When Salt Lake City, Utah-based RC Willey Home Furnishings re-evaluated its medium-duty delivery truck needs two years ago, it worked closely with Kenworth Sales Co. – Salt Lake City to re-equip its delivery fleet, which makes thousands of home deliveries of new furnishing each month in cities in Utah; Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada; Boise, Idaho; and Sacramento, Calif.

“Sometimes we add a third delivery guy in the cab and it can get tight,” said Karl Anderson, vice president of operations for RC Willey Home Furnishings. “Kenworth understood that, went to work and came back with the K270 cabover, which our drivers absolutely love and adore.

"That is their office for 10 hours a day. Drivers appreciate the roominess, smooth ride, great visibility, excellent maneuverability, and they just feel better sitting in a Kenworth truck.”

The company recently took delivery of its second group of K270s, this time for 11 new cabovers, increasing the Kenworth presence in the fleet to 30 trucks of its 130 delivery vehicles.

“Overall, our fleet runs about 7.9 mpg,” said Anderson. “The Kenworth K270s are averaging 9.5 mpg*. That gives me a 20% fuel economy bump.”

Along with better fuel efficiency and driver comfort, the K270 models have allowed RC Willey to attract more drivers from a larger pool of candidates.

“We had been mostly a tractor-trailer operation, so finding guys who would get a CDL and stay with us was tough,” says Anderson. “One of the great benefits of operating [Class 6] K270s is they eliminate the need for a CDL and allows us to tap a whole new labor market.”

With new K270 models replacing aging tractor-trailers in the fleet, RC Willey’s drivers appreciate the smaller wheelbase that helps them get in and out of residential areas easily. Along with outstanding comfort, efficiency and performance, the new delivery trucks project a professional image throughout the cities they serve. That is especially important to Anderson.

“For us to be successful, we have to operate a quality truck,” he said. “It has to be comfortable for our drivers, and it has to represent the company well. Most importantly, it has to be dependable.

"As we line up our deliveries every day, we give our customers a three-hour time window. If our trucks aren’t dependable, we can’t make those commitments to our customers. Kenworth gives us the quality and reliability we need.”