Carrier Says Truck Fire Probably Caused by Defect in Detroit Diesel Engine

At least one major motor carrier said it had a truck fire related to a defect in Detroit Diesel engines that was the subject of a recent recall, but other fleets using the Detroit engines made by Daimler Trucks North America either didn’t comment or said they had not experienced problems.

Meanwhile, Navistar Inc. said it was continuing “recalibrations” of engine control units on its MaxxForce engines, for which it has set aside $120 million.

Daimler’s notification to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration last month mentioned the danger of fuel leaks on its 2006-2012 Detroit Diesel 13-, 15- and 16-liter engines, and NHTSA warned that the leaks could lead to fires.

Daimler spokeswoman Amy Sills told Transport Topics, “Every effort is being made to ensure rapid notification and necessary field support, within NHTSA guidelines.”

Schneider National Inc., No. 6 on the Transport Topics Top 100 For-Hire Carriers list, said it had experienced at least one fire resulting from the defect. “We are very aware of the issue, as we have lost at least one truck from such fires,” Steve Duley, vice president of purchasing for Schneider National, Green Bay, Wis., told TT.

“We believe the recall is a good corrective action, and we will perform the recall on our vehicles as soon as possible,” Duley said.

Daimler sent a letter to NHTSA on Feb. 27 advising it of a “safety campaign to recall approximately 428 Detroit Diesel DD 13 and DD 15/16 engines and 103,437 Freightliner, Sterling and Western Star vehicles manufactured Jan. 20, 2006, through Feb. 20, 2012, and equipped with a pump-to-rail high-pressure fuel-line support system, which is sensitive to assembly torque and may be damaged during rework, potentially leading to a fuel leak.”

Recalls in Canada and Brazil brought the total number of trucks that had to be checked to about 110,000, Daimler said, though it said it believed fewer than 1% of the recalled trucks had the defect.

Stock analyst Ed Wolfe at Wolfe Trahan & Co. wrote in his newsletter March 10 that he had talked with the fleet manager of a major truckload carrier whose trucks had experienced fires from the defects. Wolfe did not identify the manager, whom he said told him that the engines’ “common-rail fuel systems crack or loosen at the fastener.”

Wolfe said the fleet manager “believes this needs to be strengthened because it is letting vaporized fuel leak into the engine compartment, which has caused a few serious fires, though no one has been hurt.”

Other major fleets did not return requests for comment, or they said they relied on the engine manufacturer for guidance and repairs.

Daimler dealers, who were expected to carry out most of the warranty work, were still awaiting instructions.

Sills said Daimler has nearly completed written and video work instructions on service and repair procedures, as well as the construction of parts repair kits for field personnel.

“Daimler has informed us that they’ll be using dealers to carry out a lot of the warranty repairs, but we haven’t received dates or other information yet. It’s very early,” Frank Ellett, president of Virginia Truck Center Inc., Roanoke, Va., told TT. Virginia Truck Center sells Freightliner and Western Star trucks.

“Our Daimler customers have-n’t been calling us with a lot of questions, and they’re not parking any of the affected trucks,” Ellett said. “They know that Daimler will contact them directly.”

Navistar, which builds International trucks and MaxxForce engines, said it was forced to do a “recalibration” of its 2007 technology trucks and early models of its 2010 technology trucks.

The company put aside $120 million for the repairs, Navistar chairman and CEO Daniel Ustian said.

Navistar said it recalibrated many of its trucks in December, which it said was a slow month when its factories shut for the holidays and its dealers had little business (3-12, p. 3).

One Navistar dealer said he wasn’t aware of the company carrying out any of the recalibrations of its engines in his region in December. “I have no knowledge of it,” Richard Ryan, CEO of Carolina International Trucks, Columbia, S.C., told TT.

Ryan said Navistar told him it was doing the work only on the initial versions of its 2010 MaxxForce engines. “We didn’t sell hardly any of those, maybe just five because of customer preference who spec’d Cummins engines, so perhaps Navistar didn’t have to send anyone to the Carolinas.”

Andrew Cederoth, Navistar’s chief financial officer, explained the situation to analysts during the company’s earnings call March 9. “As we have refined the calibration of these engines and improved their performance, this has resulted in an unusually high frequency of repair on a couple of significant components. While our analysis supports that this is a spike, and that this will correct itself in the future, the trends cannot be ignored. Thus, we have to acknowledge the higher frequency of repair in our accrual.”