With orders for more than 21,400 EPA-2010 vehicles to date, Daimler Trucks North America is recalling 540 workers to three manufacturing facilities in North Carolina. The workers are expected to be back at work by mid-July.
Workers will return to truck manufacturing facilities in Mt. Holly and Cleveland as well as the components and logistics plant in Gastonia. Vehicle orders, which include 16,565 Freightliner-brand trucks, are up sharply in recent months, said Mark Lampert, senopr VP-sales and marketing. Lampert said the company’s Class 8 daily build rate is expected to increase 67% in July over July of last year.
The Freightliner Cascadia, which is equipped with Detroit Diesel Corp.’s BlueTec SCR emissions control technology, leads the order increase, according to DTNA. BlueTec reduces emissions to near-zero levels of NOx and particulate matter and improves fuel economy by up to 5%, the company said.
Western Express recently placed an order for 900 of the tractors and Schneider National has also placed a large order.
“We test all our vehicles extensively for fuel efficiency and operating performance before we buy,” said Steve Duley, vice president purchasing, for Schneider National. “We have accumulated more than 1.1 million miles with EPA10-compliant Cascadia trucks on a test basis since February 2009 and are exceptionally impressed with their performance.”
Schneider’s order includes Cascadia 72 in. raised-roof models equipped with Detroit Diesel DD15 engines and day cabs with DD13 engines. Each of the vehicles is SmartWay-certified.
