed, and 20-inch flat screen TV, to name just a few of its comforts. His auxiliary power unit (APU) also fires up pretty easily, just with the touch of the button, and makes an almost inaudible hum while running – making sure his time in the sleeper isn’t disturbed by excessive noise and vibration.

His rig also doesn’t lack for power – with a 550 horsepower Caterpillar C-15 under the hood, he’s got enough “get up and go” when he needs it. But Glanville stresses he’s a cautious driver, never one to push a bad situation. “You get out in bad weather, heavy snow out in the plains, you stop,” he says. “You need to take care of yourself and your cargo – it’s not worth the risk.”

It’s that kind of philosophy that’s allowed Glanville to accumulate two decades of experience on the road and acquire the truck of his dreams. And he doesn’t plan to stop any time soon, he told me: “I just love what I do.”

“With the logistics and freight forwarding industry in the midst of economic challenges, this may be the perfect time to assess company business processes and consider implementing newer and leaner operating systems that will provide ongoing benefits.” –Lisa Tree, marketing manager for CargoWise edi, Chicago, IL

Probably about the last thing any trucker or other logistics provider wants to even consider spending money on right now is anything information technology (IT) related. I mean, come on – it’s tough enough to survive as it is, so one must husband precious cash for things like salaries, fuel, equipment; the stuff that fuels the core needs of a freight business.

Not so fast, says Lisa Tree, marketing manager for CargoWise edi, a provider of integrated international supply chain logistics management systems based in Chicago, IL. Sure, now, her company has a vested interest in getting freight haulers to spend money on IT, but to her mind, there’s much more to it when it comes to investing in IT.

“While many freight forwarding executives view the current economic conditions as an imprudent time to expend capital in implementing new business functions, this can, in fact, be the perfect time to conduct a thorough evaluation of current business processes and systems to maximize economic performance in the long-term,” she explains.

“Typically, when business is slow, company management has more time to evaluate how they are conducting business in the current market environment and consider options available to them that can help them to not only weather the storm, but better position themselves to meet future expansion requirements for when the economy rebounds,” Tree says. “Optimizing their business practices and systems now can influence the degree to which they maintain or gain a future competitive advantage.”

One area that is often overlooked during economic downturns due to perceived capital outlays is IT optimization, Tree points out. While she acknowledges that today’s current economic conditions may not be suitable for large capital expenditures, and loans may be difficult to obtain, monthly licensing options (ODPL) provided by enterprise service providers can require minimal cash outlays to implement new IT enterprise systems. She points out that implementing an integrated IT system is one area frequently overlooked by company management that can have both immediate and long-term benefits with very little capital outlay.

“If freight [companies] are uncertain how to get a feel for market conditions and exactly what their IT needs are to optimize their own freight forwarding process, they can turn to a software service provider for assistance,” she says. ”Some software service providers offer consulting services to help forwarders and shippers evaluate solutions for the most efficient and cost effective enterprise system with maximum results. This is always a good place to start and can often reap significant lasting benefits.”

Slow economies not only free up management time, but often provide increased time and IT personnel availability to assess company software requirements and more carefully focus on the most effective IT-based operating platform that best fits the company’s supply chain requirements in both the short-term and long-term.

“Weak or slow economic conditions can provide the needed window of opportunity management and IT staffs need to carefully analyze the best manner in which to implement operational technologies that can provide IT optimization platforms across extended supply chains,” Tree believes. “Most companies will find that establishing a single, robust cross-departmental IT solution across all business functions within an enterprise can play a significant role in minimizing the degree of economic risk a company absorbs in unstable economic times. It will also improve ROI [return on investment] performance and long-term growth.”

Tree also emphasizes that it is during these times of introspect that IT staffs have the time and ability to focus not only on the implementation of new software systems and enhancements, but for the proper training of all personnel that will be using any new enterprise system.

“Companies can undertake IT training programs that are best-suited to their personnel and financial needs. Some will opt for on-site training, while others may select remote or self-training programs, or a combination of all three options,” she says. “The point is, with more time to analyze supply chain and IT needs, forwarders can tailor their training programs to fit their budgets and operational requirements.”

In the end, Tree offers this suggestion: rather than simply maintaining the status quo in these times, working closely with an enterprise solution provider, freight companies can gain valuable insights through consultation into what IT operating solutions can consistently enable them to maximize economic performance through all types of market conditions, while lessening economic risk regardless of market conditions.

“These economic conditions will eventually level out and return to normal,” she says. “In the meantime, freight forwarding management should view this economic climate as a real opportunity to step back and determine how it can help to cost-effectively improve their business practices with robust IT-based systems that optimize their operating performance in the long-term.”

Whether you agree with her view or not, Tree certainly makes the case on one important time – a downturn is a good time to give your business a complete overhaul, from top to bottom, so it’s primed and ready when freight volumes return.

“What is required now is for this country to pull together, confront boldly the challenges we face, and take responsibility for our future once more.” –President Barack Obama, from his first ‘State of the Union’ speech to Congress

All due respect to President Obama – for he’s got an awful lot on his plate, right from the get go – I consider myself very old fashioned (if not conservative) on fiscal matters. In short, that means deficits matter a huge amount to my way of monetary thinking. I think the stimulus package is a big mistake; one more monstrous debt hanging around our country’s neck as we try to get ourselves back on the road to fiscal health.

Note that I didn’t use the word “prosperity” here, because looking down the road, there won’t be much of it unless we start doing some drastic things. It’s all well and good to throw $787 billion into the economy to try and “revive” it – it’s something else to willfully ignore the $10 trillion plus in debt we’re already mired in, with more obligations to come.

The big bugaboos are entitlements. Remember those? Social Security? Medicare? Medicaid? They ate up $1.3 trillion out of $2.98 trillion in federal spending in fiscal 2008 (and that budget was $500 billion in the red before the banking crisis and economic downturn picked up speed.) Defense spending, by contrast, clocked in at a measly $613 billion. Noted economist and columnist Robert J. Samuelson says those numbers and the trend lines they create offer two very stark choices for the government – and our nation – to make: by 2030 we either raise federal taxes by 50% to cover spending on those three programs alone, or we pare them back significantly.

It doesn’t end there. State governments all have big unfunded health care liabilities for their workers, liabilities that totaled $370 billion in 2006. That was before the stock market crash we’re going through wiped out some $1 trillion in state and local government pension funds.

“Obama hasn’t confronted the conflicts; he’s been all things to all people,” Samuelson noted in a recent column. True, but it’s still early yet – not even 100 days. And the president is now starting to say the right things, too – laying the ground work to attack the red ink surrounding us.

“We have lived through an era where too often short-term gains were prized over long-term prosperity, where we failed to look beyond the next payment, the next quarter, or the next election,” he said in his first State of the Union speech last night. “People bought homes they knew they couldn’t afford from banks and lenders who pushed those bad loans anyway. And all the while, critical debates and difficult decisions were put off for some other time on some other day. Well, that day of reckoning has arrived, and the time to take charge of our future is here.”

It’s going to be a hard road, one requiring sacrifices – probably a goodly number of them. “The only way this century will be another American century is if we confront at last the price of our dependence on oil and the high cost of health care, the schools that aren’t preparing our children and the mountain of debt they stand to inherit. That is our responsibility,” the President said.

“My budget does not attempt to solve every problem or address every issue. It reflects the stark reality of what we’ve inherited: a trillion-dollar deficit, a financial crisis, and a costly recession,” he noted. “Given these realities, everyone in this chamber — Democrats and Republicans — will have to sacrifice some worthy priorities for which there are no dollars, and that includes me.”

Let’s hope, then, President Obama sticks to this game plan – for if not, we’re going to be facing problems that make what we’re going through now pale by comparison.

“The quality of your customer service determines how high your rate can be.” –Tim Brady, author, consultant, speaker, and former owner-operator

One of the things I talk with Tim Brady (at right) pretty frequently these days is how customer-services drives everything – and how the level and quality of that service drives pricing. Sure, there’s a lot of “cheap freight” out there, but there are also a lot of shippers willing to pay more to get good customer service, however they define it.

“While price is a factor when shippers determine which carrier to use, the most important concern any shipper has is, ‘Are we getting the best value for our transport dollar?’ The greater the value you create in your logistics services, the easier it is to garner the needed hauling rate,” he explained to me. “Trucking companies that have been relying on price alone are finding it exceedingly difficult to stay in business; the ones providing exceptional services are positioning themselves to grow and prosper.”

The 64-dollar question is, of course, how to do that – and for that matter, which customers should you as a fleet concentrate on, for not all of them are willing to pay more to get more.

Professor Jerry Osteryoung with the college of business at Florida State University has some thoughts on this subject, as well, so I’m going to turn this space over to him so he can share them. Professor Osteryoung, the floor is yours:

“Clearly each and every business has many customers. However, all customers are just not the same. While all customers deserve to be treated well, you really need to treat your best customers even better. I like to think that there are three classes of customers.

The first are the pain in the butt customers. You really should really get rid of them. Then there are the majority of customers who rely on you to service their needs. Finally there are your best customers. These best customers usually make up 10% of your sales, but usually contribute 20% to your profitability. These are very important folks!

As an entrepreneur [and truckers are definitely entrepreneurs] your job is to make sure all customers experience wonderful customer service, but your best customers need to be treated regally. If you should lose one of these customers, the financial cost could be immense.

Just look at big businesses that regularly take their best customers on various exotic sojourns. Some buy sky boxes for different athletic events just to entertain big clients. Clearly, owners of big businesses know the importance of their best customers and go out of their way to insure that they continue to be their best customers. They are willing to invest some extra dollars and time in these premier customers.

In order to ‘operationalize’ this ‘best customer’ plan, you first need to identify the top 10% of your customers. This is normally pretty easy to do. Just look at a sales report that shows the total size of your customers’ purchases. The next step is to ascertain what perks you can offer these customers.

It really is unimportant if your customers take advantage of your offer. What is important is that you offer them something, which communicates quite well that you consider them important. However, if they do accept your invitation and you spend time with your customers in a social setting, you really do develop a relationship with them.

Once you have ascertained your best customers and then what perks you can offer, then it is a matter of just executing the plan. Personally contacting your best customers once a year is a very reasonable thing to do, since you really want to promote a continuing relationship. You really don’t want this relationship to be just business driven, but more of a great friendship. This is also a wonderful way of saying, ‘Thank you for your business.’”

“What’s nice about this is that the shifting is smooth while drivers get to totally focus on the road – keeping the truck centered in the lane, watching the traffic flow. It’s much safer.” –Clint Bushong, engineering supervisor, Peterbilt Motors Company

I rode shotgun in Peterbilt Motors Co. Model 387 highway tractor equipped with an Eaton Fuller 10-speed Ultrashift last week with Clint Bushong at the helm and came away yet again thinking automated transmissions are just going to be the way to go in the near future for most over-the-road operators out there.

Let me stress that I said “most” as Clint would be the first to tell you that automated transmissions like the Ultrashift are not for everyone.

A 12-year veteran engineer with Peterbilt, Bushong drove for a living for a while back in his hometown of Los Angeles, making residential deliveries for a landscaping company in posh places like Beverly Hills – and in places like that, you needed to not only have a manual transmission, but be VERY skilled with it.

“One of the things an automated transmission still can’t quite do is help you ‘feather’ a trailer while backing up – simply because the clutch is fully engaged all the time,” he told me. “Aside from that, though, it’s pretty much a winner – especially for new drivers.”

As we zipped along I-35E, Clint merely had to nod his head at the roadway around us to show me why he thinks automated transmissions are the wave of the future. “Look at this traffic – not only do you need to maneuver the truck, know where the cars and other vehicles are around you, we’d also need to be simultaneously aware of where we are in the gears. That’s a lot for any driver to manage – but more so for a new one.”

[Clint discusses the other advantages of transmissions like the Ultrashift below.]

The new automated models today, he told me, are much, much better in terms of how they “synch” with the engine, not allowing the torque to fall off as much between shifts so drivers get smooth steady acceleration and deceleration. The engine brake is also integrated into the package so drivers don’t have that to fiddle with either – enabling them to stay totally focused on the road.

It was no accident that the Model 387 we were in was headed to a fleet after our test runs – U.S. Xpress Enterprises, to be exact – a fleet that’s no stranger to automated transmissions. They’ve been focused for years on brining more automated models into their operation, to make it easier to both recruit and retain drivers.

Another thing, too – taking out the shift lever frees up a lot of room in the truck cab, making it much easier to move from driver to passenger seat (and vice versa) along with moving from the driver’s area to the sleeper. “Let me tell you, on our longer test runs, you can fit five guys comfortably in a truck cab equipped with an automated,” Clint mentioned to me. “It’s much more cramped when we’re using a truck equipped with a manual shifter.”

Engine oil is no longer considered to be “just” engine oil in the trucking world anymore. In fact, most lubricant manufacturers believe engine oils – and the services geared to support it, such as oil analysis programs – now play an even more critical role in helping fleets keep truck productivity up, minimize downtime, as well as significantly extend the life of the engine.

Within the lubricant world, however, there are many different ways to achieve those goals for truckers – some that are radically different from others.

Let’s start with Mark Betner, product manager for heavy-duty lubricants at Citgo Petroleum Corp. He believes thinner (read as lower viscosity) engine oils can play a tremendous role in giving fleets not only better wear protection, but also better engine “startability” in cold weather. Using 5-weight oil instead of the standard 15-weight oil used in trucking may seem way outside the box for some fleets, but Betner’s long-term field research backs him up, he believes.

Watch Betner explain his thinking as to why thinner may be better in the clip below. I’ve talked to him before on this subject and he’s got a compelling story to tell – one that could benefit fleets in several ways – so it bears repeating.

Another school of thought, though, is the use of a new and unusual additive package – Liquid titanium, now blended by ConocoPhillips into its Kendall brand of CJ-4 truck engine oil. T. Shawn Ewing, technical service coordinator-commercial lubricants for ConocoPhillips, told me liquid titanium helps improve metal-to-metal contact within the engine, alleviating wear and corrosion.

Watch and see what your impressions are in the interview with Ewing that follows.

Of course, it’s no longer just about the oil itself. Every lubricant maker has stressed to me over the years that fleets really need to add in an ongoing oil analysis program to their maintenance practices in order to make sure the oil is not only doing what it’s supposed to do, but also as a way to get an early warning if something else goes wrong.

Shell Lubricants is taking that one step further with its Video Check program, designed to augment oil analysis if a program is detected in an engine. Rather than take a truck down for a few days to perform a time-consuming and expensive partial teardown, Shell’s system uses a thin fiber-optic cable containing a high resolution digital camera to conduct a detailed interior inspection of the engine in a matter of hours, requiring only that an injector be pulled.

Dan Arcy, Shell’s OEM technical marketing manager, showed me how the system works and why it’s a beneficial “backstop” for fleets.

All of these efforts just go to show that engine oils are no longer considered simply black fluids poured in and drained out with boring repetition anymore. They play too vital a role in keeping a fleet’s trucks up, running, and making money to be taken that lightly.

“Just because you’ve been kicking butt for years, don’t assume that’ll be the case this year. The moment you do, you’re dead meat.” –Jim Walton, president & CEO of public relations firm Brand Acceleration

I get a slick email newsletter from Jim Walton’s PR shop Brand Acceleration out in Indianapolis, IN, every two weeks or so, and whatever you think of PR guys, it’s worth giving what he writes some thought – especially for trucking managers trying to compete amidst one of the worst market downturns in recent decades, if not living memory.

“Under typical market conditions, leaders would always take a defensive posture while everyone else nips at their heels,” Walton says. “But in today’s economy, it’s a whole different game. Customers and prospects are expecting much more and even the market leaders have to play by a whole new set of rules. That’s not to say that leaders no longer have an advantage. They just need to understand that more players are being considered so every game is very super competitive.”

Market leaders should not only avoid complacency and arrogance, he believes, but they also need to follow a defensive and offensive strategy to compete.

“Everyone else is or should be fighting like crazy to move up,” Walton says. “Let’s be clear, you’re not the market leaders unless the customer sees you as the market leader. If you truly are the leader, you should constantly be looking for ways to be better, making it difficult to impossible for the followers to topple you. Market leaders should take a hard look in the rear-view mirror in order to understand their competitor’s strengths and weaknesses. If you thoroughly know the competition, you should be able to anticipate their moves and block them. And, if you’re on top of your game, you’ll be out front with a blocking move that will thwart their efforts.”

Walton is pretty used to the kind of “hard knocks” business environment we’re in right now, from several different perspectives. His agency has clients involved in economic development, architecture, engineering, construction, real estate, and motorsports so believe me, he’s no stranger to the type of rough and tumble world truckers deal with – be they freight haulers or construction fleets.

“These days, both market leaders and those in the back of the pack should aggressively go on the offensive. In today’s competitive environment, those further back in the pack may be getting looks that they previously may not have gotten,” Walton stresses. “Whether you’re selling architectural services or trying to attract jobs to your community, you’d better step up your effort. Hey folks, it’s really competitive out there. If you’re not fighting for the biz, you’re toast.”

What to do? Frankly, his recipe is no different than what any good NFL coach would do – go out and thoroughly evaluate your competitors in order to discover how to position your strengths against them. Yet Walton is adamant that this is in no way a clarion call to “go negative” the way many political campaigns seem to be run of late.

“Note I did not say to attack your competition. I do not believe in negative marketing. I do believe however, that a strong effort that points to your positives is certainly called for,” he explains. “Above all, don’t try to be all things to all people. If you have real advantages that are ideal for specific markets, then you should pound those markets to grow awareness and win the business. This is definitely not a game for the timid. Go get the business.”

His end point is clear enough in all this – don’t cut your marketing effort despite the downturn. “In tough economic times, it is not smart to short-change your organization by cutting your sales staff and marketing communications efforts,” Walton believes. “Step up, get aggressive and fight for the business. Your only other choice is to tuck tail and go home.”

Like I said, the guy minces no words. Whether you think his strategy is the right one is up for you to decide. In any event, it sure leaves one with something to think about.

“Fleets need to do everything they can to improve fuel mileage.” –Kevin Rohlwing, senior vice president of training for the Tire Industry Association and FleetOwner columnist

With fuel prices poised to start trending upwards yet again – this time due almost solely to refinery production cutbacks – it would do fleets well to take a fresh look at how the type of tires they use impacts fuel economy.

This isn’t a new story by any means, for every tire maker serving the trucking industry – Michelin, Bridgestone/Firestone, Continental, Hankook, Double Coin, and Goodyear, among others – offers tires designed specifically to help fleets maximize fuel economy.

The question fleets need to address, however, is about the monetary trade-off involved – for, usually, a tire that offers improved fuel efficiency isn’t going to last like one designed for long tread life. Nor is the most fuel efficient tire the best model for fleets operating in a lot of rough conditions, where snow and ice are common concerns.

Yet that doesn’t mean the fuel savings associated with super fuel efficient tire designs are outweighed by less tread life. I recently talked to Goodyear’s Tim Miller about this very subject at the Technology & Maintenance Council’s (TMC) annual meeting. Goodyear – like other truck tire makers – invested a lot of time and money to develop a fuel saving line of tires using what it calls Fuel Max Technology.

Rolled out several years ago, “Fuel Max” tires combine specifically-designed tread patterns along with different tire material compounds and manufacturing technologies to help optimize fuel economy while maintaining a low cost-per-mile for fleets and owner-operators, he said.

In analyzing rolling resistance factors, Goodyear scientists and engineers found that the tread – in this case the pattern, groove depth and compound material in combination – accounted for more than half of a truck tire’s rolling resistance. And by reducing rolling resistance, you increase fuel economy.

[Miller explains this in more detail in the clip below.]

A few years ago, Goodyear subjected its Fuel Max tires to the fuel economy test that is the gold standard in the trucking market – the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) J1321 Joint TMC/SAE Fuel Consumption Test Procedure - Type II. The results showed an 8 percent improvement in fuel economy using Fuel Max tires compared to standard Goodyear over-the-road tires.

However, since no one drives at constant speed on flat terrain for a 10-hour shift, Goodyear engineers adjusted the SAE results to 4 percent to estimate real-world conditions, such as varying driver inputs, road conditions and terrain and truck aerodynamics. That’s still some pretty serious savings, and with the U.S. average price for diesel fuel still up over $2.18 per gallon, getting 4 percent better fuel economy can pay off handsomely over time.

Again, it’s just one of the many cost management factors fleets need to keep firmly in mind as we wait for yet another inevitable spike in the price of fuel.

“In this economy, if you’re a good driver getting OK miles, you’re not leaving your fleet – you’re sticking around. What fleets need to worry about is that, as soon as freight improves, these drivers will be the first ones out the door if they have issues with your company.” –Tim Crawford, president, Tenstreet LLC

In doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand why keeping good drivers long term saves fleets money across many different areas – even Tim Crawford knows this, and he’s never driven a truck, nor working in trucking operations.

Crawford (pictured below at right), president of software vendor Tenstreet LLC out of Tulsa, OK, is a numbers guy and worked for years at USIS, the company that produces Drive-A-Check or “DAC” reports that track a commercial truck driver’s work history. Now, a lot of drivers hate DAC reports, for like credit reports if inaccurate information gets in there – especially stuff that paints a driver in a bad light – it’s notoriously impossible to scrub that data out.

Yet the flip side is that good, accurate data transferred quickly between drivers and fleets can benefit both parties in a lot of ways – and that’s one of the reasons Crawford struck out on his own to form Tenstreet. He figured that if fleets and drivers could move to an electronic-based hiring process – one that eliminates paper, faxes, as well as cuts down on application processing time – everyone would benefit; especially good drivers. That’s he then took things to the next level by adding in a standardized data-gathering system to aid with retention as well.

“I call it moving from anecdotes to analytics,” Crawford told me in a recent sit down interview. “You always ‘hear’ about grumbling, but what specifically is upsetting to your core of good drivers? If you can stay in regular contact with them and get information that identifies issues in detail so you can correct them, then you’re heading off turnover issues when freight volumes return.”

[Crawford explains this data-gathering philosophy in more detail below, both from a retention and recruiting perspective.]

Crawford’s system relies regular follow up calls with drivers once hired – every week for the first 30 days, let’s say, changing to every 30 or 90 days thereafter, however the fleets wants to structure it. Human resource personnel call the drivers and ask them a detailed series of questions – condition of equipment, night dispatch, weekly settlement issues, and fuel economy bonuses, among others – that are then “scored” to create a specific series of metrics a fleet can analyze to see if they have problems that need to be addressed.

“If you have drivers that feel that, rightly or wrongly, they are being cheated out of their fuel bonus – that the fuel efficiency calculations are rigged – you need to find out about that and address it head on,” Crawford says. “As you can imagine, conspiracy theories like that heat up and spread fast.”

The key through all of this however is to build accurate communication pathways to a fleet’s best drivers – to get crystal clear insight from them as to what is working and what is not. Because keeping good drivers on board saves fleets money – not just saving a carrier some $5,000 to $8,000 in recruiting costs when a driver leaves but also because good drivers have fewer accidents, post better on-time delivery rates, and generally demonstrate higher marks across a variety of metrics.

[Crawford goes into more detail here about why fleets need to keep good drivers.]

So to Crawford’s mind fleets need to merge an “aggressive communication” schedule with good data-gathering questions so carriers can more accurately track what’s going right and what’s going wrong out there among their driver corps.

“It’s getting a good ‘bird’s eye view’ of what drivers are specifically happy or upset about month to month, so a fleet can go out and directly address the issue,” he told me. “Recognize, too, that most of the time the changes that are required to address many driver issues aren’t expensive – indeed, regular communication with drivers alone and knowing their concerns are heard help build creditability. Because by reducing turnover, you spend less on recruiting. More importantly, you keep better driver on board – and that pays all sorts of positive dividends over time.

“It’s all about gaining a tenth of a gallon improvement in fuel economy over here, another tenth over there, and suddenly you’re saving half a mile or more per gallon – and that really adds up over the ownership period for the truck.” –Kevin Tobin, general sales and service manager-East region, Kenworth Truck Company

It’s been a fascinating process (for me at least) to observe the intensifying focus of truck OEMs on making ever more subtle changes to Class 8 tractor designs in search of just a little more efficiency – and not just in terms of fuel economy. They continue to make numerous small changes to both the exteriors and interiors of their vehicles to make improvements across a number of metrics – especially in terms of comfort and convenience for drivers and maintenance technicians alike.

A recent ride and drive I took with Kenworth Truck Co.’s flagship tractor, the T-660, down here in Orlando — conducted by Kevin Tobin, the company’s general sales and service manager-East region (on the left) and Jared White, the Great Lakes region manager (on the right), brought home some concrete examples of that to me.

Take the very simple, ho-hum duty of opening and closing the hood. Tobin showed me how Kenworth’s engineers went back and developed a bigger grab handle – one a driver can fit their hand in while wearing a glove – that not only has a drain at the bottom so water or snow doesn’t accumulate but one that’s also integrated into the aerodynamic styling of the hood so it doesn’t create even the tiniest amount of drag. A special automatic locking mechanism also makes sure that once the hood is open, a gust of sudden wind doesn’t knock it closed.

Another small detail, this time under the hood – all the fluid points, from windshield wiper fluid to engine oil, are all on the driver’s side of the truck for more convenience in making their daily checks. “It’s all about ease of use,” Tobin explained to me. “Drivers live with these trucks for days and weeks. Building more convenience into it makes it easier for them to do their jobs.”

[Tobin points out more of the exterior improvements to the T-660 design below.]

Those exterior improvements, of course, aren’t just limited to convenience factors. The hood, bumper, and side fairings are made of composite materials that are strong yet lightweight, shrinking the fuel economy footprint of the truck. Subtle tweaks include a 5% larger front grille to accommodate increased air flow and cooling performance, without compromising the aerodynamic signature of the T-660.

There’s also the “Clean Power” package – a factory-installed, battery-powered no-idle system that can enhance fuel economy by as much as 8% as it eliminates the need to run the truck engine during stopovers. Factory installation means warranty coverage—a big deal in and of itself – and Clean Power is also fully compliant with California Air Resources Board (CARB) idling regulations that went into effect for sleeper trucks with 2007 and later model engines.

The system has the capability to provide engine-off cooling and heating, plus 120-volt power for hotel loads. Once the truck is shut off, a sleeper control panel regulates the temperature range and a variable speed fan circulates chilled air through a duct located near the bunk.

Whatever you think of this technology, one other thing stands out – it’s packaged so discretely behind the cab and under the driver’s bunk that you don’t even know it’s there, yet access to Clean Power’s related components is super-easy for repairs. That kind of engineering detail is a result, I think, of the feedback from drivers, technicians, and fleets alike over the years.

Inside, it’s the same thing: subtle changes and improvements here and there that add up to a better work environment for the driver. Tobin and White showed me how uniquely designed adjustable and fold-away armrests on the seats offer more comfort yet also four inches extra inches of pass-through width to the sleeper berth.

Adjusting the steering wheel is done with a foot pedal so drivers don’t have to bend over and work a lever, with more controls on the steering wheel itself – like the engine brake – to reduce the need to reach over to the dash to flips switches and the like.

Brighter push-on, push lights dot the interior – some in some unexpected places, like a map reading light over the passenger seat. It’s all designed along ergonomic lines, making the interior of the truck a more comfortable and convenient place for a driver to use.

[Here, White gives a more detailed look at the T-660’s interior.]

All of these improvements – outside and inside – may seem simple, but they result from accumulated feedback being tempered and honed in truck OEM engineering departments over the course of several years. All that work, though, adds up to trucks that cost less to operate and are easier to use – and you really can’t argue with those type of goals.