Kenworth Truck hosted a mid-summer gathering for concrete, equipment and trucking publications to showcase T880 series models, geared to concrete mixer, dump and other vocational market applications. Between company headquarters and a demonstration track in Kirkland and Snoqualmie, Wash., Kenworth management, marketing and engineering staff reflected on a favorable truck market outlook; customers’ embrace of the set back axle T880, well positioned after three years on the market and much on track to succeed the longstanding T800 model; solid response to the T880S, a set forward axle version introduced at ConExpo-Con/Agg 2017; Paccar MX engine and powertrain components’ increasing traction among T880 and T660 series deliveries; and, two proprietary front axles joining the Paccar Powertrain program.
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| Kenworth staged the T880 series demonstration at the DirtFish Rally School grounds in Snoqualmie, Wash., where a former Weyerhauser timber plot has given way to a track for Subaru Impreza enthusiasts. Participants tested two mixer and three dump trucks, including (from top) a T880S-mounted, 11-yd. McNeilus mixer with 430-hp Paccar MX-11 engine and 7-speed Allison 4700 RDS automatic transmission; T880-mounted J&J 17.5-ft. lightweight dump body with 430-hp MX-11 and Eaton UltraShift Plus transmission; and, T880S-mounted Rogue 16-ft. Super 10 Box dump with 510-hp MX-13 engine and 18-speed Eaton automated manual transmission. Each of the three models bears a bright air intake frame, a new Paccar Parts option complementing T880 and T880S chrome bumpers and mirror shells. |
Kenworth General Manager and Paccar Vice President Mike Dozier traced the moderate overall health of truck shipments against construction spending growth, along with positive gross domestic product and consumer sentiment metrics. He credited strong vocational market sales with helping Kenworth and competitors approach the upper range of the 190,000–220,000 Class 8 truck shipments forecast this year for the U.S. and Canada.
“The vocational market has been a terrific positive throughout the course of the year and we look for that to continue. Customers are very pleased with the way the year has progressed. The T880 is now 40 percent of Kenworth build, trending to 45 percent,” Dozier affirmed. With the Paccar MX-11 engine recently joining the MX-13, expanding the range of applications for which customers can specify an integrated power package, he added, “The continued growth of the Paccar engine family is part of the T880 [success]. Paccar engines continue to grow in Kenworth truck deliveries. Our goal is 50 percent [with MX engines].”
Kenworth Assistant General Manager for Sales & Marketing Kevin Baney detailed how the T880S, with axle set 6 inches forward from the T880, gives mixer, dump and other body builders flexibility to meet the federal bridge law, while imparting greater maneuverability, shorter hood and lower crown than its predecessor model, the W900S. As part of its participation in a National Ready Mixed Concrete Association Manufacturers, Products & Services Division program, he also cited Kenworth’s increase of a rebate—$2,000/truck in 2017, up from $1,000/truck last year—to NRMCA members purchasing T880 series or W900S models.
CNG POWER, CALPORTLAND STYLE
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| ISL G Near Zero |
A second T880S-mounted mixer in the Kenworth Truck demonstration (right) offered a sampling of compressed natural gas power along the DirtFish track. In contrast to previous versions’ rail-mounted CNG tanks, the newest McNeilus NGEN mixer has twin 26- x 80-in. fuel vessels flanking the drum drive.
The 10.5-yd. mixer is configured for CalPortland Co., which is deploying more than 30 Cummins Westport ISL G Near Zero NOx-powered trucks in its Catalina Pacific fleet, serving southern California. Teaming with Clean Energy Fuels, Kenworth and McNeilus, CalPortland showed its premier CNG mixer (top) in early May at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo in Long Beach. The new Catalina Pacific mixers will operate on Clean Energy’s Redeem renewable natural gas fuel, derived entirely from organic waste.
The ISL G NZ is the first engine in its rating class to log Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board certification for meeting the 0.02 g/bhp-hr Near Zero NOx emissions standards for medium-duty truck applications. CARB defines the 0.02 g/bhp-hr NOx threshold as equivalent to a battery-powered truck using electricity from a natural gas-powered generating station. The ISL G NZ (top, inset) meets 2017 EPA greenhouse gas emission requirements with a 9 percent GHG reduction from the prior model.