The Trucker Newspaper - September 15, 2018

Courtesy: DAIMLER TRUCKS NORTH AMERICA
Freightliner Trucks District Manager Kirk Gavaghan, left, hands over the keys to the first new
Cascadia to Catawba Rental Co. President Danny Abernathy, center, and president of Cargo
Transporters Dennis Dellinger at their headquarters in Claremont, North Carolina. Catawba
Rental Company and Cargo Transporters are sister companies.
WABCO Holdings opens 1st North American
Customer Care Center to its support products
THE TRUCKER NEWS SERVICES
ROCHESTER HILL, Mich. — WABCO
Holdings, a global supplier of technologies that
deal with the safety, efficiency and connectivity
of commercial vehicles, has opened its first
North America Customer Care Center, providing
support for its portfolio of WABCO products
sold in the region.
WABCO has significantly expanded its
product offering following the acquisition of
four high-tech manufacturing businesses since
April 2016 in North America, according to Jon
Morrison, president.
He said the Customer Care Center will
Equipment September
provide customer support for well-established
WABCO technologies in addition to Sheppard
steering gears, MICO off-highway systems,
aerodynamic solutions tied to the acquisition of
Laydon Composites, and products associated
with Meritor WABCO, the former 50-50 joint
venture.
The Customer Care Center combines the
technical service teams of WABCO and acquired
companies, creating an organization with more
than 40 highly knowledgeable professionals
based in the U.S.
The operation will also include a dedicated
See Wabco on p36 m
Courtesy: KENWORTH TRUCK CO.
Kenworth Family Day included antique Kenworth trucks, an employee classic car show,
face painters and caricature artists, plant tours, the City of Renton fire truck, a food truck,
Page Ahead children’s literacy program booth, a pit stop challenge, human foosball and
a barbecue lunch.
THE TRUCKER NEWS SERVICES
PORTLAND, Ore. — Freightliner Trucks last
month marked the delivery of the 50,000th new
Cascadia since its start of production in January
2017.
Fuel-efficient components such as the integrated
Detroit powertrain, driver experience
improvements inside and out, together with the
proprietary Detroit Assurance suite of safety systems
and powerful vehicle performance telematics
from Detroit Connect have helped propel customer
acceptance of the new Cascadia, according
to Richard Howard, senior vice president of sales
and marketing.
He said demand for the new Cascadia, coupled
with strong market conditions, have contributed
to Daimler Trucks North America’s (DTNA)
15-30, 2018 • 35
Freightliner marks the delivery of its
50,000th new Cascadia since last year
ongoing market leadership.
“Our goal was to develop a truck with our customers
in mind and provide them with the very
best in fuel efficiency, safety and driver-focused
features,” Howard said. “We want to sincerely
thank all of our customers for the continued trust
and partnership, and we could have never reached
this significant milestone without them.”
By combining the global engineering expertise
of parent company Daimler AG, hundreds
of hours of testing in DTNA’s state-of-the-art
research and development facilities and millions
of miles of on-highway testing, Freightliner designed
the new Cascadia, its most technologically
advanced and aerodynamic truck, Howard said.
Claremont, North Carolina-based Cargo
See Cascadia on p36 m
Courtesy: WABCO
WABCO’s first dedicated Customer Care Center for North America is now fully operational
and will relocate to the company’s new Americas headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan, once
construction of the building is complete in the third quarter of 2018.
Kenworth Truck Co.’s Renton, Wash., plant
celebrates 25th anniversary of building trucks
THE TRUCKER NEWS SERVICES
RENTON, Wash. — Kenworth Truck Company’s
assembly plant recently celebrated its 25th
anniversary of building Kenworth Trucks.
Kenworth employees and their family members
marked the anniversary in conjunction with
Kenworth Family Day held at the plant. The event
included antique Kenworth trucks, an employee
classic car show, face painters and caricature artists,
plant tours, the City of Renton fire truck, a
food truck, a Page Ahead children’s literacy program
booth, pit stop challenge, human foosball
and a barbecue lunch.
“More than 1,300 people from across Paccar
attended Kenworth Family Day, which was
a great way to celebrate our employees and the
plant’s 25th anniversary,” said Bart Hoemann,
Kenworth-Renton plant manager. “Kenworth-
Renton employees had an opportunity to showcase
their workplace to their families, have some
fun, and enjoy all the activities and food. Employees
are critical to the plant’s success with the quality,
innovation, technology and care they build
into every Kenworth truck produced here.”
In 1993, Kenworth opened the 300,000
square-foot plant on a 40-acre site in Renton. The
plant’s first truck, a Kenworth T600B – a later
version of Kenworth’s first aerodynamic truck
that revolutionized the trucking industry – was
presented to Stevens Transport.
In 2000, Fortune magazine recognized the
Renton plant as one of “America’s Elite Factories,”
and the plant received Assembly Magazine’s
inaugural “Assembly Plant of the Year
Award” in 2004. A year later, Kenworth-Renton
See Kenworth on p36 m