Kenworth Says Tech Advances Boost Market Share

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — Truck research conducted here has helped boost Kenworth Truck Co. sales by more than 90% this year, and ongoing demonstrations for fleets could maintain the trend into next year, the company’s general manager said of activities at the Paccar Technical Center.

Kenworth’s Gary Moore said product research done at the technical center two or more years ago contributed to the company gaining 2.8 points of market share in Class 8 U.S. retail sales for the first nine months of the year — to 13.1% from 10.3% during the same time in 2010. Kenworth’s U.S. volumes have grown more rapidly than the industry as a whole, which is up 50.5% for the first nine months.

“You have to approach it from a product standpoint in explaining our success. We’ve been developing new products since 2009, and now they’re available,” said Moore, who became general manager in early July.

Kenworth is a division of Paccar Inc., as is Peterbilt Motors Co. Moore replaced Bill Kozek, who is now doing work on global market development for Paccar.

Moore credited the aerodynamic design of Kenworth tractors with luring new customers who are determined to improve fuel mileage. He named UPS Inc. as a new customer, and said the largest corporation in North American freight transportation has bought an unspecified number of T800 tractors powered by liquefied natural gas engines for use in regional hauling between Ontario, Calif., and Las Vegas.

Kenworth hosted reporters and editors Oct. 26 for a tour of the tech center and a truck ride-and-drive on the facility’s 1.6-mile track.

The tech center opened in 1982 and employs engineers and technicians to examine the connections between science and truck making. There is an electron microscope and a spectrometer to observe metals that have failed in the finest detail.

The center also has a walk-in freezer big enough to store a Class 8 tractor. The cold unit manufactures synthetic snow, which is difficult to make, said engineer Eric Poulson. Ice chips are easy, but fluffy fake snow is tough.

A tractor was chilling in the unit to minus 7 degrees Fahrenheit during the press tour.

The center also has two types of engine dynamometers and has facilities for vibration tests that can go on for days at a time.

There is also a bank of computers for doing simulations on how new systems from suppliers would affect an existing tractor.

Two systems gaining in popularity are automated and automatic transmissions. The 15 heavy- and medium-duty trucks available on the track had a mixture of Eaton automated, Allison automatic and Eaton manual transmissions. Journalists without commercial driver licenses were allowed to drive on the closed course.

Shifting up from first gear to 10th, 13th or 18th was not difficult. Downshifting, though, “is an art,” said one of the experienced, professional drivers who rode with reporters.

“Automated and automatic transmissions open up a larger pool of available drivers,” Moore said. “They allow inexperienced, newer drivers to achieve higher performance on fuel economy sooner.”

Kenworth has sold historically on the premise that its trucks are not cheap, but they are “the world’s best.” Small and medium-size customers provide attractive margins, but larger fleets might tend to balk at such pricing. Moore said big customers would not be problematic.

Kenworth also tests trucks on cold and hot weather circuits. The winter route runs from here over the Cascade Mountains and the Canadian Rockies for elevation testing and up to Yellowknife. The summer route goes through Phoenix for air conditioning testing in stop-and-go traffic and to California near Death Valley for extreme heat at steep grades.