Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/417162
But after another ownership change, there's new blood in charge these days at the carrier's Missoula headquarters, and with it comes a fleet upgrade that includes 50 new Peterbilt Model 579s. Experienced ownership For anyone familiar with the Wil-Trans fleet in Springfield, Mo., the Palmer fleet upgrade should come as no surprise. That's because Wil-Trans Founder and President Darrel Wilson, whose fleet prom- inently features new Peterbilt Model 579s and 587s, is the new owner of Jim Palmer Trucking. His new Palmer management team includes several Wilson family mem- bers who are adapting well to their new Montana environs as they try to resurrect the Palmer brand to its former glory. "What made Jim Palmer Trucking attractive to us is that it's a totally separate footprint for us," says Wilson. "Wil-Trans is a Midwest, Northeast and Southeast fleet. Jim Palmer is West and Northwest. "And we just strongly felt that the Jim Palmer brand was so well respected. They'd had a rough, four or five years, but for years before that this was a well-run fleet that was known for its performance and its Peterbilts. "They used to call it 'The Original Drivers' Company,' in part because of the Peterbilt equipment. We intend to bring that slogan back to life." Peterbilt partnership For Wilson, however, getting to the place where he could resurrect the Palmer brand required his own careful manage- ment of Wil-Trans, as well as partnership with Peterbilt and its dealer network. Wilson, who started Wil-Trans with a single used Model 359 in 1980, grew his company slowly in its early years. But after "a decade of learning," Wil-Trans made a major step toward future growth when it leased its services to Springfield- based Prime, Inc. After acquiring another carrier in 1996, Wil-Trans had its fleet up to 100 power units by the late 1990s. Even then, Wilson was reaping the benefits of Peterbilt's aerodynamic advances, then with the Model 377 A/E. "We always liked their fuel economy," says Wilson. "Peterbilt just kept improv- ing their aerodynamics every year." By 2006, the Wil-Trans fleet was up to 150 power units, but the recession was just around the corner. "We had some tight years there," he says. "And late in 2008, we had to make some hard decisions and see what it would take to remain viable," Wilson says. Equipment quality was not an area of compromise, however, because it made no business sense. "We've never been after the lowest price," Wilson says. "We buy new, premi- um equipment and keep it over the term of the longest warranty we can get, and that's 4 years and 600,000 miles. We're after the lowest cost of ownership and operation, and we get it from Peterbilt." Where the company did make a major change, however, was in its own maintenance operations, which they all but shut down and handed over to the Peterbilt dealer network. "We've never been after the lowest price. We're after the lowest cost of ownership and operation, and we get it from Peterbilt."