equipment

10 mpg? It looms, says Daimler’s CEO

| March 12, 2013
The Freightliner Cascadia Evolution is the next step toward the trucking industry reaching a 10 mpg standard.
The Freightliner Cascadia Evolution is the next step toward the trucking industry reaching a 10 mpg standard, says Daimler Trucks North America CEO Martin Daum.

The days of expensive diesel may not be over any time soon, but the days of 5 mpg trucks could see their demise in the near future, said Daimler Trucks North America CEO Martin Daum speaking at the Heavy Duty Manufactures Association in Nashville this week.

Daum said during his address that trucks getting 10 mpg “will definitely come during our professional lifetimes.”

He cites his company’s Freightliner Cascadia Evolution as a large step in that direction, saying that on a recent trip from San Diego to Gastonia, N.C., a fully loaded Cascadia Evolution clocked 9.31 mpg.

Daum also addressed the potential layoffs announced last month, in which DTNA said up to 1,300 workers could be cut at plants in North Carolina and Oregon. Daum said the company will offer an update on the exact number next week at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky.

For more on Daum’s address, see Overdrive sister site CCJ‘s coverage.

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  • http://www.facebook.com/dave.nichols.75 Dave Nichols

    Really? my 2011 pro star maxforce 13 gets all of 6 mpg downhill with a tailwind and running empty

  • Mike D.

    I drive a 2007 T600 pulling tank and flatbed in the Northeast and Canada. I drive as careful as I can ( speed, progrestive shifting, etc.) and still get, depending on weather and road type, between 5 and 6.2 .
    Not everyong pulls a nice smoothsided van on the highway with 1 to 2% max. grade.

  • http://www.facebook.com/GPOPS55 Joe Watkins

    we have a 1997 379 pete with a 475hp 3406e that gets 10mpg

  • 4btrucking

    You’ll need all the MPG you can get with all the maintenance and repairs these new trucks need. Your fuel savings won’t put any money in your pocket. Just Daimler’s. Not to mention what a new truck will cost in 5 years. You can’t buy one and pay for it before it’s trash. They’re junk when they are new..But what do I know…..

  • http://twitter.com/DEfromNC DE from NC

    If you REALLY BELIEVE that a REAL TRUCK UNDER REAL WORLD CONDITIONS will achieve 10 mpg, then go turn in all your guns to the Kenyan, and shake Al Gore’s hand and tell him “global warming is real” !! These choked down, smogged down “jokes” of a truck have been the single most item to IMPROVE THE PROFIT MARGIN OF TOWING COMPANIES since sliced bread was introduced !! Big gov’t PROPAGANDA is ALL THIS 10 MPG b**s**t IS !! Those of us that started driving before the “ultrashift 10 speed” and “the VORAD system” KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT !! It’s to the point today that if you can barely hold the son of a b***h in the road, the truck ITSELF will take care of driving, shifting, pre-trip inspection, post trip inspection AND ALMOST BREATHING !! That, my friends, IS NOT A PROFESSIONAL DRIVER, but a “professional joke” !! Think about that !!

  • http://twitter.com/trucker1527 Michael S. Jones

    All these comments of the new trucks getting so much better fuel mileage is why I’m debt for two pieces of Junk right now. I was sold this bill of goods in 08 and foolishly bought into the story Mack was selling at the time. Now I have both trucks sitting still one with a blown motor 785K and the other 650k. The maintenance has been astronomical. The list is too long to talk about.

  • LA

    Yea it’s already in Europe where theyhave no emmisions and the trucks are turned up! We won’t get there until they bleed us dry, Bureacracy!! And “truckers” ( I guess I should say drivers) that don’t stand for up anything my friends that is the problem.

  • http://www.facebook.com/john.m.baxter.5 John M. Baxter

    Probably has something to do with International’s unfortunate decision to rely entirely on EGR for NOx control. It’s a great engine, but no machine, no matter how noble, can run on smog like General Bullmoose’s car in Li’l Abner!

  • http://www.facebook.com/john.m.baxter.5 John M. Baxter

    More myths of the road. The government and the oil companies are in collusion hiding perpetual motion, too! Yeah, right! Euro trucks have standards very similar to ours and all the same emission do-dads. Agreed, DPFs can be trouble as is true of sensors on them and SCR systems. The systems are expensive and take lots of space and add weight. But, all-in-all, the truck makers and engine people have come up with a very effective system and modern engines have plenty of power and get good fuel economy.

  • Rod Watkins

    Always those that say it cant be done left in the dust by those doing it.

  • http://twitter.com/WalterJGL Walter Gonzalez

    Aerodynamics don’t play that big a roll on fuel consumption and I know this for a fact (ran and fueled with them); Two of my closest friends own and operate 6.5+ MPG Trucks, one has a 2005 Volvo 780 with an ISX pulling a dry van with full fairings (tractor and trailer) and the other one has a 1997 Classic XL with a S60 pulling a step deck. Very different aerodynamics but both trucks are equipped with 3.73 rears and RTLO18913A 13 speed transmissions.
    In other words, trucks out of a 60′s sci-fi flick are NOT the cure for bad MPGs. Natural drag is not the enemy here and it has been proven time after time with trucks developed in wind tunnels performing just as good or as bad as “conventionally” developed trucks. I think more time and resources should be invested in optimizing the combination of components such as transmissions and differentials in relation to the torque characteristics of the various engines.

  • http://twitter.com/WalterJGL Walter Gonzalez

    Just the thought of having to get rid of my 2005 with a C-15 for a 2008 or newer gives me the willies…

  • localnet

    We have four of these new and improved Freightliners… Three are normally in the shop, while we all wait for number four to break down and hope we get one of the three back. These new trucks and technology are a joke, along with being totally unreliable.

  • Lance

    What they don’t tell you is that by the time you end up having to pay for all the failures of the ultra sophisticated computer junk, you have lost all that extra savings, not to mention downtime.

  • Lance

    I have run a 1990 Freightliner FLD with a 1977 Cummins big cam 400 mechanical for 9 years now and grossing near 80,000 pounds I get 5.5 mpg average, and with an empty trailer I get 7 mpg. NOT ONE DRIVELINE REPAIR IN 9 years! I usually run no more than 65 mph. I only paid $7,000 total for this truck! It looks good and has a double bunk sleeper. This new junk they make now will only bankrupt you. Current trucking rates do not support these new trucks that always have something wrong with them.

  • Andrew H

    I had an ’07 T600, and I had about the same results, no matter what you do. CAT engines have amazing power but love their fuel.

  • Andrew H

    I currently drive a ’10 Peterbilt 387. It dwarfs the Cascadia, runs a Cummins ISX, 8 speed transmission, and I average 8.5mpg loaded. I’m sure I could get 10 if I drove 60 and pulled 20k. And I haven’t been in the shop besides general maintenance and I just got over 500k. New freightliner uses way to many computerized crap.

  • Barney Flintstones

    Old school guys like yourself are done,get on board or get off.

  • Barney Flintstones

    EGR and DPF is the problem with new trucks.Don’t buy them drivers unless you have deep pockets and don’t mind knowing your local dealer by his first name.

  • Kai

    And yet the trucking industry still will not see the diesel hybrids that get over 50 MPG…

  • rusty bucket

    Expect Owebama or the next president to dig deeper into your pockets. Double the fuel mileage will hurt tax revenue, so fuel tax will need to go up as a result

  • carllarsen

    so very very wrong. aerodynamics is one of the major things that can increase milage. if you don’t think so, just remember how much better your milage is with a tail wind than with a head wind. aerodynamics reduces wind drag, it’s like reducing the wind resistance. take a class.

  • carllarsen

    true, what do you know. the cascadia is a quality truck. like all mechanical items, they sometimes break. usually because of operator mistreatment.

  • carllarsen

    dunno, i have an 05 columbia with a C15, 13 speed and i get 5.6 heavy over mountains and have gotten over 7 on the flats with moderate to light loads. i do tend to hammer a little harder with the heavy loads to avoid splitting just as i get to the top of a hill. i’m at near a million miles and still no smoke, leaks or problems.

  • Greg

    I have to agree,Ive been 200 mph in a vehicle and the wind gets as thick as water at that speed

  • localnet

    Effective system? I honestly do not understand where you are coming from when many people’s experience with these new “systems”, has been anything but short of a nightmare. I jump in this 2012 13 liter Freightliner and cross my fingers, say a few Hail Marys and hope the truck starts and doesn’t pop a code and shut down. This one just got back from the shop, again. They run well for a week or two, and back to the shop for more warranty work. Always a bad sensor or wiring harness. Detroit must source their parts from China.

  • localnet

    It should.

  • localnet

    I beg to differ, we have four Cascadias, and believe me, they have spent more time in the shop than they have out here pulling a trailer. If this is the best that Detroit and Freightliner have to offer… Pretty sad in my book.

  • http://www.facebook.com/jim.cooper.169 Jim Cooper

    I drive a 2012 cascadia with a dd13, biggest piece of junk I have ever driven in my life and I do the progressive shifting, drive at 63mph and still can’t get 6mpg

  • mousekiller

    If it wasn’t for us old school guys you newbies with little or no driving skills and little personal pride would be asking me do you want fries with that? If it wasn’t for the new driver we would not have these bad rules and regulations destroying this industry.

  • mousekiller

    Since Freightliner moved some of its assembly plants to Mexico the quality has dropped dramatically. Yet some think that they still HAVE to go to California. and continue to drink the Kool Aid. .

  • mousekiller

    I have a 60 S Detroit 500hp. I got tired of the BS and up graded the ECM to 600 hp, modified some of the codes and now get an average of 7.9 +. Until I did that I was getting 5.7 mpg. I drive between 65 and 67 mph.

  • http://www.facebook.com/william.mckelvie William McKelvie

    Yeah right Barney, clowns like you who hide behind fake names ……….. lol

  • http://www.facebook.com/william.mckelvie William McKelvie

    Sorry, but like many other americans, I find many CEO claims are fruitless.

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