Since 1996, TJ Hunt Trucking has grown to become a top provider of dump truck and flatbed hauling services for construction companies, homeowners, local municipalities, and state and federal agencies across the tri-state area of Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. The Chattanooga, Tennessee-based company’s fleet of red and black Kenworth T880s are hard to miss, and the trucks reflect the company’s image as being a reliable and quality company to do business with.
“We have about 54 trucks in our fleet, the majority being T880 dump trucks with a few tractors set up to haul flatbeds,” said TJ Hunt, TJ Hunt Trucking owner. “We’ve run Kenworth T880s ever since the model was introduced in 2013, and it’s been a great truck for our operation. We’ve owned just about every other truck make there is, and the T880 is the best of the best. It’s a versatile and reliable truck. Plus, our drivers love them. Kenworth is known for building high-quality trucks, and that’s the image we want to mirror as a company.”
According to Hunt, TJ Hunt Trucking transports a wide range of materials, including asphalt, topsoil, dirt, debris, gravel, and construction materials for large-scale projects.
When the company opened for business in ’96, it acquired equipment on the aftermarket. After a few years, the company was in a position to begin buying new.
“The first new trucks I ever bought were two Kenworth W900Ls,” Hunt recalled. “I wasn’t quite sure at the time which trucks I wanted to buy, but I had a friend who worked at MHC Kenworth – Chattanooga, and he sold me on Kenworths. For it being my first new truck purchase, I wanted to make the right decision, and he was right. Twenty-plus years later, we’ve continued adding more Kenworths to our fleet and still have a great relationship with our local dealer.”
According to Hunt, several years ago, the company began a transition to specifying its trucks with automated transmissions to make them easier for its drivers to operate. More recently, TJ Hunt Trucking started buying T880s with the PACCAR TX-18 Pro following its introduction in 2022, which integrates with the PACCAR MX-13 engine the company had been running in its trucks. The PACCAR TX-18 PRO builds off the TX-18 heavy-duty on-highway transmission platform with enhanced capabilities for heavy vocational on/off-highway applications.
According to Hunt, the company recently did a benchmark test between a T880 spec’d with the integrated PACCAR Powertrain and a truck with a different powertrain package to see the difference in performance. The outcome was significant, with the PACCAR Powertrain-equipped T880 achieving a 2-mpg fuel economy improvement* over the other truck.
“It was an impressive result, we wouldn’t have guessed there would be that big of a difference in fuel economy,” said Hunt. “We’ve been gradually transitioning our fleet to the MX-13 engines with the TX-18 PRO transmissions once that became available. Our trucks average about 70,000 miles per year, and the 2-mpg difference between powertrain packages is significant. The integrated PACCAR Powertrain offering is more efficient.”
Looking ahead, Hunt said the company purchases approximately seven new T880s per year on average to replace older equipment and to keep up with growing demand. Kenworth T880s with the PACCAR Powertrain will continue to have a larger presence within the fleet. “We do most of our truck maintenance in-house, so consistency across the fleet makes it easier for our mechanics to work on trucks and have spare parts ready,” said Hunt. “Between the reliability, driver satisfaction, durability, and versatility of our Kenworths, the T880s have proven to be an excellent truck for what we do and the services we provide.”
