Bulldog

Vol. 2 2016

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2 0 | BULLDOG | 2 0 1 6 V 2 AT WORK Always Uptime Mack ® trucks power Hilco Transport with increased performance and uptime Story and photo by Carmen Sisson J eff Loudermilk can tell you any- thing you want to know about Hilco Transport, but he laughs when you ask about uptime. He stopped tracking it years ago, because he didn't have enough issues to report. His 381-truck fleet — 279 of which are Mack Pinnacles TM and Granites ® — keeps rolling, season after season, regardless of cli- mate or application. Downtime is a distant memory. Hilco, which is based in Greensboro, North Carolina, specializes in the transport of waste, aggregate, liquid asphalt, propane and petroleum and dump trucks. Splitting the company into five divisions creates economic diversity, says Loudermilk, vice president of maintenance. By focusing on seasonal need, Hilco ensures year-round work for approxi- mately 300 company drivers and owner-operators. The steady stream of projects helped them weather the recession of 2008. As other companies folded, Hilco grew, doubling in size and market area. They now serve most states in the southeastern United States, from New York to Florida to the banks of the Mississippi River. Mack's performance across applications is a strong asset, Loudermilk says. If his drivers are hauling petroleum, every six pounds they can save in weight equals one additional gal- lon they can carry. When they are transport- ing waste to landfills, it's all about having the power they need to get the job done. "Those are two completely different vehi- cles, but most of the consumable parts are interchangeable," Loudermilk says. "It's such a versatile vehicle — if I have a door handle, window part, or switch on the dash that I stock in my parts room, I don't have to keep separate stock for the dump trucks and the day cabs. The same switch, door handle, or oil filter — any consumable part — will fit all the trucks. Everything is kind of universal, so instead of having to have five different start- ers or five different fan belts in my parts room, I can stock one." Though the construction industry was slow to bounce back after the recession, the pace has quickened considerably. Road projects and demolitions are strong, and Hilco — which has 75 dump trucks — now hires an additional up to 50 dump trucks as needed to handle the increased workload. The dump trucks are spec'd with 11-liter Mack MP7 405 hp engines, with 1,560 ft.-lbs. of torque. The rest of the trucks are powered by 13-liter Mack MP8 505 hp engines with 1,860 ft.-lbs. of torque. GuardDog Connect keeps things running smoothly, alerting drivers to potential prob- lems and routing them to the nearest dealer. Loudermilk receives the alerts, too. Modern telemetry keeps his over-the-road drivers out of the office and out on the highway. He may not see a truck again until the 275,000-mile mark, but he doesn't need to — he's fully aware of everything that happens inside the cab, from mechanical issues to driver safety. The uptime features solve a major head- ache — handling maintenance issues on the road so that drivers spend less time waiting and more time driving. "Uptime Center is second to none for issues on the road," Loudermilk says. "With GuardDog Connect, it's invaluable." TransSource, Hilco's local dealer, has been instrumental in the company's success,

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