Freightliner introduces new Class 8 Model called Cascadia

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 2, 2007) — Freightliner Trucks today revealed its first new Class 8 model in several years at a special event here.

Named the Cascadia, company officials called the tractor a revolutionary new Class 8 truck for on-highway applications built from an entirely new platform.

They said the vehicle delivers significant fuel savings and is designed based on the Run

Smart philosophy to be the most productive, efficient and drivable truck on the market.

Plus, with its new styling, a quieter and more comfortable cab and ergonomic controls, the Cascadia was specifically constructed with driver comfort and improved operating ratios in mind, according to Chris Patterson, president and CEO of Freightliner LLC.

Patterson said the Cascadia offered a 3 percent improvement in fuel economy over previous models. He said more than one million engineering hours, including 2,500 hours in Freightliner's state-of-the-art full scale wind tunnel, went into its development. It is the first truck built and engineered using Freightliner’s wind tunnel, the only testing facility in the world built specifically for Class 8 vehicles.

"Our customers are faced with the consequences of ever-tightening emissions standards, higher fuel prices, rapidly escalating wages and benefits, and a dire shortage of maintenance technicians," Patterson said. "Freightliner was built on solving our customers' most pressing concerns, and only Freightliner has the resources and the know-how to bring a completely new model to market at this difficult time for the trucking and truck-building industries."

With EPA '10 right around the corner, Patterson said the Cascadia was designed to easily accept EPA '07 emission engines and adapt with little change to the new EPA '10 standards. Its expandable DaimlerChrysler-engineered electronic platform can easily accommodate the technology. Plus, the Cascadia was built to be optimized with the all-new EPA '10-ready Detroit Diesel heavy-duty engine family, the first of which will debut later this year. Known within DaimlerChrysler as the Heavy-duty Engine Platform, this engine family will be used in Truck Group vehicles worldwide, following its launch in Freightliner LLC vehicles, he said.

“Such challenges and priorities have been top of mind in the industry, so Freightliner initiated an extensive study of its key customers' needs and issues to evaluate product improvements that could alleviate these stresses, he said. “ Numerous fleet owners and owner-operators provided detailed feedback about everything from cost-saving features to comfort options and aesthetic attributes. We engineered the Cascadia to address the needs and wants of all of our customers.”

— The Trucker News Services