Freightliner Redesigns On-Highway Coronado
This story appears in the Oct. 19 print edition of Transport Topics.
Freightliner Trucks introduced its new on-highway Coronado model, which it described as its “top-of-the-line heavy-duty truck” aimed at the owner-operator.
Freightliner, a division of Daimler Trucks North America, showed off the new Coronado in Joplin, Mo., on Oct. 12. It will be available in 2010.
Earlier this month, Freightliner rolled out at an equipment show in Louisville, Ky., its new severe service and vocational Coronado SD model, engineered for construction, heavy and specialized hauling and other work (click here for previous story).
Freightliner said that it has integrated the latest aerodynamic design principles into the on-highway Coronado in order to make it more fuel efficient than “long and tall” tractors while retaining its form.
“Our goal was to create a traditionally styled aerodynamic truck that would help owners reduce fuel consumption and increase bottom-line profits,” Melissa Clausen, Freightliner’s director of product marketing, said in a statement.
The statement said that the new Coronado’s hood is constructed of one piece of fiberglass that is strong and both easy and inexpensive to repair.
“The truck’s smooth stainless steel grille is ready for years of use, and the Coronado’s chrome-plated hood handle was designed in Freightliner’s wind tunnel to specifically enhance airflow over the truck,” the statement said.
Freightliner said the new model has a curved, two-piece windshield that slopes “for better airflow around and over the cab, decreasing wind resistance and further lowering fuel costs.”
Available engines will be the Detroit Diesel DD13, DD15 and DD16, as well as Cummins Inc.’s ISX heavy-duty engine.
Freightliner said the truck has a new cab made of “high-strength, lightweight aluminum” that will allow owner-operators to increase revenue by hauling larger payloads.
In addition, the Coronado has new headlights that Freightliner said were made from a strong composite material and incorporated a single reflector, “which offers excellent lighting capability both forward and to the side.”
Freightliner said the new model had a “luxurious sleeper” with a stow-away upper bunk. It said all other cabin equipment was designed to offer as much comfort and space as possible.
“Every element on the Coronado — from the hood to the fender and even the mirrors — was tested in the wind tunnel to optimize airflow,” Clausen said.
Freightliner said that it would manufacture both the on-highway and vocational Coronado models out of U.S., Canadian and Mexican parts in its plant in Santiago, Mexico.
It said it was the first total redesign since the Coronado was introduced nine years ago.
