MURFREESBORO, TN - In aggregate hauling, the name of the game is payload, speed, and reliability. "Those three things are our recipe for success," said Ray Mosley, co-owner of Resource Management Company (RMC), near Nashville, Tenn. "We've been in business for 20 years and still work for many of our original customers. That's a testament to the quality of our work and reliability of our vehicles."
RMC began operation in 1989 with a fleet of used trucks. As business grew, it decided to put two new Kenworth T800s into service. "It was a great decision," recalled Mosley. "We ran a cost analysis and determined we could run new Kenworths for the same cost as running old equipment. And we'd have less downtime and higher driver satisfaction. It was an easy decision to move to Kenworths."
Today, the company runs 28 Kenworth T800s purchased through MHC Kenworth - Nashville. Over the years, RMC has made adjustments in spec'ing. The company also moved to a new U-shaped "tub" dump body, which is about 3,500 pounds lighter than the fleet's previous dump bodies.
"We constantly look at new technology, and strive to stay ahead of the competition when it comes to increasing payload and productivity," said Mosley. "It's what helped us secure contracts to haul aggregate for the Nashville Metropolitan Airport project, as well as the Hemlock Semiconductor manufacturing plant in Clarksville."
According to Mosley, on the latest order of Kenworths, RMC went with Allison automatic transmissions with 425-hp engines. "These replaced 475-hp engines driven through manual transmissions," he said. "We saved 800 pounds in weight. Combined with the new dump bodies, we've increased payload by more than 4,000 pounds. We're also using GPS to track and dispatch our loads."
While adding more payload means more dollars per delivery, the automatic transmissions have meant faster acceleration and reduced drive time to job sites. "Since the bulk of our deliveries are within a 10-mile radius, there is a lot of stop and go driving, plus some hilly terrain," said Mosley. "On a 10-mile run for example, the time it takes to get from a quarry to a job site is about 10 to 15 minutes less with an automatic versus manual transmission and that has meant our guys are able to add one to two trips per day on deliveries. That's a huge productivity gain for us."
While day-to-day productivity has helped the company stay ultra-competitive during the economic downturn, the Kenworth T800s have meant long-term reliability and low cost of ownership. "Our normal trade cycle is 5 to 7 years, but we've extended some of our trucks beyond that and we have not seen a drop-off in performance, nor have we seen an increase in operational costs," said Mosley. "As the truck ages, you don't see door issues - everything remains tight. And, there are no corrosion problems. If you compare a 3-year-old Kenworth with an 8-year-old Kenworth, you'd be hard pressed to see any difference."
According to Mosley, driver turnover is not a problem at the company. "We have a tight group here and we work together well," he said. "They also appreciate running Kenworth equipment. The trucks are very comfortable and when we went with a 22,000-pound steer axle over a 20,000-pound one, our drivers commented on an even better ride. Plus, since we have set-back front axles, the wheel cut is fantastic. We can get in and out of tight delivery areas in one move versus having to make a three-point turn as we once did with set-forward configurations. Visibility out of the trucks is also critical and we don't think there is a better truck out there that offers visibility like the T800. The sharply sloped hood gives us great forward visibility while the door and side windows give us ideal vision along the side of the truck."
