At Daimler Truck North America, we are committed to developing cutting-edge transportation solutions that transform the commercial trucking industry. As the leading manufacturer of heavy-duty on-highway trucks in North America, we consistently pursue our goals by delivering the best trucks on the road. Our dedication to technical innovation, superior engineering, and uncompromising customer focus supports all the fleets, carriers, shippers, and owner-operators who keep the world moving.
Innovation
Electric Mobility
At Daimler Truck North America, we are developing electric vehicles that meet real-world needs. Our heavy-duty Freightliner eCascadia® is designed for local and regional distribution and port drayage, while the Freightliner eM2® serves medium-duty needs for pick-up, delivery and last-mile logistics. The Thomas Built Buses Jouley™ electric school bus ensures safe, quiet, and emission-free transportation for students across North America. The Freightliner Custom Chassis MT50e walk-in van offers a fully electric, emission-free solution for last-mile deliveries.
We believe in co-creating the best products with our customers. By partnering with them, we inform product design and the surrounding ecosystem, including charging infrastructure, vehicle maintenance and service.
To support the demand for electric vehicles, Daimler Truck North America has made significant strides in developing charging infrastructure and battery technology. Electric Island in Portland, developed in collaboration with Portland General Electric, is a pioneering electric charging site designed to support the needs of electric trucks. It features multiple charging stations and serves as an innovation center for studying energy management, charger use, and vehicle performance.
Our investment in Greenlane, a joint venture focused on developing a nationwide public network of charging stations for trucks, underscores our commitment to making electric vehicle charging more accessible and efficient for our customers.
Furthermore, Amplify Cell Technologies, a joint venture between Daimler Truck, Accelera by Cummins, and PACCAR, is dedicated to localizing battery cell production in the United States. Located in Marshall County, Mississippi, this state-of-the-art facility will produce lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery cells, chosen for their durability and cost-effectiveness. Spanning two million square feet, the facility will have an annual manufacturing capacity of 21 gigawatt-hours (GWh) and is expected to create over 2,000 U.S. manufacturing jobs. Production is set to begin in 2027, marking a significant step towards a robust and responsive battery supply chain for electric commercial vehicles.
These initiatives highlight our commitment to making electric vehicle technology accessible, efficient, and sustainable, driving progress and innovation in the transportation industry.
Autonomous Driving
As a pioneer in autonomous driving, Daimler Truck North America is committed to making roads safer and boosting productivity for freight-hauling companies. Our clear roadmap for autonomous trucks focuses on developing SAE Level 4 vehicles through a dual-track strategy, ensuring our customers can choose the best autonomous driving solution for their business needs.
We are pursuing a dual-track strategy by collaborating with strong partners to develop both captive and non-captive autonomous driving solutions. This approach allows us to offer a range of options tailored to different business requirements.
Our independent subsidiary, Torc Robotics, plays a crucial role in our captive autonomous driver solution. This closely integrated partnership enables the seamless integration of the autonomous-ready Freightliner Cascadia with Torc’s virtual driver. Supported by an operations and network center, this system is designed to run autonomous trucks and manage fleets efficiently.
In addition to our captive solution, we offer a non-captive virtual driver option with the industry-first redundant autonomous-ready Freightliner Cascadia. This cutting-edge truck, designed by Daimler Truck North America, is equipped with redundant safety features, including braking and steering systems. This redundancy ensures that if one system fails, another can take over, maintaining the truck's safety and operational integrity.
Daimler Truck North America is targeting market entry for SAE Level 4 autonomous trucks in a hub-to-hub case in the United States by 2027. This milestone will mark a significant step forward in our mission to revolutionize the transportation industry with autonomous driving technology.
Connectivity
Our Detroit Connect® suite of connected vehicle services makes truck performance data more accessible than ever. By providing comprehensive, actionable intelligence, we are transforming how our customers interact with their trucks and positively impacting their businesses’ bottom lines.
The innovative Detroit Connect suite includes:
- Detroit Connect Virtual Technician®: Helps customers make informed service decisions within minutes of an engine or aftertreatment fault event, improving uptime.
- Detroit Connect Remote Updates: Uses secure, over-the-air programming and a cellular connection to facilitate select engine parameter changes for fleets, allowing updates to be made from a single location.
- Detroit Connect Analytics: Translates vehicle fuel efficiency and safety performance data into interactive, easy-to-understand insights, providing actionable information for optimizing vehicle and fleet performance.
Installed on each Freightliner Cascadia, the Detroit Connect platform allows for the expansion of connectivity services, offering flexibility in how customers access their fleet data. It also supports integration with third-party telematics providers, giving customers the freedom to work with their preferred partners without the need for additional hardware.
