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Refrigerated Fleet A&A Express Uses Kenworth T660s To Gain Superior Fuel Efficiency


WEBWIRE

BRANDON, S.D. – Determined to tame soaring fuel costs, A&A Express purchased 40 new Kenworth T660s last year. “What sold us on the T660 is the aerodynamics and fuel efficiency,” said Larry Anderson, president of A&A Express.


Apparently pleased with the results he has received so far with his new trucks, Anderson has already ordered 45 more T660s for 2009.

“With the price of fuel today, we’re making sure our drivers are running the most aerodynamic, fuel-efficient trucks on the road,” said Anderson, who watches fuel mileage closely on all his trucks. He is especially excited about his new T660s spec’d with Cummins ISX 485 hp engines, 13-speed transmissions, all aluminum wheels, Diamond VIT interiors and 72-inch AeroCabs®.


“I recently had to move a couple of the T660s out in the yard and, when I checked the fuel mileage, both trucks were getting over 7 mpg,” he said. “You won’t find many better performing or nicer looking trucks than our Kenworth T660s.”

This kind of customer satisfaction, combined with Kenworth’s quality over the road products, contributed to Kenworth’s reception of the 2008 J.D. Power and Associates award for “Highest in Customer Satisfaction for Over The Road Segment Class 8 Trucks.”*


When Larry’s father, Vince Anderson, started hauling livestock and grain out of Minnesota in 1945, he could only have imagined that the family company he founded would one day move to Brandon, South Dakota, grow to more than $32 million in annual revenues and operate a large fleet of fuel efficient trucks and trailers dedicated to refrigerated transport.

“During the 1970s, the farm economy suffered and, if we wanted to stay in business, we had to make a change,” said Larry Anderson. “A friend of ours lent us a reefer trailer for three months and said, ‘Here, if you like it, then buy your own reefer.’ That’s how we got started hauling refrigerated foods. We made the change then to reefers, and we’re making the change now to high performance, fuel efficient trucks.”


With 160 trucks in the fleet — evenly divided between 80 owner-operators and 80 fleet trucks, mostly Kenworths — A&A Express hauls frozen foods, fresh meats and produce to 48 states. The secret to success, Anderson said, is doing what’s right for the company while doing what’s right for the drivers.


Larry Anderson, left, A&A Express president, and Tim Anderson, A&A Express operations manager

“We’re fully loaded 98 percent of the time, so we keep our drivers busy,” he said, noting the fierce competition among fleets to keep good drivers. “Our philosophy is to treat drivers as best we can. Our company is family oriented. My son Tim is operations manager. In fact, my whole family works here, and we strive to treat drivers like family. Keeping good drivers really comes down to how well you treat them, which includes the kind of truck you ask them to drive. We don’t spec what I would call a ‘fleet’ truck, like some of the bigger fleets do. We buy the best trucks with the most comfortable interiors — Kenworth.”



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