Freightliner Popularity

I was actually horrified when I drove a freightliner columbia.
It's was shaking very hard and extremely noisy.
It looked like the suspension system on those trucks don't exist.
These trucks are real junk and primitive.

 

It's not "made in USA" anymore, it's made in America. I, for one, approve of this development.

 

The main reason you see so many Freightliners, is because of price. Fleets buy hundreds,or thousands at a time, direct from the factory, at a huge discount. International used to be most common top seller, in the 80s.They regained the Title for a couple years, maybe around mid 2000’s. Can’t remember exactly. But Freightliner makes more overall money through volume. They also flood the market, in the process, making resale terrible. I’ll keep my Classic and 12.7 forever. It’s a great Truck, bought Used at a great price. It’s never let me stranded. Some things on interior are cheap, no doubt. The doors aren’t great. The Hoods are literally half the price of a Paccar. But they ride good. It’s also lighter than Paccar Conventionals. Detroit’s lighter than Cat. Half the price to repair or rebuild. Just as reliable, maybe more so, due to simplicity. Good heavy duty engines. Parts are readily available and very affordable. Everything’s pretty easy to get to, compared you others. Frame and suspension is a good simple design. They seem to rust less than Pete’s. Front ends parts hold up good also. Front springs are good and heavy duty. Longer than a KW. A Freightliner will last just as long as any Truck, if maintained properly. They get a bad rap, from so many Drivers that start out in them. Just like Internationals used to. To simply say, any vehicle is a piece of junk, just because it needs routine maintenance, or an unexpected repair, isn't fair. All Trucks need maintenance and repairs. The Paccar are beautiful well built Trucks. Especially the Cabs and interiors. It does come at a premium though. Resale is better, but upfront cost and a lot of Dealer only parts are more expensive than Freightliner. Over time, the resale difference vs. total operating cost is negligible. Besides the point. The old FLDs with a Detroit are just plain money makers. Hard to beat.

 

953k on this truck and still on the job .

 

I will not work for a company without a Freightliner for me to Drive. Or, a nice Pete or Kenworth.... but I am used to Freightliner Cascadia with the Auto 12. Why shift if you don't have too? Very very happy with the Cascadia with the upgraded higher weight baring stears even MORE.