Trucking – Bennett Heavy & Specialized

Bennett’s Step Deck Trucking Service Moves Vintage Bus

cfcadmin — Tue, 26 Feb 2019 12:00:20 +0000

Bennett gives a vintage bus a cross-country ride on the flatbed express.
Mike Kennon never knows what to expect on a job. He has to be ready for anything. It goes with the territory of being an agent for Bennett Motor Express and coordinating some of the largest, heaviest and most complex loads on America’s highways.

With these loads, the customers themselves often don’t know what to expect. They don’t have to. That’s Mike and the team at Bennett’s job. So customers don’t have to know about step deck trucking, the fine points of chain securement, the permit requirements of California, North Carolina and every state in between. Kennon’s team handles everything. His guiding belief is simple, “If it can be legally permitted or done, we can do it.”

Nevertheless, Kennon and driver, Benny Pharis of Ace Doran, a division of Bennett Motor Express, needed a couple extra of cups of joe to problem-solve a recent job that at first glance looked like a piece of coffee cake. The job was to move a 1952 Continental Trailways bus that High Brew coffee had converted into an amazing mobile coffee shop where consumers could chill out and sample their products. Check it out and how it was used in this video. The vehicle had recently completed a 16,000-mile sampling tour in 22 weeks. and it was Bennett’s job to haul the bus from California to North Carolina for its next assignment.

Caught between a bus and a hard spot

Pharis arrived at the San Diego storage facility expecting to drive the bus onto his step deck trailer, secure it and hit the road. But what he found was an in-op, or inoperable vehicle, that wasn’t driving anywhere on its own. After some investigating, Pharis discovered someone had stolen the battery and cables. A repair wasn’t practical under the circumstances, so he would need the reinforcement of not one, but two tow trucks.

Two wreckers and a load of expertise

The bus was originally parked in a tight spot with the expectation that eventually it would be driven out. That clearly wasn’t going to happen. Pharis arranged to have a regular tow truck go in and tow the bus out of the facility and down to the road. Then the bus was winched onto the second wrecker, a Landoll trailer with a tilting bed. The bus was then moved to another location where Pharis could get his step deck trailer and the Landoll back to back so it could be winched onto his trailer. The operation took place in San Diego traffic, which required careful attention to safety. Pharis’s many years of experience hauling heavy construction equipment helped him know what to do.

Bennett brings the right tools for the job

When it comes to unusual hauls like this, having the equipment for the job is essential. In this case, Pharis used a step deck trailer that enables vehicles to be rolled on and off. Regarding securement, he chained the bus down from the axels and applied spring hangers crisscross to hold it in place. Pharis’s 2018 Peterbilt tractor handled the cross-country haul in style. “It attracts a lot of attention. It has a big sleeper, kitchen, stove, fridge. Basically it’s like an RV. It has a shower and a bathroom, too,” he says.

Taking care and keeping it safe on the road

As a Bennett agent, Kennon’s commitment to safety stretches from the office to the off-ramp. “I want to protect everyone out there,” he says. “We will only do things legally and I absolutely won’t compromise on safety. If it will put someone else in jeopardy, we won’t do it.”

Once Kennon and Pharis had the antique bus was safely loaded, the challenges continued. The bus had to be carefully monitored throughout the 2,000-mile trek. “My biggest worry was parts falling off,” Pharis says. “It’s an old Trailways bus—the compartment latches had to be tied up with huge bungee cords because the 60 mph winds would loosen them.”

Standard procedure necessitated a precheck of the cargo 50-100 miles out and Pharis inspected the bus at every stop as well. It turns out he wasn’t the only one interested in the load. “When I’d stop at a rest area, a lot of people wanted to know the year and model and what it was used for,” Pharis says. “I had to explain it, so I looked it up online.”

The 3 C’s to success: Coordination, Communication, Coffee

Sometimes being early is just as bad as being late. The cross-country delivery had to be timed perfectly for after the Thanksgiving holiday when business reopened and a wrecker-assisted offload could be arranged. During the drive, Pharis worked in concert with his navigator-wife, Lora Ann, and Kennon to get estimates and book a towing partner for the delivery. When Pharis arrived, the planning paid off. “Unloading was simple. It only took us an hour versus the half-day it took us to load,” he recalls.

Pharis stayed in contact with the customer throughout. “She’d call to see how we’re doing, and if everything was going well.” Pharis explains. “When we pulled up she came out to meet us. She was glad to see it.”

If she only knew everything that went into getting it there safely…

Bennett brings the right equipment and the best know-how in the business to vehicle and machinery transports all over the U.S. For more information on Bennett’s flatbed trucking services for general freight and heavy machinery, visit www.bennettig.com/transportation-services/step-deck-trucking/

The post Bennett’s Step Deck Trucking Service Moves Vintage Bus appeared first on Bennett Heavy & Specialized.

Bennett’s Step-Deck Trucking Services Transport the World’s Most Important Vehicles

cfcadmin — Fri, 07 Dec 2018 13:11:00 +0000

Every load is important to Bennett International Group, but Lenco’s hauls have added importance of being $500,000 armored vehicles used by first responders, police departments and government agencies worldwide.

Bennett comes to the rescue with extreme service.

These trucks make for a heavy cargo with weighty significance—and an unusual set of job requirements. As far as vehicle transport or step-deck trucking goes it’s one of the most specialized loads you’ll find. Lenco’s security requirements and need for white-ish glove service makes hauling them an unusual challenge.

Lenco’s unmet needs had them looking for a carrier ten years ago. Bennett Agent, Donna Nadeau, SMA saw the opportunities for improvement in the service they were receiving. She proposed a comprehensive approach that won the account for Bennett Motor Express and has kept the relationship alive and thriving over the course of hundreds of hauls.

Bennett’s bulletproof solution provided Lenco with one point of contact for accountability; clear communication procedures before, during and after the haul; and a policy of using repeat drivers who know the client’s unique requirements and have expertise in hauling step deck trailers.

Listening and communicating are the keys to success.

Nadeau says the Bear® and BearCat® vehicles being transported are handled with special care, according to strict instructions from Lenco. They’re so careful, she says, that the buyers are typically there to do an inspection while their vehicle is being loaded. Bennett Driver, Bob Parkman said he is usually in constant communication with the buyers during the entire trip.

Lenco depends on Bennett drivers like Parkman to know the ropes, or in this case, chains. “You gotta do everything by the book,” Parkman says. “You have to chain them down the proper way because on a wheeled vehicle, you have to have four binders on all four corners. And you have to stop every 350 miles to check and make sure all your chains are tight.”

A haul distinguished by unique challenges all the way.

To pull these beasts weighing 22,000 pounds each, Parkman drives a ’93 Kenworth and pulls a step deck trailer with heavy duty ramps. It’s the driver’s job to steer them onto the trailer—a white knuckle drive of only a few feet. One false move and the $500,000 truck could tip off the trailer. “It’s good to have someone guiding me, but I don’t always have that,” he says.

On the road, the load draws a lot of attention. “I just try not to talk to everyone going down the road because everyone is trying to take pictures of them and wants to know what they are. You just gotta mind your business,” he says. And paparazzi aren’t the only distraction. “From time to time I’ve had different police officers pull me over just to take a look at them.”

Going over and above sometimes means going to the movies.

A frequent destination for Bears and BearCats is tradeshows. The job requires a hands-on approach from drivers. Typically, Parkman is tasked with moving the armored vehicles, getting them washed and ready for the show and handling anything else that comes up. “I go above and beyond for these guys,” he says.

Another frequent assignment for Bennett is hauling these vehicles to and from movie sets. Parkman says they’ve been in a lot of films. He’s delivered Lenco trucks to a few of them, including one starring Tom Cruise. Nadeau says a Lenco vehicle had a cameo in a recent Terminator movie, too.

A relationship that’s been going strong for 10 years.

Parkman and other Bennett drivers go to great lengths to follow Lenco’s exacting instructions for hauling their trucks. Going the extra mile has resulted in Bennett being their go-to for hauls across the country, and recently internationally, during an extended haul of vehicles destined for Oman.

Bennett Motor Express’s Northeast Regional Manager, Rich Stoop, sees the team’s performance on Lenco’s hauls as a model for success, “Donna and her team provide unfailingly quality service. The expertise that is required to handle Lenco’s assignments, along with communication and honesty are why Bennett is the only over-the-road carrier they use and we’ve seen an increase in business every year.”

For more coverage of this life-saving cargo, view the article and video of one of the Lenco BearCat after delivery to a satisfied customer.

Bennett brings safety best practices and a service ethic to heavy machinery transports all over the U.S. For more information on Bennett’s flatbed trucking services for general freight and heavy machinery, visit www.bennettig.com/transportation-services/step-deck-trucking/

The post Bennett’s Step-Deck Trucking Services Transport the World’s Most Important Vehicles appeared first on Bennett Heavy & Specialized.