When it comes to specifying equipment, the TTL mantra is one that demands fitness for purpose. “I like to listen to my peers who are operating in more conventional sectors and to learn from their experiences,” explains Tennant. “There is a lot of really interesting development right now within this industry, but some of these developments don’t quite make sense for us as yet.”
Tennant points to the growing use of aerodynamics as a case in point: “Aerodynamics—especially on trailers— obviously improve efficiency for many operations,” he explains. “For us, having aerodynamic trailers would be a huge boost on our in bound journeys. Trying to streamline a trailer that is loaded with a 12-ft. wide combine isn’t practical.” If shape isn’t negotiable, weight is, and TTL is looking increasingly—and working very closely—with its trailer suppliers to increase the use of weight saving material such as aluminum in its goose neck and step frame trailer fleet. “This is an interesting development, but it can’t be at the expense of durability,” says Tennant. “We buy our trailers and run them out over ten years or so; this is not equipment that we can flip after five years.”
Tennant adopts the same approach with his tractor specifications: ”We like to take industry best practice and adapt it to our needs,” he explains. This means that, while TTL sees the benefit of automated manual transmissions (AMTs) for its dry van operation, it’s not ready to take the plunge for its open deck business.
“We’re trying AMTs on our dry van fleet and the up-charge shows positive ROI in terms of MPG,” he explains. “But we’re not there yet with our open deck fleet, which remains completely manual—either 10 or 18-speed stick shift. For Tennant Truck Lines it comes down to a fundamentally simple equation: It isn’t a case of the right way or the wrong way but of the best way. “We monitor our performance very closely,” Tennant says. “But we can’t benchmark ourselves against a conventional trucking operation. We know our business and we seek every opportunity to optimize our efficiency in operation.”
