First Class

Spring 2011

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F or a guy who jokes that he didn't have the smarts for college back when he started driving for a living fresh out of high school, Jeff Dillon is well aware of the mathematics behind his business success. Whether it's chassis weight, resale value or fuel economy, Dillon, the president and founder of Burr Ridge, Ill.-based Dil- lon Transport, knows the numbers. And the numbers always justify the fact that his company- owned 300-truck fleet is nearly all-Peterbilt. "We like to go with a single supplier — Peterbilt — and a standard spec," says Dillon, whose company trucks asphalt and related bulk liquids in and out of 14 terminals encom- passing an area from Chicago east to Pennsylvania, most of the Southeast and as far west as Texas. "That way, we can have any truck at any terminal, and any driver can drive it and any service tech can work on it," adds Charles Musgrove, company vice-president. "There are hidden costs when you run multiple sup- pliers. You have to invest more in training, software and parts inventory. By running Peterbilts, we avoid those issues." First terminal Dillon started his company with a single dump truck in 1980, servicing the road con- struction business, but soon found a less- competitive niche in hauling asphalt, and his business flourished in the Chicago area. But perhaps the biggest growth driver for Dil- lon came in 1994, when a major customer asked if he could take over a route running product from Atlanta to its shingle manu- facturing facility in Savannah, Ga. That operation became the model for other terminal developments, and spring- boarded the growth of the company. Dillon and Musgrove have identified a roughly 250-mile range from each terminal — or the distance that can be serviced in one of their Model 384 day cabs — and will take on any liquid or dry bulk business they can in those circles. "Once we get in there, get a heavy-volume customer at one of these locations, that's when we'll start looking around for other work," Musgrove says. "And in particular, we'll look for jobs that will help us utilize our vehicles 12 months a year." Peterbilt Model 386s, spec'ed with 63-inch Unibilt sleepers, tracking systems, Platinum-level interiors, automatic transmis- sions and satellite radio packages, tend to run the longer hauls, "Our trucks are an extension of our customers' image. It matters to them that we run quality Peterbilt equipment." — Jeff Dillon, president 10 FIRST CLASS ADDING UP ADDING UP Weight, resale, fuel economy shape the Dillon Transport fleet LNG-powered Peterbilts drive Dillon in Dallas Dillon Transport recently put 14 Liquid Natural Gas (LNG)-powered Peterbilt Model 384s to work, serving customers in North Texas. As part of its investment in the LNG technology, Dillon will also operate a retail LNG-fueling operation in a partnership with Clean Energy Fuels Corp. in Dallas. "What I like most about running these LNG-powered Peterbilts is that LNG is a cheaper, cleaner and more abundant alternative to $4.50 diesel," says com- pany president Jeff Dillon. "It also means I'm not captive to a foreign fuel source." Dillon says reduced carbon fees also make the LNG fleet attractive. "We felt our customer base would embrace these LNG-powered Peterbilts and they have," says Dillon. "I wish we had 100 of them." For more on Peterbilt's LNG initiative, see pages 20-21.

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