Kenworth’s T880 delivers comfort by sweating the details
For the first time in his 30-year career, Delbert Ritchey is driving a truck where his seat isn’t rubbing the upholstery off the back of the cab.
“I’m a fairly big guy, about 6 feet, 280 pounds,” said Ritchey, the senior driver for San Jose Logging Ltd. in Williams Lake, British Columbia. “It’s nice to have space to pull my seat forward a little instead of having to push it all the way back.”
Comfort is paramount when you’re at the wheel of a logging truck for up to 15 hours a day. Twice a day, Ritchie pilots a Kenworth T880 over resource roads that traverse open range and switch back through the Cariboo Mountains in British Columbia’s central interior. The conditions are among the toughest in Canada—and that’s during daylight hours. One of Richey’s runs occurs completely in the dark.
“It’s a demanding job and the competition for skilled drivers is intense,” said Darren Getz, whose family has owned San Jose Logging since 1957. “The Kenworth T880 is a premium product. For our investment in the truck, our reward is a more productive and satisfied driver.”
The San Jose Logging fleet consists of four Kenworth T880s and three T800s that typically pull Super-B trailers with a 63,500 kg GCW (140,000 lbs). Routes rarely exceed 120 miles a day with as much as half that distance off-highway, with grades as steep as 27 percent.
“The physical nature of the work makes it hard to keep younger drivers around and it’s also tough on the older guys like me who enjoy the life and want to stay at it as long as possible,” said Ritchey. “The T880 will help.”
At 82.7 inches wide, the T880 cab is 10 inches wider than its predecessor and has 23 inches of room between the seats. Four inches of extra space behind the seats let Ritchey adjust the driver’s seat the way he likes and still be able to hang up a coat behind him.
In the footwell, the T880 uses firewall-mounted hanging pedals instead of floor-mounted pedals—perfect for drivers who wear work boots.
“I can clean underneath the throttle pedal easily,” Ritchey said. “Any time you’re in and out of the mud, you’re going to track it into the cab. In the T880, I can flip up the pedal, wipe underneath, and it’s a non-problem. It’s one of those little design touches that makes my day easier.”
Another “little touch” involves the T880’s grab handles. They’re mounted inside the door frame, away from the mud, ice, and cow manure that spray up from the resource roads. “I can open the door and there’s a clean handle for my right hand and a clean handle for my left hand,” he noted. “I really like that.”
Darren Getz, meanwhile, focuses on the T880’s entire package: its productivity, safety features, and ease of maintenance.
The company works for one licensee, handling everything from harvesting and cutting logs to proper lengths to hauling timber to the mill—a stump-to-dump operation.
Getz expects maximum uptime from his trucks because his customer expects no less from San Jose. “We have seven trucks and go to every length to make sure they’re available and ready to work,” Getz said.
San Jose Logging replaces its trucks with new units every three years and has its own shop to maintain them. Inland Kenworth, the local Kenworth dealer in Williams Lake, provides parts and warranty support.
It specs the T880s with disc brakes all around for better stopping performance on grades and slippery ground. Eaton UltraShift® PLUS automated transmissions eliminate the clutch pedal and allow for smoother, more precise shifting especially at low speeds on tough grades.
“Through three generations of family ownership,” Getz said, “we sweat the details.”
