The Freightliner Truck Company has unveiled a new Cascadia. Cascadia is the company’s flagship truck and has led the way in the trucking industry for decades, showcasing innovative designs, world-class technology features and unmatched safety solutions.
Origins
Freightliner is one of the oldest truck production companies and is still making headway in the trucking industry today. It was established in 1942 and has fought well to maintain a leading position in the market ever since. The Company was started as a project of Consolidated Freightways (CF) in a bid to get an entry point into the truck manufacturing business.
The company began operations by building trucks from reconstructed Fageol trucks which had been sold off after the Great Depression. The Consolidated Freightways’ angle was to build heavy trucks that had enough power to climb the steep mountain gradients in the western regions of the USA. This earned them the nickname, ‘Freightliner’, which was later taken up as the company’s brand name.
The period after the Second World War led to the redefinition of several markets and regulatory issues which forced the company to make a lot of changes along the way including parting ways with its initial distribution partner, the White Motor Company, leading to the formation of the Freightliner Corp. in 1974.
Further regulations on semi-trailer lengths and the introduction of excise taxes on heavy trucks in the eighties pushed Consolidated Freightways out of their depth. The company opted to sell the truck manufacturing business to Daimler-Benz along with the Freightliner brand so that CF could focus on its core traditional trucking and carrier business.
The Rise of the Freightliner Brand
After its acquisition by Daimler-Benz, Freightliner began to benefit from the German expertise and the use of the newly designed Mercedes-Benz cabs for semi-trailer trucks. Unfortunately, the Mercedes trucks did not do well in the American market probably because they were seen as a foreign brand. In the patriotic drive for American’s to buy products made in the USA, Freightliner rose to the top of the list of reliable American trucks.
Freightliner sales continued to rise as Mercedes-Benz sales plummeted leaving the company to concentrate on the production of Freightliner trucks. After the company stopped producing the medium-duty trucks in the US, Freightliner trucks were fitted into the gap left and led the way with the production and sales of medium-duty Business Class FL series from 1991 to 2007.
The New Cascadia
The Freightliner Trucks are divided into four main categories, On-Highway, Medium Duty, Severe Duty and Natural Gas. The Cascadia truck is part of the On-Highway range and has one Natural Gas truck model.
The Freightliner On-Highway truck range consists of five trucks, the M2 112, 122SD and three Cascadia Models. The Cascadia models are very similar and only have performance variations in GCW, horsepower and torque.
The Cascadia identity is displayed in its stunning Cab design with aerodynamic features and striking colour choices. Below are some of the unique features that the new Cascadia is equipped with.
- Aerodynamics:
The New Cascadia comes with a standard exterior designed to minimize air resistance effectively improving the truck’s fuel economy. You have the added advantage of requesting the Aero or AeroX packages when you order your truck. These are design modification packages that will further reduce fuel consumption by installing drive-wheel fairings and side extenders among other things to your truck.
- Driver comfort:
Cascadia drivers spend on average 100 hours in the Truck’s Cab. In the trucking business, the driver is your company’s most valuable player every day. Improving your driver’s experience goes a long way to ensure your deliveries arrive safely and without delays.
The new Cascadia’s interior is not a modification of old models but a brand new design. It has been referred to as an 18-Wheel corner office. This new Cab has an ergonomic dashboard with a whole new instruments display and a dedicated telematics area.
Furthermore, the truck is available in the standard Day Cab configuration and a range of Sleeper Cab styles from a 72-inch raised roof design to a basic 48-inch design.
- The Detroit Connect Suite
The Connectivity suite that comes with the new Cascadia is designed to help drivers and truck operators make quick decisions on the move by providing critical data that would normally take a long time to retrieve and compile.
One of the connectivity suite components is the Detroit Connect Virtual Technician Remote Diagnostic Service which identifies faults as they occur and conveys information on severity as well as the nearest registered place you can access appropriate truck spare parts as you travel.
Conclusion
The new Cascadia is full of various solutions that have been designed to simplify the trucking business. The Freightliner team is constantly working to improve the user experience with their products.
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