Heavy Duty Trucking, July 2015
Its all about making the best of 50 square feet of living space with extra insulation where its available to keep the cab quieter Owner operator Jeff Clark says one of the best investments he has made in cab comfort was a heated seat I live in Green Bay Wisconsin says Clark What can I say It sure is nice on one of our cold winter mornings Stageline Express of Coopersville Mich recently installed satellite TV systems in 40 of its trucks President Tom Freeland says the decision was all about enhancing the quality of the drivers downtime EpicVue appealed to us because the life of a driver on the road is hard and when they have a rest period theres not much to do he says Whether its watching a movie they recorded or following their favorite team on NFL team on Sunday it all adds up to a more enjoyable work environment And if you dont think small things matter to drivers consider this from Kenworths Director of Marketing Kurt Swihart He says the companys recently introduced swiveling passenger seat and the fold out right hand side table meant the difference in a fleet sale The company told us their drivers Have Trucking Troubles WE HAVE THE EXPERTS Join ATAs Technology Maintenance Council Join the trucking industrys THOUGHT LEADERS on equipment and technology backed by more than 50 years of experience developing maintenance and engineering best practices to improve your fleets operation Visit JOINTMC TRUCKING ORG and use PROMO CODE TMCHDMEM to receive a special membership discount Or call 703 838 1763 ask for Cori and mention this ad Circle 278 on Reader Action Card were offered input on the next bunch of trucks the fleet was ordering he says They opted for Kenworth over a competitor based just on that option They wanted the extra room and convenience of the table and the comfortable seat rather than sitting on the bed watching TV eating and doing paper work When it comes to specing cab comfort amenities the options are many and they arent usually terribly expensive Items like high performance auxiliary power units or HVAC systems can add up but the ROI is almost always there Like the less expensive items ROI decisions should include intangibles like driver satisfaction and improved retention and thus lower recruiting costs and reduced turnover Its not getting any easier to find new drivers so something has to be said for keeping the ones you already have www truckinginfo com JULY 2015 HDT 69
You must have JavaScript enabled to view digital editions.