Seeing where his new truck came from “was like a live episode of “How It’s Made!”
This photogenic 2013 M2-106 Freightliner with its 16,000L tank was custom built for the Fort Erie, ON-based water hauler Dennis Tufts, proprietor of High Quality Drinking Water Supply and Services.
So why is this hard-working piece of iron Truck of The Month?
Because it’s designed especially for the owner’s application, it’s a showpiece and it’s a source of deep family pride.
To hear Tufts describe taking delivery of the rig is to be taken back in time to a moment every trucker remembers fondly: The trip to the factory to pick up the exact right vehicle and then drive it home.
“This is the first truck I have ever purchased,” Tuft says.
“I met a salesman with over 30 years of vocational experience, who really helped me to get exactly what we needed and treated us very, very well. I also met the engineer, who designed the tank that was better than what we hoped for and built exactly the way we needed it.”
“He also arranged a tour of the fabricating and assembly plant on the day we picked the truck up. It was like a live episode of ‘How It’s Made.’ Very cool!
“I felt like the luckiest man alive that day.’
Tufts and his two sons, Justin and Christopher who were 17 and 21 at the time, drove from Fort Erie to Saint-Jean-Sur –Richelieu, PQ, to fetch the M2, which had a mere 13 km on the clock.
“Coming home, I drove the first 150 km with Justin riding with me. Christopher drove it the remaining 700 and some odd km home.”
Tufts has been in trucking for more than 30 years, a considerable portion of that with Tallman Transport.
“But this is without doubt the nicest truck I have ever driven' it’s comfortable and agile. I think it was very pretty when it was first new but I like the decals and it still looks nice, a year and a half later with 35,000 km of steady rural and city punishment!”
Tufts’ Freightliner is powered by a 350-hp Cummins ISC 8.3, with a 10-speed transmission, and the stainless- steel tank is designed to be as light as possible because Tufts’ home municipality has many roads on a four-month weight restriction.
