KIRKLAND, Wash., February 23, 2000 -- If you asked Brett Worthington about his fleet productivity gains in the past six months, he'd have to crack a smile and say: "Phenomenal."

As operations manager for BMC West's custom door facility in Sandy, Utah, Worthington has increased his delivery capacity by a third -- without adding drivers. He boosted fuel economy by three miles per gallon, increased driver and customer satisfaction, and reduced damage write-offs by 75 percent.

It has all come about since BMC West purchased Kenworth T300s equipped with 'removable boxes.'

"The combination is paying off handsomely. Due to increased productivity, the new container system has paid for itself in eight months," said Worthington "As for the trucks, we knew the Kenworths were higher priced than others in the medium-duty class, but when you look at lower life-cycle costs and resale value, better fuel economy (BMC West gets up to 11.1 mpg), and what the Kenworths mean to our drivers and corporate image, it's well worth it to us."

The Sandy operation, has been so successful that other transportation managers for BMC West -- the third largest building supplier in the country -- have visited to develop similar distribution programs. "They go away impressed," said Worthington.

The transformation began with a simple premise: Design a system that maximizes labor. BMC was using outdoor loading -- forklifts loaded pre-hung doors in three straight trucks with flatbeds with curtain sides. It was a time-consuming process.

With the design of BMC's new door facility underway, Worthington had an opportunity to start from scratch. The first move was going from outdoor loading to a more efficient dock operation. Next came an analysis of how to transport doors.

"Drivers were spending much of their day waiting for loads to be completed at the door facility," said Worthington. "We decided it was more efficient to develop something similar to a drop-and-hook operation. This way a container could be loaded while our driver was out making deliveries."

But that didn't mean a tractor/trailer combination. "That would be too expensive and it wouldn't work for our operation," said Worthington. "We have tight delivery areas at residential and commercial job sites. A trailer couldn't handle our maneuverability requirements."

The solution was found in removable containers. "What we opted for were removable 24-foot boxes with hydraulic legs, adjustable to four different heights," he said. "They come right off the chassis of the T300, and it takes our drivers just four minutes to change boxes. What's more, it's 300 percent faster to load these boxes compared to our old curtain trailers. And we increased the load capacity in each box by 60 percent."

Helping to speed deliveries is a hidden ramp in a false bottom for easy unloading at customer sites. And the hydraulic legs can come into play at these sites as well. "We've used the hydraulics to lift the box to a delivery level higher than the truck," Worthington said. "This saved our crew a lot of work. For large jobs, we've actually left the box at their location for unloading -- charging the customer a rental fee."

Back at the BMC location, boxes are ready whenever a driver returns. The box is slipped off and re-stationed for loading and the new box is picked up and secured. All told, the time savings at the loading dock has meant a third more deliveries without adding more drivers. What's more, since less handling is required at both ends of the delivery, damage write-offs are way down.

"More than 75 percent down the first month," Worthington noted. "Remember, we handle finished product that cannot be damaged -- a cherrywood door can cost more than $700, and we can load up to 140 doors in a box." While Worthington says the new box-switching system is a great tool for improving his company's productivity, his three Kenworth T300s, with another on order, purchased from Kenworth Sales Company in Salt Lake City, are paying off as well.

"Kenworth developed a Class 7 vehicle based on their Class 8 design, so it has the components and durability we were looking for," he said. "We have some canyons to travel and need a high horsepower engine than typically found on medium duty trucks -- so we run Cat 325s through Eaton Fuller transmissions.

"The turning radius of the T300 is another advantage," added Worthington. "We deliver in some real tight job sites and our drivers have commented about the T300's excellent maneuverability. We also understand that driver comfort is extremely critical to our operation. Our drivers are a direct conduit to our customers; we want to give them the best ride possible to ensure they're in a good mood when making deliveries."

Kenworth Truck Company, a division of PACCAR Inc, is a leading manufacturer of heavy and medium duty trucks. Kenworth's Internet home page is at www.kenworth.com/kw.