KLLM’s new Burns Harbor location. (Image Courtesy of Mike Woolsey/KLLM Transport Services)KLLM Transport Services is expanding its operations in Burns Harbor, Indiana with a 60,000-square-foot facility that will house offices, a drivers lounge, and driving academy.
The multipurpose facility will have three floors, including a basement level. It opens Nov. 4.
The basement level houses four classrooms and a kitchen area.
The ground level, or main floor, will be divided into two sections. One side will feature offices and work stations while the other will be the base of operations for KLLM’s Burns Harbor regional fleet.
The top floor has a drivers lounge that’s about 3,000 square feet. It includes a pool table, TVs, couches, chairs, dinette sets and a full kitchen with a refrigerator, microwave, coffee machine, and popcorn machine.
The new facility has showers, a laundry room, fuel islands with diesel and DEF available, and an in-house clinic for physicals and drug screenings. It will have a body shop and paint booth, with two indoor truck wash racks being added in the spring. The training lot for the driving academy will be located across the street from the main facility and will include a lounge space for students.
“It’s going to service our regional fleet, the driving academy, and our OTR fleet,” said Mike Woolsey, KLLM’s vice president of facilities, about the property. Previously KLLM leased space and was not able to conduct driver training there.
Woolsey says much of the work on the facility has been focused around driver amenities.
“Our drivers deserve every amenity that we can give them,” Woolsey said. “That’s why we’ve done what we’ve done not only with the drivers lounge and all those things but fueling capabilities, their DEF purchases at better rates than they pay at truck stops, and just service and a place that they can come and just relax.”
Drivers can play a game of pool in the driver's lounge at the new KLLM Burns Harbor location. (Image Courtesy of Mike Woolsey/KLLM Transport Services)
There are dinettes adjacent to the kitchen in the driver's lounge. (Image Courtesy of Mike Woolsey/KLLM Transport Services)
The driver's lounge at the new KLLM Burns Harbor locations features ample seating and other amenities. (Image Courtesy of Mike Woolsey/KLLM Transport Services)
The new KLLM Burns Harbor location features a kitchen in a driver's lounge. (Image Courtesy of Mike Woolsey/KLLM Transport Services)
Offices are located on the ground level. (Image Courtesy of Mike Woolsey/KLLM Transport Services)
A winding staircase leads to the third level. (Image Courtesy of Mike Woolsey/KLLM Transport Services)
There are two kitchens in the facility. (Image Courtesy of Mike Woolsey/KLLM Transport Services)
An on-site clinic will provide physicals and drug screenings. (Image Courtesy of Mike Woolsey/KLLM Transport Services)
The facility features four classrooms. (Image Courtesy of Mike Woolsey/KLLM Transport Services)
Fuel islands are available for drivers passing through the terminal. (Image Courtesy of Mike Woolsey/KLLM Transport Services)
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Deanne Winslett is the associate editor for Truckers News and She Drives Trucks. You can submit story leads to her at [email protected].
