It's Colossal Kenworth C500 time again on Biglorryblog with Conco Quarries!

The C500's above-mentioned uptime helps the company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Conco Quarries, to stay on schedule supplying the company's ready-mix operations and the local market with between 1-1/2 million and 2 million tons of crushed stone annually from the Willard Quarry in Willard, Mo., and Galloway Quarry in Springfield."

And in addition to crushing and stockpiling materials for charcoal briquette production, it also produces limestone material used in the manufacturing of asphalt and concrete. Moreover, the company recently supplied crushed rock to make concrete and asphalt for taxiways and runways at the new Springfield/Branson National Airport and for Highway 13 north of Springfield.

When Conco Quarries originally needed a new replacement truck chassis strong and rugged enough to carry an average of 41 tons of crushed rock at its quarry in Willard, Mo., the company turned to the Kenworth C500 model. "We needed to find a company that could design and build durable and reliable replacements to meet our needs," Dickerson adds. "Kenworth was the only truck OEM with a local dealer that would work with us to put together what we needed. We purchased two C540s spec'd with 40-inch wide, double-inserted 11 5/8-inch by 3/8-inch frame rails, 46,000-pound front axle, 110,000-pound tandem rear axle, and remote-mount transmissions."  

Each of the company's Kenworth C500s haul about 25 percent more material on each trip than the trucks they replaced. The C500s make an average of 70 to 80 quarter-mile trips per day, each operating about 2,500 hours annually. "Our 40-ton dump bins, which were designed around larger truck models, allow us to move large amounts of crushed rock efficiently from the rock crushing and aggregate screening plant to different stockpiles at the Willard Quarry," Dickerson added. On top of that, Dickerson said his drivers really like the comfortable work environment the C500s provide. And having been pleased with the performance of its first two C500s, Conco recently took delivery of a third C500 model with a narrower, 34-inch frame, different front end suspension, larger engine, and direct-mount transmission."

"With our latest Kenworth C500, Kenworth gave us the option to equip it with a lockable inter-axle differential, which will help to reduce wheel scrubbing and tire wear," reports Dickerson, who estimated the option may save Conco up to $12,000 annually in tyre costs. Not bad cost-management guys says BLB, not bad at all.