Max Fuller says his goal at U.S. Xpress was never to be big, but on Thursday he took possession of his 50,000th Freightliner tractor.
“Our goal was to provide a service in the marketplace and apply technology to an industry that was decidedly low-tech,” Fuller said at a ceremony marking the delivery of the newest addition to his fleet.
The president and CEO of Daimler Trucks North America, Martin Daum, took time off from his yearly vacation to participate in the ceremony honoring Fuller, co-chairman and CEO of the Chattanooga-based trucking company.
Daimler Trucks North America is the parent company of Freightliner.
U.S. Xpress, which spokesman Greg Thompson said had $1.3 billion in revenue last year and is the third-largest privately owned trucking company in the U.S., has grown quickly since its 1985 founding by taking care of its drivers and customers.
Mayor Ron Littlefield, who attended the ceremony, said that as a Chattanoogan he was proud of Fuller’s record.
“I thought they had put too many zeroes on that number,” Littlefield said. “I think that’s a record that will stand for a long time.”
Daum, who presented Fuller with an etched glass model of the truck at the ceremony, calculated that the trucks he had sold to Fuller would stretch 800 miles if placed end to end and burn 5 billion gallons of fuel during their service life.
“Trucking is really the backbone of this country,” he said. “Fuel efficiency and reliability are the two most important targets right now.”
TEXTBOX:U.S. Xpress fast facts:* $1.3 billion in revenue for 2009* Miles covered in 2009 – 709,591,870* 8,500 tractors* 22,000 trailers* 9,000 drivers* Third-largest privately owned trucking company in U.S.* 50,000 trucks end to end would measure 800 miles* 50,000 trucks would burn 5 billion gallons of fuel during their lifetime* 50,000 trucks have traveled 250 billion milesSource: U.S. Xpress, Daimler Trucks North America
Fuel is one of the largest costs of doing business in the trucking industry, officials say, and even a 3 or 4 percent increase in fuel efficiency can save millions of dollars.
Mark Lampert, senior vice president for sales and marketing at Daimler Trucks North America, said Fuller’s U.S. Xpress was a key ingredient in Daimler’s rise to prominence in the trucking industry. In fact, Fuller has stayed with Freightliner through eight different management teams, he said.
“He started with an order for 10 trucks, and before the order was finished he doubled it to 20,” Lampert said of the early days of Fuller’s business.
The trucks sold to Fuller since then have together traveled over 250 billion miles, Lampert noted.
He also recalled how Fuller was instrumental in the design of the now commonplace two-person sleeper truck, one of Freightliner’s most popular models.
“I don’t think there’s anyone with the impact on trucking in this market that he has,” he said.
Fuller proposed the idea for the truck, and together with Freightliner and 64 of his drivers, worked with the engineers to push the project through, officials said.
Max Fuller and his father, Clyde Fuller, got their start with Southwest Motor Freight. Max Fuller founded U.S. Xpress with his partner, Patrick Quinn, using the experience gained from those early days at Southwest, he said.
“If you’re doing what you’re supposed to, you’ll always make it through,” Fuller said of the challenges posed by fluctuating gas prices and a turbulent economy. “The economy is gradually improving, so we’ve gotten back a lot of what we lost last year.”
Today, 38-year veteran James Waldo will drive the 50,000th truck, a Cascadia 82-inch sleeper with a Detroit Diesel DD15 engine, to Larado, Texas, Waldo said.