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Kenworth T2000
Two T2s are 'The Color of Money'
By Tom Berg
Ron and Deb Bishop know a good deal when they see one. That's why they're hauling motorcycles instead of selling them. While they did well financially as cycle dealers in Alabama, they're doing better as transporters, and without the hassles and heartaches that dealers see (and most of us cannot imagine).
They are R&D Motorcycle Express, and with son Ronnie they truck in style, using a pair of Kenworth T2000s and Trailmobile vans that are all but paid for. They're on the road a lot, but the compensations are more than what the usual trucker sees, not just in money but in time.
"They're fast here," says Ron as we watch Dennis Warren and Gary Turner, who are wheeling forklifts around Kawasaki Motors' southeastern distribution center on the western fringe of Savannah, Ga.
While Turner unloads a rig with newly assembled machines from Kawasaki's plant in Lincoln, Neb., Warren has fetched seven big crates from the rows farther back in the warehouse, has lined them all up, and is now pushing all seven into Bishop's trailer.
"That's one of the good things about this haul," Bishop says. "You don't have to wait around long to load." Another advantage is light loads, which are easy on the tractor and 53-foot trailer. By the time Warren is finished, the trailer will be stuffed with 26 of the big crates, each measuring about 4 by 4 by 8 feet and each containing a motorcycle, all-terrain vehicle, Jet Ski or Mule (a small four- or six-wheel utility vehicle). Total load weight will be 17,597 pounds.
The crates are higher than they were when machines were shipped in more pieces, Ron says. Now, they are almost completely assembled, but that takes more space and the crates can be only two high instead of three. That cuts the size of the load, and revenue from it.
This morning, Ron asks Dennis Warren to load three crates destined for Atlanta at the rear of the trailer; these will go to a dealer in suburban Atlanta. Then Ron will proceed to a Suzuki warehouse several miles away to pick up three ATVs for delivery near Birmingham. Ronnie, with the other rig, has all Kawasakis and will deliver them to dealers as he makes his way toward Jasper, Ala., northwest of Birmingham, where they live.
It's all pretty routine, with Ron and Ronnie leaving home by late afternoon and heading for Savannah with empty trailers. Along the way they usually sleep at one place, behind a McDonald's off Interstate 20 in Georgia. That's what we do this time, with Ron taking the upper bunk and me in the lower. Ronnie has parked next door. They keep in touch by cell phone and walkie-talkie.
By 4:30 or so the next morning, they have backed into Kawasaki's dock in Savannah, where we all sleep for almost three more hours. Then it's loading time. There and back, they generally run I-20, 285, 75 and 16, then various highways north and west of Birmingham to make drops at cycle dealers in north Alabama and Mississippi. Ron and Ronnie each take three or four loads a week.
Don't you ever get tired of the same roads? I ask Ron as I drive north on I-75 toward Atlanta. "I would if it weren't for the money," he says. The cycle manufacturers are willing to pay way more than typical rates for fast, reliable service; the pay makes the dedicated haul over repetitious routes feasible and bearable.
Backhauling freight out of Birmingham or Atlanta might upset the schedule the manufacturers want, but Ron constantly looks for opportunities to add some revenue.
'00 T2 Is Spiffier
Back in the cab, we talk about the 2000 model T2000, which carries noticeable improvements over the '99. "The interior in this is definitely nicer," he says, gesturing at the cabinetry behind him. The cabinets are nicely designed and trimmed with fake but attractive wood panels which break up the expanses of beige plastic that covers the interior of the '99. I observe that the cabinets in earlier T2s look kinda … "Cheap," he declares, finishing my thought. Right.
With the Diamond VIT interior, the T2000's sleeper roof lacks the window that's traditional on Aerodynes, "but it's got extra storage above the windshield," Ron points out, "so you give up something but you gain something." There are four large cubby holes up there, with doors like on a glove compartment.
"Actually, Deb likes those more than I do, but it does give you extra room to store things." Right now they're empty, as are most of the other cubbyholes and cabinets, because the truck is so new, with only about 9,400 miles on the odometer.
The '00 T2 is also "a lot quieter," Ron says. Its QuietCab includes extra insulation in walls and floor. We could converse in normal tones, even across the wide cab, and I never got the hoarseness I often do in noisier trucks. Ron is a personable guy and our conversations were almost continuous. A lot of it is about how he got here, and about the motorcycle business.
For instance, "The first mistake a dealer can make is to think that Franchise [the factories' franchise management people] cares about you. Franchise couldn't care less about you." Car and truck dealers face pretty much the same thing because their first job is to sell. Is it any surprise that sales people want so badly for you to buy something?
Long-legged Cat
Ron had picked me up at 5 the previous evening at Kenworth of Birmingham, which sells about 1,000 new and used trucks a year, according to Vice President Tom Mitchell. It's where Ron bought both his KWs. He did so because he had met salesman Randy Hall while racing "shifter carts," one of the motorsports he and Ronnie had gotten into while running their two dealerships.
"I had no loyalty to any brand," Ron recalls, "but Randy seemed to be a decent guy so I went to see him when I was planning to replace the truck I had." That was an '89 Freightliner FLD120 that he had bought used. But "it had been thrashed," so he spent a lot of money fixing it. It had a worn-out Cat 3406B which Thompson Power Systems, the Caterpillar dealer in Birmingham, had repaired and stood behind.
"They took care of me, even though the engine was old, because they had warranteed their repairs," Ron says. "That really impressed me. So when I went to buy another truck I knew it would have to be another Cat."
Each T2 has a Cat 3406E; Ron thinks they're 500s, but Randy says no, they're 475s. Even they loaf most of the time, given the Bishops' light loads and the scarcity of serious grades in the Southeast.
Big Power allows the Bishops to cruise right at the legal limit of 70 mph in Georgia and Alabama. Uphill speeds seldom fall below 60 mph. Fuel economy is pretty good, at about 6.75 mpg, according to the Cat Information Display on the dash of the '00 T2.
Before the Freightliner, which pulled a 48-foot dropdeck trailer, Ron ran a "hotshot" rig: an '89 Ford F350 dually pickup pulling a 45-foot dropdeck. The Ford had a non-turboed International 7.3- liter diesel which was barely adequate, Ron says.
"I had my foot on the floor all the way from Savannah," he recalls. The overburdened engine and some of the drivetrain parts had to be repaired fairly often.
The Freightliner "was my first real truck," he says, and the brand-new Kenworths were a treat. He let Randy Hall set them up with popular specs that would do the job and bring good resale. Though the light loads would allow use of a single rear axle, resale dictates a tandem.
For transmissions, the '99 has an Eaton Fuller 10-speed, which neither he nor Ronnie like because it takes so long to shift. The '00 has a Fuller Super 13, which they like. Me, too.
With so much power and so little weight, you can forget about Low and even 1st gear and start out in 2nd or 3rd, and you can drive the 13 like a 9-speed, seldom splitting the upper-range gears except for going into high in 8th (the 13th ratio) for high-speed cruising. At 70 mph the Cat is spinning at about 1,600, thanks to tall gearing and big tires. I did think the clutch pedal was rather hard to punch, but soon forgot about it.
The dash has a modern, sweeping look that aerodynamic trucks now include. Ron had Randy Hall put instruments all over — "I didn't want any empty holes," he says. They are well-lit at night and very viewable during the day.
There's a lot to look at — pyrometer, axle temp gauges, oil temperature, you name it. The Cat ID is more fun, as various modes show average and instantaneous numbers for road and engine speed, fuel use, etc. etc. All I hafta do is keep my eyes on the road.
Working the niche angle
After lunch, Ron drives again and by early afternoon we've arrived at Metro Motorcycles, the Atlanta-area dealer, and I watch how the machines are taken out of the trailer. Every dealer has a forklift, Ron explains, and they just take the crates out the back of the trailer. Ron hooks a long chain to the base of crates farther up in the trailer and the 'lift pulls them to the door.
Ron keeps the chain handy, right below the doors, in a small tool box that's bolted to a steel plate welded to the trailer's rear underride guard. The tool box looks like it's just sitting there, and he laughs while telling about a worried motorist on the I-285 beltway around Atlanta who waved Ron down to warn him about the box.
Now we head for the Suzuki warehouse down the road. People there aren't as fast as their counterparts in Savannah, but with only three crates to load we're still gone inside an hour. Then we head west on I-20 before dropping off the "Suzuks."
Dealers usually come out right away to offload their consignments so the Bishops can get back on the road. But the Suzuki dealer east of Birmingham is in a running feud with the factory, Ron says. The dealer wants street bikes, not the ATVs that the factory has sent. But the dealer guy relents and all three crates are offloaded by a very cautious and very slow forklift driver. Ron hides his impatience.
It is 5:30 p.m. and dark as we enter Birmingham, and I have seen what I need to. I say so long near a motel and Ron continues down the road, happy with what he's doing.
In these days of long hours and profits that are slim to none for owner/operators, R&D Motorcycle Express is proof that finding a niche and working at it still works.
Out of the Shop
The Bishops are Yankees from western Pennsylvania who went to Alabama so Ron, now 47, could manage a machine shop for his then-boss. Ron eventually opened his own shop, then sold it to buy a couple of motorcycle dealerships. He and wife Deb made good money selling Suzukis and Kawasakis.
Meanwhile, Ron says he watched truckers deliver the machines and figured he could save money by doing it himself. The manufacturers agreed; before long he and Deb realized the money was better and the hassles fewer than being dealers. They sold one store but kept the property and hired people to run the other. Ron drives one of their rigs, often accompanied by Deb, while son Ron Jr. ("Ronnie" shown above), 23, drives the other.
A Year Makes a Big Difference in T2000
The Bishops' pair of Kenworth T2000s show the difference that one model year can make. They look pretty much alike, and are both painted dark green metallic, which Ron Bishop describes as "the color of money."
But the '00 T2 has a nicer interior design, with richly decorated and efficiently laid out cabinetry. Steps (below) to the upper bunk are much wider than the older truck, but that comes at the expense of floor space, Ron says.
The '99, with its smaller steps, has more room at the base of the cabinets. The newer T2 is quite a bit quieter than the '99, Ron says. The QuietCab feature of the '00 includes extra insulation in walls and floors, which cuts down wind and road noise.
Ron does wish Kenworth offered appliances, like a microwave, as options. Instead, he has to shop for those separately. Also, Ron and Deb don't like truckstop showers, and they sometimes rent a motel just to clean up. When is any truck builder going to offer a toilet and shower?
SPECIFICATIONS
Tractor
2000 Kenworth T2000, conventional-cab with 75-in.
Aerodyne double-bunk sleeper
Type
120 inches
Engine
Caterpillar 3406E,
475-hp @ 2,100 rpm,
1,650 lbs-ft. @ 1,200 rpm
Transmission
Eaton Fuller RTLO-16913A, 13-speed w/ 0.73 overdrive
Front Axle:
Eaton 12,000-lb. E-1200I
Rear Axle
40,000-lb. DS404 with 3:55 ratio, on Airglide 200 8-bag air
Wheelbase
224 inches
Tires & Wheels
Bridgestone 285/75R24.5 on Alcoa polished
aluminum discs
Fuel Capacity
Two 150-gallon
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