LEXINGTON, S.C., June 20, 2018 – As a leading provider of LTL services across the southern United States – with 90 locations blanketing the region – Southeastern Freight Lines (SEFL) relies heavily on a fleet of quality-built pickup and delivery (P&D) vehicles. Over the past two years, the Lexington, South Carolina-based company has purchased 200 new Kenworth T370s powered by the PACCAR PX-9 engine and Eaton Fuller Advantage® automated transmission.
“Kenworth really went the extra mile to give us the truck we desired for our P&D drivers,” said SEFL Director of Fleet Services Lee Long, who attributes the company’s 60-year record of success to its drivers. “My job is to keep our drivers happy and safe.”
Boasting an impressive 99.35-percent average on-time delivery rate in next-day lanes, SEFL has built a reputation for service quality with a modern fleet of 2,900 trucks. About 1,300 Class 8 trucks cover linehaul lanes, while the company’s hard-working medium duty fleet handles demanding regional P&D duties.
“We’ve had great success with the T370s,” said Long. “We bought the first ones in spring 2017. Because driver acceptance was so positive, we bought more by summer, and currently have an order for even more.”
Long especially likes the many driver assistance technologies that Kenworth offers, such as the Bendix® ABS collision mitigation system and Bendix® Wingman® Fusion™. SEFL’s first order of T370s included the collision mitigation system, something the company wanted for its drivers, but some truck suppliers weren’t offering. “Kenworth bent over backwards for us with the engineering behind the T370s we purchased,” said Long, who works with Worldwide Equipment of South Carolina for his Kenworth trucks.
When SEFL purchased more T370s last year, Long included Bendix® Wingman® Fusion™, which offers enhanced collision mitigation, lane departure warning, stationary vehicle braking, and over-speed alert and action. Long feels that the T370 gives his drivers the best opportunity for success. And peace of mind. “The thing that keeps me up at night is the safety of our drivers out on the road. We do everything we can to ensure they make it home safely every night,” he said.
“The T370s are so easy to get in and out of, with great styling and visibility inside the cab,” said Long. “The layout of the dashboard puts all gauges within easy reach, which makes drivers more productive by keeping them focused on the task at hand. When we first got the Eaton automated transmissions, the drivers didn’t like the idea of change. But once we put the new T370s into operation, we couldn’t pull drivers back out of those trucks. At the end of the day, they are more productive and less fatigued because they’re not pressing on the clutch all day.”
Long said the T370s “might average as few as 40 miles per day in Miami, or as many as 200 miles around Oklahoma City.” And while the P&D trucks are used primarily for short-haul pick-up-and-delivery type applications, sometimes they’re called on to run regional linehaul during the evening – from Abilene to Dallas, for example, or Shreveport to Dallas – depending where the power is needed. “If we don’t have enough Class 8s in that location, we’ll substitute a T370,” said Long. “It’s a very versatile truck.”
Southeastern Freight Lines has received more than 400 quality awards from customers and associations recognizing the company’s uncommon commitment to service quality.
