There are about as many types of "expedited freight" trucks as you can shake a tire thumper at. From minivans to five-axle semis, all scurry up and down the highways of industrialized North America with high-value cargo. Most of them, though, are Class 6 and 7 straight trucks, with chassis hefty enough to live in the day to day pounding of commercial service.

They've got cargo bodies big enough to haul most loads, consisting of a pallet or two or three of stuff needed to keep somebody's assembly line going – the majority of EF cargo – and sleepers large enough to live in.

Size matters, but so does quality. You can buy something cheap, but it'll bite you to death with breakdowns and repair bills. Or you can go the premium route, like this Kenworth T300 with its big Bentz sleeper and rugged Supreme van.

This "Heavy Duty Expedited" truck, or HDX, was set up by Jeff Jones at the Fort Wayne, Ind. Truck Center, the area Kenworth and GMC dealer. He specializes in the EF market and this package is the result of years of talking with customers and noting their wants and needs. Everything on the truck is spec'd to last, and apparently does, according to a couple of guys who own trucks like this.

For instance, it's got an 8.3-liter Cummins ISC, chosen because Cummins backs it well and because its larger-than-usual displacement (for a midrange truck) equates to long life. Its strong torque is easily handled by an Eaton Fuller Super 10 transmission, rather than a less hefty 6- or 7-speed synchromesh gearbox. The Super 10 is easy to drive, once you get used to its 5-speed-with-splitter operation. Some think it's not so easy, though.

Super 10 vs. synchro

Jones was showing the truck to a prospective customer on the morning of my visit, in mid May. The 58-year-old customer – a pleasant and knowledgeable fellow who said he reads Road King "religiously" but for personal reasons didn't want his name published in it – was impressed with the Kenworth.

However, his "soul mate," who had more truck driving experience than he, didn't like the Super 10. "She said she won't drive it," the man related. "Not that she can't drive it, but that she won't."

The couple had a Nissan Diesel UD cabover with a 6-speed synchro, and the Super 10 was just too different for her. Even though it shifts easily, often with no clutching, it's still a non-synchro box and that means more concentration and work, and that made it a hard sell.

How does the couple like their current Japanese-built truck? "We love it," he said. "UD means ‘ultimate dependability,'" for it has given them almost no trouble in the two-and-a-half years they've had it.

Then why even think about getting out of it? "Partly for tax reasons, and I guess we're just ready for a change." The bigger Bentz sleeper on the HDX was part of its appeal.

Sleeper box, cargo box

Bentz Transport Products, also located in Fort Wayne, makes many of the sleepers that go on International chassis, said its president, Dick Bentz. They are shake-tested to ensure they'll last 1 million-plus miles, as do today's Class 8 road tractors.

The boxes have aluminum frames, floors and skin, and raised-roof models have fiberglass roof caps. Furniture and cabinets can be custom-ordered and fabrics match those of the truck's cab.

This sleeper is 72 inches long and about 84 inches high inside. It has a couch that folds down into a single bed, a fold-down upper bunk, and oak cabinets and shelving that look like what you'd find in a high-end road tractor. Northern Indiana is home to Amish craftsmen and many recreational vehicle manufacturers located here take advantage of their skills.

Bentz makes a variety of flat and high-roof models up to 96 inches long, and will custom-build almost anything else. Racing teams run boxes as big as RV bodies, and Bentz has made actual RVs to mount on truck chassis.

Bentz modifies the rear of truck cabs to mate with sleepers. The T300's cab is the same as KW puts on its T800 and W900 models, which begs the question, why doesn't Kenworth offer factory sleeper boxes on the T300? Because the T3's cab sits several inches lower on the frame, Jones explained. The bottom of factory boxes would have to be chopped to match up with the cab, and that's simply too expensive a modification for the low-volume (maybe a couple of hundred annually) EF market.

In nearby Goshen, Ind., is Supreme Corp., which Jones picked to build the heavy-duty van body, again to his specs. It's 22 feet long by 102 inches wide and has a 96.5-inch inside width, so a pair of pallets will sit side-by-side. The rear door opening is 100 inches high for fast loading and unloading.

A forklift package includes a 2-foot-long steel tread plate and close-spaced underfloor crossmembers at the rear. Heavy duty Holland landing gear can be cranked down to keep the chassis stable during forklift use. The rear impact guard is of heavy steel construction so dock locks won't tear it up. Swing doors have five hinges each and double seals to keep out dust and moisture.

The T3's nose is short so, together with the 28 or so feet of sleeper and body, the vehicle's overall length is 38 feet. This is well under the 40-foot maximum allowed for a straight truck or bus in the various states. Some trucks exceed that, Jones said, but police don't seem to notice. Even with this truck's 310-inch wheelbase (which equates to about 288 inches on a tandem), it's easy to maneuver, and you can park it in places you wouldn't think of going with today's long-nose-conventional tractors and their 53-foot trailers.

Comfort and agility

I took the truck down Coliseum Boulevard, a main route on Fort Wayne's north side, and onto Interstate 69 and the I-469 beltway for a familiarization cruise. Its smooth ride surprised me, and the two customers I talked with by phone commented on it, as well. The truck's also very quiet, at least with the windows up.

The 315-horsepower Cummins was plenty gutsy, but the Super 10 got in the way. Yes, you can skip-shift while empty or lightly loaded, but the tranny works the smoothest when you use all or most of its ratios. This means you're interrupting the power flow a lot.

I'd probably opt for an automatic, even though an Allison, the tried-and-true product that Jones recommends for those who go this route, would add about $8,000 to the truck's price. A medium-duty Fuller AutoShift costs about $3,500, but Jones thinks it's too new to be as reliable as it needs to be in long-hauling.

Clutch and brake pedals were rather closely placed and the big accelerator seemed touchy. It sat up off the floor, with nothing nearby to steady my right foot against. Cruise control helped while I got used to everything. That's usually the way it is with any truck – you may object to certain things, but become accustomed to them over time, provided you don't let them bug you.

Entering the HDX's sleeper is fairly easy, once I got past the closely spaced seats. They sit that way because the cab is narrow, and chubby guys like me have to turn sideways to slip through. The sleeper's no RV, but it's roomy by today's standards and a veritable apartment compared to what truckers of past years lived with. The couch gives the interior the spaciousness of KW's own Studio Sleeper, but it means a split mattress, which some may find uncomfortable. If so, just fold down the couch and we'll get a regular mattress for it, Jones answers.

Climbing in and out of the cab was easy, thanks to the low cab height and large, well-placed steps. Outward visibility was good, due to the cut-down side windows, large windshield and steeply sloped hood. A tight wheel cut allows you to really bend through corners and back the truck into cramped spots. The steering wheel had a soft rubber-like rim that seemed to stick unpleasantly to my hands and fingers. I'd either have to wear gloves or get another wheel installed.

Could you make a living with this truck? Its built-in quality would almost certainly take you far down the road, but the business side is another question. The economy seems to be coming back and with it will come higher volumes of all kinds of freight, including the stuff that has to get there quickly. For some it's too late, but others are already seeing an upturn. If you're one of them, Jeff Jones (800-234-7712) has several HDXes he'd be happy to sell you, at $69,900 per.

Great Truck But a Tough Biz

John Alf, 44, bought a Kenworth HDX from Jeff Jones last November and "the truck's been great," even if business has gone sour. "It's the second one that we've had," said wife and co-driver Pam, 41. "We haven't had any major problems at all, and it's very comfortable. It's got a nice ride – it doesn't beat you up, like you hear about some trucks."

They may not have the KW much longer. "To tell you the truth, we're about to go under," Alf said by phone from their home in Grand Prairie, Texas. "You can't make the freight come out of the sky." Freight and rates have been down for a year, and he and Pam can't make ends meet anymore.

They don't blame their company, FedEx Custom Critical (formerly Roberts Express). "It's down for everybody," Alf said. "A lot of making it in this business is being at the right place at the right time to get good loads, and we've not been at the right place at the right time" enough. Load centers, where freight is steady, have changed, and it's not easy or cheap to deadhead to where the freight can be had.

"People who want to get into this business ought to have some kind of extra income, a retirement income," he said. "If you do, then it's a great way to see the country, to go RVing around. At its high point it was absolutely fantastic. But now it's at its low point, and it's sink or swim."

One who's swimming is retiree Jim Lueck, 61, of Miami, Fla., who also runs an HDX that he contracts to Tri-State Expedited Service. He was a machine mechanic for General Mills and now has a pension and paid medical insurance. That helped him get through the recent down period, and since late April he's seen a definite improvement in loads.

"There are times you do very well, and times you (only) cover your expenses," said Lueck (pronounced Luke) of the EF business. "It's the luck of the draw. You have to be where the freight is…. You learn where most of the activity is," like around Chicago, and try to position the truck to be there. Not much moves out of Florida, so he leaves his truck in the central states, where he mostly runs, and flies home.

In this instance, he had left the truck at the KW dealer in Indianapolis, which serviced it while he was home. He said he's "kind of a fanatic" about preventive maintenance. "You have to stay on top of it," he declared, perhaps reflecting his experience as a mechanic.

"I like it real well," Lueck said of the HDX he's had for two-and-a-half years. "I like the way Jeff spec'd it out. I get excellent mileage, from 10 to 12 miles a gallon." That's partly because he has a Power Technology on-board generator set he uses instead of idling the main engine. In 260,000 miles the Cummins' hour meter showed 5,700, while the Kubota diesel in the genset had run for 5,100 hours. "That also adds to the longevity of the Cummins," he said.

Good thing, as Lueck expects to run the KW another three to four years, when he retires for good.