J&M Tank Lines Inc bought more than 100 new tractors in 2013, and it will add another 100 in 2014. These new additions give the Birmingham, Alabama-based dry bulk hauler one of the youngest tractor fleets in the tank truck industry.
Management believes the late model tractors play and important role in helping the carrier attract and retain top-quality drivers. That’s a big reason the company spent an additional $12,800 per tractor on components specifically intended to enhance driver comfort and safety.
“We believe we have one of the better driver retention rates in the industry, and our tractor fleet certainly is one of the reasons,” says Harold A Sumerford Jr, J&M Tank Lines chief executive officer. “We use as much technology as is practical to give our drivers a comfortable, safe work environment. We run premium equipment, and we are almost fully a Kenworth fleet.
Our driver turnover rate has been dropping steadily and is in the 20% to 30% range. We don’t have any real problem finding and retaining drivers.”
Sixty-five years
Founded in 1948 in Selma, Alabama, J&M Tank Lines has seen revenues grow by 30% since 2009. “During that time, our annual gross revenue increased from $37 million to $52 million,” Sumerford says. “What’s really important is that we did it with fewer trucks than we were operating back in the 1990s. Roughly 60% of our tractor fleet is slipseated, and our goal is to run our trucks 24 hours a day.”
Sumerford credits a diverse and well-experienced management team for the operating strategy. “Over the years, we have built an outstanding management team that has given us the ability to grow in many different directions,” he says.
That management team also was dispersed across the carrier’s primary operating region. “By 2007, we had decided we really needed to bring our executive team together in one location,” Sumerford says. “We picked Birmingham, because it was more at the center of our operating area; we move a lot of cargoes in the area; and it has a good airport. We also have two terminals in the Birmingham area. We made the move in August 2007, and it has been very good for us.”
Today, the carrier runs 305 tractors and 450 dry bulk trailers, serving customers across the southeastern states and Texas. Operations are conducted out of 11 terminals in Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Texas.
The fleet delivers just under 90,000 loads a year, and cargoes include calcium carbonate, flour, cement, sand, bauxite, limestone, carbon black, clay, and even peanut hulls. Calcium carbonate and flour account for the largest volumes.
Essentially crushed limestone, calcium carbonate is widely used in many products ranging from toothpaste to construction materials. It is filler in a broad range of products.
Members of the J&M Tank Lines management team include [from left] Billy Lollar, director of maintenance; Charlie Pickens, safety director; Kyle Gailey, vice-president; and Jim Pickens, chief operating officer.
“We believe we are the largest hauler of calcium carbonate in the country,” says Jim Pickens, J&M Tank Lines chief operating officer. “We started hauling calcium carbonate in the mid-1980s, and it has grown steadily.”
More recently, the dry bulk hauler was drawn to the shale oil and gas plays. The carrier currently has 65 trucks hauling sand in the Eagle Ford and Barnett shale plays in Texas.
“By early January 2014, we will have trucks in Texas’ Permian Basin,” Pickens says. “Moving into the oilfield was a natural step for us, because we already had industry connections on the sand side.
“We launched our oilfield operations after the boom had begun to calm down, and we are working with some of the larger operations. There is still plenty of work. New wells are being drilled and fracked, and each frack job takes 250 to 300 loads of sand. Frack jobs typically last two to three weeks.”
Central dispatch
Responsibility for keeping an eye on the widespread operation falls primarily on the central dispatch at the Birmingham headquarters. Dispatchers rely on TMW fleet management software to keep the fleet running smoothly. Truck systems include PeopleNet on-board computers and EBE Technology scanners that drivers use to upload bills of lading.
“We use as much technology as we can in our dispatch and fleet management operations,” says Kyle Gailey, J&M Tank Lines vice-president. “We expect a lot out of our 10 dispatchers at our Birmingham office. “While central dispatch oversees most of the J&M Tank operations, some terminals also dispatch local loads.
“We are fortunate to be headquartered in Birmingham, because there is a good dispatcher pool here. We look for energetic candidates who are tech savvy and have two to three years dispatch experience already.”
Peter Sumerford, J&M Tank Lines president, adds that smart, skilled dispatchers will be even more critical as the dispatch function changes in coming years. “Our sales team is already looking for in-bound/out-bound business opportunities,” he says. “Our customers tell us that they want fleet partners that can handle a full logistics portfolio. In the future, our dispatchers will be called on to think more creatively about the process of moving loads.”
Driver cadre
Smart, skilled truck drivers are just as critical. The management team makes it clear that they hire the best available drivers. At a minimum, the carrier looks for drivers who are at least 25 years old and have a minimum of two years of over-the-road truck driving experience, three years of verifiable employment history, and a clean motor vehicle record.
In addition to the Department of Transportation medical requirements, J&M Tank Lines requires agility screening. “The agility testing is done at a local physical therapy clinic, and it has become an important part of our selection process,” says Charlie Pickens, J&M Tank Lines director of safety and compliance. “For every $1 we spend on testing, we save $6 in worker compensation claims.”
Training for new hires could last up to 17 days depending on experience level. A three-day orientation at the Birmingham headquarters includes training in the Smith System of defensive driving.
Management makes it clear during the new-hire training that safety is a critical factor at J&M Tank Lines. Drivers are expected to attend quarterly safety meetings, and the carrier pays quarterly safety bonuses to drivers who are accident- and citation-free. Drivers also get bonuses for positive roadside inspection reports.
The carrier also promotes safe driving with its million mile program. To qualify, drivers must achieve a million miles of safe driving with no chargeable accidents. It takes at least nine years of driving for the carrier to reach that milestone, and it earns a driver a million-mile ring, monetary incentive, and decal for the driver’s tractor.
Currently, forty-four J&M Tank Lines drivers are in the million-mile club, and all of them receive a Caribbean cruise for two every year that they remain accident-free. Sixteen of the drivers have totaled up two million miles of accident-free driving, six have reached three million miles, and two are at four million miles.
Safety incentives are part of a comprehensive effort by the carrier to build and maintain an outstanding driver cadre. “We offer a very competitive pay and benefits package, and we are looking at incentive-based changes to the pay scale to make it even more generous,” Charlie Pickens says.
Going forward, one of the biggest challenges will be the carrier’s ability to continue offering the sort of benefits package drivers have come to expect. “Obamacare could pose big problems for the future,” Harold Sumerford Jr says. “J&M Tank Lines is self-insured, and we want to continue providing our own health insurance program.”
The carrier even provides gym memberships at no cost as long as the employee works out at the gym at least 10 times a month. On some occasions, the carrier has brought in personal trainers.
The tractor fleet is very much a part of the effort to provide a high-quality work environment. J&M Tank Lines has made a significant investment in new tractors over the past several years, and it will have become a 100% Kenworth fleet by the end of 2014.
“We are buying Kenworth tractors because they are well engineered, well-built, and have good resale value,” says Billy W Lollar, J&M Tank Lines director of maintenance. “Our newest Kenworths are T660s and T680s. Seventy-five percent are extended daycab units, and the remainder are sleepers.”
Some of the new tractors were specified with the PACCAR MX-13 while others have the Cummins ISX15. Both engines are rated for approximately 450 horsepower. “We’re comparing fuel mileage for the two engines, and both are achieving about seven miles per gallon,” Lollar says. “So far the difference between the two engines has been about three tenths of a mile per gallon.”
Ten-speed manual transmissions were the fleet standard until recently. The carrier has begun specing the Eaton UltraShift Plus automated transmission.
“It’s easier for the older drivers to operate the automated transmission and provides a more comfortable work environment,” Lollar says. “In addition, Cummins and Eaton are working together to ensure a more seamless match between the ISX15 and the UltraShift Plus.”
The tractors are packed with an impressive range of safety and driver comfort enhancements. The newest trucks have a range of Bendix safety technologies, including ESP stability control, Wingman ACB active cruise control with braking, blind spot detection, disc brakes, and tire pressure management.
New trucks are being specified with high-visibility cab doors and larger hood-mounted side mirrors. A six-inch step below the door opening provides better footing and more protection against falls. A smart steering wheel contains switches for the cruise control and radio, making it easier for the driver to stay focused on the road. Bright orange straps help encourage seatbelt use.
Product-handling hardware on the tractors includes Gardner Denver blowers with direct PTO drive and blower air cleaners from Southeastern Pneumatic.
Dry bulkers
Dry bulk trailers range in capacity from 1,000 to 2,400 cubic feet, and the 1,000-cu-ft units are most widely used, according to Lollar. Recent trailer purchases have come from Heil Trailer International, Trail King Industries, Vantage Trailers, and Stephens Pneumatics Inc.
“We have 20 new Heil dry bulk trailers on order,” Lollar says.
Trailer specifications include Air Weigh digital trailer scales, BTI hopper tees, UltraFlo butterfly valves, and Dixon Bayco pressure-relief and check valves. For running gear, the carrier specifies Hendrickson Intraax air suspensions with the Tiremaax tire inflation system. Bridgestone and Michelin widebase tires are used throughout the fleet.
“Because we run so many widebase singles, tire pressure management is very important,” Lollar says. “We believe it is important to continually monitor tire pressure, and we use the PeopleNet units to communicate that data to dispatchers and maintenance managers.”
Maintenance management
Fleet maintenance is very much an in-house responsibility at J&M Tank Lines. All of the carrier’s terminals have maintenance shops, with the largest facility located at the Sylacauga, Alabama, terminal.
“Many of our terminals aren’t very close to a truck dealer, so we have to be able to do as much as possible in-house,” Lollar says. “We monitor maintenance operations system-wide using TMT software (which is one of the TMW products). We are in the process of modifying the preventive maintenance forms in the TMT system to make them more customized for our operation.”
Tractors are serviced every 60 days, and oil changes come at 30,000-mile intervals. The carrier plans to extend oil change intervals to 40,000 miles for the newest tractors. Trailers are on a 60-day inspection and service schedule.
While the primary focus is on preventive maintenance, the carrier’s skilled mechanics can handle just about any project. Two mechanics at the Americus, Georgia, terminal currently are involved in a major dry bulk trailer refurbishing program.
“We started this rebuild program over the past summer, and we hope to do two trailers a month,” Lollar says. “We have trailers that were added to the fleet back in the 1970s, and it is time for an update. This rebuild will give us at least another 10 years useful life for each of these older trailers.
“The mechanics strip the trailers down to the running gear. Everything is sandblasted and checked for cracks and other damage. Existing tees are replaced with six-inch tees and domelids, latches, seals, piping, and valves are changed out. New wiring with LED lights, brakes, and tires are installed. Suspension components are replaced as needed.”
The refurb makes the dry bulk trailers look almost as new as the tractors that are pulling them. ♦
