Fleets More Satisfied With Truck Engines

Fleet operators said they were incrementally more satisfied with their heavy-duty truck engines compared with a year ago, market research and rankings firm J.D. Power and Associates said.

J.D. Power said its survey of 2,421 fleets showed an increase in satisfaction with two-year-old, heavy-duty trucks. Ranked on a 1,000-point scale, satisfaction moved to 733 from 725 in 2008.

J.D. Power asked the Class 8 fleet operators to consider engine quality, performance, cost of ownership and warranty in making their assessments.

Mercedes-Benz Engines, a division of Daimler Trucks, ranked highest among vocational fleets with a score of 765. MBE was followed by the two independent engine makers, Cummins Inc. at 748 and Caterpillar Inc. at 747.

J.D. Power also said the percentage of fleets reporting an engine problem dropped to 40% — the lowest level since 2005.