Paccar Recalling 21,000 Kenworth, Peterbilt Trucks

Paccar Inc. said it is recalling more than 21,000 trucks for potential defects to seat belts and door latches, according to a notice posted Feb. 7 on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s website.

The recalls involve various model 2013 and 2014 Kenworth and Peterbilt models, Paccar wrote to NHTSA in a letter outlining the recalls.

The door-latch recalls are for 6,746 Kenworth 2013-2014 T680 models that were manufactured between Jan. 1, 2012, and Oct. 14, 2013.

Also being recalled are 2013 and 2014 Peterbilt 567 and 579 models that were made at about the same time.

Paccar, the parent company of Kenworth Truck Co. and Peterbilt Motors Co., wrote to NHTSA that it will notify owners and dealers of the defects by the end of February and that it will replace the seat belt buckles and door-latch assemblies, if needed, free of charge.

The truck units did not respond to a request for comment Feb. 10.

The door latches were made by component maker Inteva Products, based in Troy, Mich.

The seat belt recall is for 5,276 Kenworth 2014 units and 5,138 Peterbilt 2014 units. Those trucks were manufactured between early August and early November of last year.

The seat belts — made by Westfield, Ind.-based Indiana Mills and Manufacturing Inc.  — fail to conform to federal standards in which it may take more effort than is standard to separate the latch plate from the buckle, NHTSA said.

Daimler Trucks North America, Volvo Trucks and Mack Trucks issued recall notices in January over the same seat belt issue involving IMMI’s L9 seatbelt model. Those recalls included more than 26,000 of Daimler’s Freightliner models and 5,000 Volvo models.