Rollin Johnson knows there's nothing complicated about getting - and keeping - customers.

"We had a customer once in Cleveland," recalls the unassuming founder and president of Rollin Johnson Trucking in Stockertown, Pa. "We were competitive with our pricing, but they decided to go with a competitor that undercut our price.

"But after a while, we found out they weren't getting their product, and we got that customer back. They told me, 'Whenever we give our work to you people, we know we'll get our
product the next day.'

"It all comes down to service."

Johnson's brief story captures the essence of his company. It’s highly regarded service is delivered by an all-Peterbilt, 45-truck fleet that carries bulk dry cement and flatbed-loaded building materials primarily in the Northeast. Doing most of the heavy lifting for the fleet is the Peterbilt Model 386, which Johnson began buying shortly after the truck was introduced in 2006.

"They keep making their trucks better and better," says Johnson, who has been running Peterbilts almost exclusively since 1984. "That's why I buy them. You don't get that from other manufacturers."

Some of the Peterbilt features that Johnson finds particularly beneficial are the weight savings he experiences, as well as a willing resale market.

Modest beginnings
When Johnson first set up shop in 1980, he served one customer - a lumber distributor - with one truck, and he didn't haul the product more than a few hundred yards, from terminal to yard. But business for the family-run operation - niece Jan Remel is general manager of business and son Terry is a vice president - has been on a strong and steady incline ever since. Johnson's customer base is now up to 180, and includes brokered dry van loads to keep his fleet and drivers busy when the building business slows in winter months.

Johnson has found the Model 386 with its aerodynamic styling and versatile detachable sleeper configuration to be most adaptable to his needs, and he equips the vehicles used for overnight hauls with a 48-inch Unibilt⨠sleeper. More than half of his fleet is in a day cab configuration, and many of these are Model 385s, which he phased out of as he converted the fleet to Model 386s.

Johnson orders most of the trucks built with weight-saving specifications, such as aluminum wheels and fuel tanks and 12-liter engines. As a result, the bulk-trailer day cabs can deliver an impressive 51,000 pounds of payload. Flatbed and sleeper equipped tractors deliver 49,000 pounds.

"Weight is a big concern for us because we get paid by the tonnage," Johnson says. "We could make these trucks even lighter by putting more aluminum in the rear ends or getting an aluminum transmission housing, but we travel some rough territory and go off road, so we keep some of the heavy-duty specs."

Resale success
That combination of weight savings and heavy-duty durability has proven a winner in the resale market for Johnson. His local trucks log up to 450,000 miles and his long-haul equipment has up to 550,000 miles when he markets the trucks after four-and-one-half years of ownership. He'll often have several parties bidding for the trucks.

"The biggest thing is the price," he says. "If I don't get it from one, I'll get it from another one."

Johnson has a trickier time attracting drivers, but an all-Peterbilt fleet helps in that department, he says.

"We've really been pretty fortunate getting and keeping drivers because there are a lot of jobs around here," he says. "Having Peterbilts helps and most of our trucks are 2006 Models or newer. The drivers enjoy operating Peterbilts."

And a lot of people, it seems, enjoy seeing them on the road.

"We get compliments all the time," says Johnson, who has long finished each of his trucks with a distinctive paint job. "People try to talk me into getting a cheaper paint job, but everyone knows my trucks. We all take pride in the way they look."

They even bring some business in. "We had one person who said they happened to notice our trucks and gave us a call. Now we're hauling some pipe for them."

But if the Peterbilts' appearance helped land that business, it's their performance that helps keep it.

"Be on time," he says. "That's what our customers need and that's what our fleet delivers - service."