Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/723417
SEVERE SERVICE 54 | Overdrive | September 2016 Both of Tucci & Sons' new Kenworth T880 Super Dumps are spec'd with the Paccar MX-13 engine rated at 500 hp and 1,850 lb.-ft. of torque. They achieve their 25-ton capacity and 80,000-pound GCVW through the use of three 8,000-pound W&C Tru-Track Super Alumilite steerable lift axles and an 8,000- pound steerable "flying tag" axle. The trucks, with a 256-inch wheelbase, measure 40 feet from the front bumper to the rear steerable pusher axle — shorter than the 75-foot length of the tractor and end dump trailer units the T880 Super Dumps replaced. For the Tacoma, Wash.-based Tucci & Sons asphalt delivery operation, Kenworth T880 Super Dumps have replaced end-dump trailers and dump trucks alike, says Secretary/Treasurer and Operations Manager Tim Tucci. He says the new trucks "can haul up to 10 percent more asphalt in a single day" per truck in many cases. His grandfather, Michael Tucci, started the family business in 1950 as a small utility construction company. Tucci & Sons now runs 15 tractors and end-dump trailers, six transfer trucks and six water tenders in ad- dition to its two new T880 Super Dumps acquired in May. When a driver delivers asphalt us- ing a dump truck and end-dump trail- er, he fi rst must empty the end-dump trailer. Then he gets out of the truck, unhitches the end dump, dumps the load in the bed of the truck and then re-hitches the end dump before he can return to the plant. Tucci said that entire process can take 20 minutes to a half hour for each delivery, so the company can add back one to two hours' of pro- ductivity each day with the Super Dumps. "Drivers in can deliver their loads to the jobsites, dump them and then go right back to our plants for an- other load," he says. Tucci & Sons driver Ernest "Ernie" Grice appreci- ates the Kenworth T880 Super Dump's Allison 4500 RDS 6-speed automatic transmission. Dynamic shift sensing allows the transmission to choose gears automatically based on the vehicle's weight and road grade. "I don't have a sore shoulder at the end of the day from all that shifting I used to do," Grice said. Colby Williams, Fueled Photography T880 Super Dumps save time for asphalt hauler Heavy-duty monitor Voyager's Heavy-Duty VOM74WP quad-view 7-inch monitor is built for rugged environments with multiple camera inputs and a waterproof IX5 rating. It is suited for all commercial vehicles, including over-the-road trucks, box trucks, buses, agricultural applications and construction equipment. ASA Electronics, asaelectronics.com