Utah’s RN Industries Battles Harsh Conditions, Terrain with Durable Kenworth T800s

Receives Outstanding Performance, Lower Operating Costs.

ROOSEVELT, Utah. – Recession? Housing slump? Energy crisis? Not in the rugged and remote Unitah Basin of northeastern Utah. The energy fields here are humming and that’s good news for RN Industries (RNI) in Roosevelt, Utah.

Founded in 2000 to haul water for the drilling rigs, RNI’s fleet has grown rapidly to more than 240 trucks, mostly Kenworth T800s. RNI president Roger Chapman prefers Kenworth T800s for their quality, durability and resale value.


“We look at the cost of owning trucks long term, not just short term,” said Chapman, whose fleet operates mostly in harsh mountainous terrain where the gas fields are located. As natural gas is pumped out of the ground, it brings with it briny water that has to be properly disposed. RNI’s water vacuum trucks haul the wastewater to designated facilities. “The T800 is our workhorse,” he said. “Those Kenworth cabs hold together in rust-service applications better than anything we have ever tried.”


Roger Chapman, president of RN Industries, shown with one of the company’s Kenworth T800s.

Thanks to new technologies that didn’t exist 15 years ago, Utah’s natural gas industry is growing rapidly. Now drillers can get more gas out of the ground safely while drilling wells much closer together. As the drilling rigs have multiplied, so has the number of RNI trucks. Last year, more than 130 new Kenworth trucks were purchased by RNI, with 60 more T800s currently on order for 2008.

Quality and durability are key factors in truck selection because of the severe environment in the oil fields. Chapman’s business philosophy has been to consolidate truck purchases around the best piece of equipment, and enjoy the benefits of less downtime and lower cost operations. With Kenworth T800s spec’d with 500-to-600 hp engines and 18-speed transmissions, RNI has been able to meet the growing demand for wastewater removal by providing consistent, on-time service under extreme conditions.


To help assure continuous uptime for his fleet, Chapman especially appreciates the extraordinary support he gets from his dealer, Kenworth Sales Company of Salt Lake City. “We’re remote and an official Kenworth fleet warranty center, so we do most of our own maintenance and warranty work,” said Chapman. “Our dealer serves us with a parts person who drives out here several times each week. We’re two-and-a-half-hours drive from Salt Lake, so it’s quite a long way. We couldn’t ask for better service.”

Having a new fleet of Kenworth T800s also helps recruit and retain top drivers in a highly competitive market. “Drivers like the T800s,” he said. “We gain and retain a lot of good drivers because of the equipment we operate.”

What’s the best thing about owning Kenworth T800s? “Resale value – Kenworth has the best in the industry,” said Chapman, who has plenty of buyers but too few trucks that he’s willing to part with. “Every year we order more trucks thinking we’ll trade some in. But every year we have grown that much more and needed that many more units. So we haven’t had the opportunity to trade them. Eventually we want to get to a five-year trade-in cycle, but not yet.”


Until then, RNI’s oldest Kenworth T800s also will continue to perform well and get the job done.