As you review your fleet priorities for 2025, you must first know what you want out of the next addition to your fleet and how it will suit the need of your jobsites, operators and bottom line. Among the many factors that play into a today’s purchasing considerations are power, capacity, operator comfort, technology and more. And among the many original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), Daimler Truck North America (DTNA) has been reshaping its offerings to meet the needs of its end users. The company designs, engineers, manufactures and markets medium- and heavy-duty trucks and their associated technologies and components under the Freightliner, Western Star and Detroit brands.
Freightliner’s vocational segment portfolio spans Classes 5-8 and includes a range of highly customizable vehicles for numerous applications, from construction to refuse collection. Freightliner trucks are designed to maximize productivity, safety and versatility.
For over 50 years, Western Star has set a standard for building premium, quality heavy-duty trucks designed for special-purpose and long-distance haulage. With the launch of the X-Series, the most advanced and rugged trucks in its lineup, it offers purpose-built trucks to meet difficult challenges.
Detroit manufactures diesel and electric powertrains, safety systems and connected vehicle services for Freightliner and Western Star commercial trucks. Detroit’s diesel powertrain includes the DD series of medium- and heavy-duty engines for a variety of commercial and work vehicle applications, the DT12 automated manual transmission series that meets both on-highway and vocational business needs, and multiple axle options for a complete integrated powertrain solution.
Samantha Parlier, director, brand marketing and operations at DTNA, said of the DTNA truck product portfolio, “There’s something for everybody,” showcasing its smallest M2 106 service body to its largest twin-sphere crane from an axle capacity, and everything in between at World of Concrete 2025.
The company has undergone somewhat of a vocational transformation over the last five years. According to Parlier, “We recognized we had two brands – Freightliner and Western Star. The power of both brands is being able to serve a wide market. So instead of competing directly, we’re in a complementary space. We have our Freightliner brand for some of the lower-end Class 6, 7 and 8 trucks, and then we have the Western Star brand for the heavier, more work truck, larger frames, twin steers.”
She notes the benefit of the complementary brands is not only the breadth of product, but also, for an upfitter or end user, working with a common electrical system across both Western Star and Freightliner series.
According to Aaron Scates, vice president, vocational and medium-duty market at DTNA, “In the complementary product portfolio approach, brands are differentiated for different customers who have different purchase drivers. There are things that make a lot of sense to commonize, like the electrical architecture, how you upfit in terms of the wiring and the programming, powertrain, safety systems, diagnostics, etc.” Scates says an advantage is meeting the needs of a wide variety of different operations, but maintaining a similar experience, makes it easier training drivers and unifying safety features, for instance.
Technologies and Features
According to Scates, technology is a priority for end users, and DTNA wants to give its customers the right tech for the job. “We don’t do technologies for technology’s sake,” said Scates.
“For the last four and a half years since we launched the [Western Star] X Series, we’ve been focused on getting customers familiar with the product. And then in 2022, on the Freightliner side, we did a major enhancement to the interior, operator comfort, powertrain, electrical architecture, safety, calling it the Plus series.” With both brands and products on the market, DTNA says it is keenly focused on the features its end users want.
The company’s QuickFit Electrical System aims to help customers build the perfect medium-duty service truck to fit a fleet’s needs quickly and efficiently. “This is basically programmable electronic modules and programmable switches powered by the Custom Hardware and Electronic Configurator (CHEC) Tool. CHEC is software that you can create flexible logic in,” said Scates.
With this tool, body builders and upfitters can create their own flexible logic to program the truck and control their body equipment with factory switches in the truck.
According to Scates, “With factory switches, the Quick Fit System and the CHEC tool, we can actually operate the entire truck bed and truck box, with all of the switches on the dash. That’s a big milestone.”
Raul Pena, who leads the CHEC team, develops features and training for CHEC on different trucks, emphasizing the increase in productivity and efficiency on an upfit. “We’ve tried to make it really simple with visual programming,” said Pena. Using only four screws to remove the panel, upfitters have up to 400 different integrated cap options. “If we don’t have a switch you need, we will create one for you,” said Pena.
“All of these go to a connector on the back of the cab, and that’s your single point,” he said.
“So, traditionally, if you ever have an issue with body functions, you’re going outside to a connector to diagnose what is or what isn’t working. And you’re going to splice different places. We’ve eliminated that,” said Pena. Through the CHEC Tool specifically, the customer can program these to fit their needs, such as open the tarp or lift gate, drop the bed when they’re over a certain speed, etc.
“What we’ve tried to do is give people a playground where they can make the truck what they need it to be, and also decrease the amount of time takes for a new operator to come in, and increase the reliability,” said Pena.
There is also an opportunity to template a switch configuration, program it in a batch and apply it to program every truck outfit in a fleet.
In the cab, more tech features come to light with a 7-inch interactive touchscreen, offering integrations with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, along with a factory-installed backup camera, pre-selected upon speccing the Freightliner or Western Star.
“We’re marching toward eventually getting [backup cameras] into every truck,” said Scates. “It’s an enhancement for jobsite safety and operator efficiency, and it complements other features like the Detroit Assurance active safety system.” Detroit Assurance uses radar and high-definition camera systems to communicate with the Active Brake Assist (ABA), engine and transmission in real time.
Also coming base model standard on every Western Star and Freightliner is the ABA collision mitigation system that look out for stationary objects like cars and moving objects like pedestrians. With a forward-facing radar on the bumper and a camera in the windshield, the two communicate and confirm visual safety threats.
As part of the base model standard setup, Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), allows end users with a DT12 automated manual transmission to go down to zero mph. Those not on a DT12 can go down to 10 mph.
Again in the assistance category, Side Guard Assist (SGA) offers a side radar that covers passenger-side blind spots, providing an audible and visual warning to the driver. On the jobsite, it’s looking for moving objects like human safety threats.
Purchase Drivers
When it comes down to the specs and selection of a vocational truck, the recipe changes with the cook.
“The purchase driver changes based on the application and the business the customer is in,” said Parlier.
In a mixer versus dump scenario, Parlier says, “If you’re the mixer customer, your job is to work with concrete. You get paid by the yard. So, if you can save weight, you can carry more. And if you care a lot about weight, you might sacrifice power for weight when you’re running loads that you’ve got to deliver every 90 minutes from your batch plants or your continuous loads.”
For the dump truck operator, weight is often not as critical. “It’s usually bed size and not driven by the weight of the material that they have in the bed. And if it is, they don’t get paid that much more per cubic load. So, they may focus more on the power, saying. ‘I want to get there faster. I don’t really get a benefit from the weight.’ So, when we talk about speccing attributes, the answer is: it depends, which is the answer for almost everything vocationally.”
According to Parlier, “It’s all a numbers game, so it’s important to know your business and your business goals well before you even talk to a truck manufacturer, and then start walking the spec through that.”
Transmission Transitions
According to Scates, the next major shift in the vocational industry is transmissions. “For years, there were manuals and then automatics. Automated manuals, basically clutched manual transmissions are relatively new to the vocational space.”
In 2020 on the X Series, DTNA introduced the DT12-V, a purpose-built version of its DT12 transmission made for the vocational and construction space. Some features include:
- Brake Hold Mode — This exclusive feature allows the driver to pump the brake, holding you on a hill, then release the brake when you hit the accelerator.
- Rock-Free Mode — Another exclusive feature, this mode helps you avoid wheel-stuck situations by using the accelerator to rock the vehicle free
- Creep Mode — Allows a vehicle to move at a low speed for better maneuverability.
- Paver Mode — Allows a dump truck to shift from neutral to drive without pressing the brake pedal while moving away, ensuring a steady flow to the paving machine.
- Off-Road Mode — Features shift maps that give you peak performance on any terrain.
- Power Launch — Automatically increases engine speed for smooth, powerful take-offs with heavy loads, while also protecting the clutch and driveline.
Breaking down transmissions by demand, Scates says automatics have a strong demand because, along with great performance, it is what people are often most familiar with.
However, Scates maintains that in some areas, the DT12 can perform a bit more efficiently than an automatic can perform, with the same level of acceleration, shift, performance, etc. “Automatics are better in some areas, for sure, but we really see it as a coexistence within our portfolio.”
“It all comes down to the application,” said Parlier, who notes that 10 or 15 years ago, the view may have been “manual or nothing,” but over time, it has completely shifted. “Most people and companies don’t stock manuals anymore, and it’s all automatic or automated, and that’s been a huge shift in demand,” said Parlier.
With an automated manual transmission, operators don’t have to think about the shift of the transmission, say, in a ready-mix truck or a dump truck. Scates says that’s just one more thing drivers can take off their minds in order to focus on the job at hand. “It makes training a lot easier. It helps with fatigue. Also helps with attracting more operators to your business,” said Scates. “We really see it as the future for vocational [trucks]. Automatics and automated manual transmissions are definitely taking over. They’ve taken hold,” he said.
Looking Ahead
With the company’s vocational transformation across the past 10 years, DTNA has a lot to offer with its X Series and Plus Series. According to customer feedback, standouts among the newer improvements include the cab interior upgrades, the quality of the ride, the dust and noise reduction efforts, and overall comfort.
With an eye to the future, DTNA is actively increasing its footprint within the marketplace. In Canada, the company has moved up three places in recent years. “We were sixth overall in market share. We moved up to three, so we’ve surpassed Peterbilt, International and Volvo, which is a huge badge of honor for us in a really short time, and shows the acceptance of the products,” said Parlier.
“We’ve also grown in North America — 39% year over year in 2024, and we’ve doubled since 2019,” said Parlier. “It speaks to the work and the detail that went into the products and the acceptance of the market and the public.”
According to Scates, “We have basically doubled our heavy vocational market share since we introduced the X Series, so it’s been a huge success.” He also notes there is certainly more to come.
DTNA is scheduled to exhibit at Work Truck Week (Booth 1121), taking place in Indianapolis, Indiana, March 4-7, 2025.
