Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/655335
Oak Harbor Freight Lines will be celebrating its 100th anniversary next year, an extraordinary accomplishment in any industry and one of particular note in the historically volatile truck- ing industry. But make no mistake about it, an ability to visualize, prepare and adapt for the future is what has helped this venerable firm build such a storied past. It's in that spirit that the performance-driv- en, Auburn, Wash.-headquartered LTL spe- cialist put three Model 579s equipped with PACCAR's new MX-11 Engines to work on a trial basis last year. But this would be no easy audition. Peterbilt and PACCAR personnel wanted to see how the engine performed in a real-world environment, and the western terrain and demands of a round-the-clock LTL carrier gave them a perfect environment to test the smaller of the two heavy-duty engines in the PACCAR stable. Furthermore, the 400 line-haul trucks and 250 medium-duty "city trucks" already in the fleet had set a high performance stan- dard for Oak Harbor Freight Lines, which serves the Western states and outperforms much bigger competitors regularly. The tri- al-run MX-11-powered Peterbilts, put to work on the line-haul side where all trucks are powered by 13-liter blocks, would be expected to do the same, or better, or the trial would be over. "Our on-time percentage is much better than our competitors," says Dan Vander Pol, New MX-11 Engine shines in trials at Oak Harbor Freight Lines 100 The next years 10 l FIRST CLASS the paccar engine issue Oak harbOr freight lines 10 l FIRST CLASS