Hino, Cummins, Paccar top power rankings for medium-duty engines

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Hino engines ranked highest in customer satisfaction for a fifth consecutive year in J.D. Power’s 2012 U.S. Medium-Duty Truck Engine and Transmission Study, released today. Scoring 801 (out of a possible 1,000) and performing particularly well with respect to maintenance and service, dependability, fuel economy and other factors, Hino was followed by Cummins (793) and Paccar (789) in the rankings.

As medium-duty truck engine technology advances, J.D. Power and Asssociates representatives reported with study results, more complicated repairs have led to more unscheduled downtime.

The study, now in its fifth year, measures customer perceptions of 2011 model-year Class 5, 6 and 7 gasoline- and diesel-powered engines and provides manufacturers with a comprehensive and objective measure of customer satisfaction and product quality. Eight attributes are measured to determine overall engine satisfaction, among them engine reliability and dependability, ease of access for service or maintenance, maintaining speeds on grades, acceleration when fully loaded, control module (ECM), vibration at idle, engine warranty, and average fuel economy.

Overall, the number of engine and fuel problems decreased to 40 problems per 100 trucks, down by 11 from 2011. The average length of unscheduled downtime due to these problems is 13.4 days, an increase of 2.7 days from 2011.

Overall satisfaction with medium duty engines came in at 760, increasing to 778 when selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technologies are in place to meet emissions requirements.

The 2012 U.S. Medium-Duty Truck Engine and Transmission Study is based on responses from 1,272 primary maintainers of one-year-old conventional cab medium-duty trucks. The study was fielded between June and July 2012.