Western Star

Truck Talk is a weekly newsletter providing perspective and context on the week’s happenings in the trucking industry.

Western Star advances a family makeover with the second entry into its X-Series of vocational trucks.

Engine stall from broken battery terminal cable leads Daimler Trucks North America to recall 122,056 Freightliner and Western Star trucks.

There continue to be concerns about when these new orders will be prepared, as many truck manufacturers continue to deal with semiconductor shortages.

Western Star is recalling 6,830 trucks for possible stalling due to a faulty wiring harness. Some are being called back for a second time.

Daimler Trucks North America signed a consent order with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration agreeing to pay up to $30 million for tardiness in reporting safety recalls in 2017 and 2018.

German newspaper Handelsblatt says Daimler AG may spin off Daimler Trucks in 2021 to spare it the drag of Mercedes-Benz’s financial struggles.

Dooner and the Dude talk to an author about his biography of a railroad legend and get a look at Western Star’s new truck.

A car-crazed high schooler, Samatha Parlier learned long before becoming vice president of vocational market development for Daimler Trucks North America that even though both have wheels and engines, off-highway trucks are quite different from passenger cars.

Daimler Trucks is bringing its global connected vehicle development efforts under a single group that will be based in the United States.

Six years in development, the new vocational truck adopts safety technology from Daimler Trucks’ on-highway models with other firsts for extreme-use trucks.

Better-than-expected performance across the board buoys Daimler prospects. Job cuts are a big part of the picture in a preview of second-quarter earnings.

The largest manufacturer of heavy-duty trucks puts worker protections in place as it tries to make up for production lost to the coronavirus pandemic.

Daimler Trucks North America is recalling 63,175 trucks dating to 2005 because reflective tape near the mudflaps may be obscured, preventing a following motorist from seeing the truck ahead.

All four major heavy-duty truck manufacturers now have suspended production for at least two weeks, with market leaders Daimler Trucks North America and PACCAR Inc. the latest to stop building trucks because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Western Star celebrated a production milestone the same week as parent Daimler Trucks elevated the off-highway truck segment for which the 53-year-old brand is best known.

Daimler Trucks North America is recalling 2,725 Western Star brand 4900 and 5700 sleeper cabs from the 2016-2020 model years. About 4% of the recalled trucks are suspected of having an improper adhesive that could allow the vent windows to detach and fall from the trucks.

Volvo Trucks North America and the Western Star brand of Daimler Trucks North America will recall nearly 3,700 trucks between them for separate steering-related issues that could cause a crash. Neither issue has resulted in any crashes or injuries, according to postings on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website.

Western Star is recalling 2,546 heavy-duty trucks because the sleeper side door can detach while the truck is in motion, creating a risk of the falling door striking another vehicle.

Designs of future vocational trucks by students at the ArtCenter College of Design may contain some long-term value for the Western Star Truck Sales subsidiary of Daimler Trucks North America.