“Bold,” “burly” and “workhorse” are just a few adjectives that often describe Western Star’s hard-working trucks. You can add “efficient” to that long list of superlatives as the Western Star 5700XE rolls off the line and onto roads across the country. The 5700XE is Western Star’s first fully aerodynamic truck, and it’s the marriage of style and fuel efficiency that the new Western Star General Manager Kelley Platt believes will be the key to the truck’s success.
“Fleet managers understand the value of putting a driver in a truck he or she is proud to drive,” Platt said. “They take better care of it and tend to treat it like their own. With the unique styling and premium amenities of the 5700XE, drivers will be proud to drive this truck.”
On the efficiency side, Platt explained that Western Star’s internal studies have proven the 5700XE is in the same ballpark as the industry-leading Freightliner Cascadia for overall fuel economy. From a safety stand point, the 5700XE offers collision mitigation, lane departure warnings and roll stability control, in addition to an ultra-quiet cab, fingertip controls for many systems and DT12 automated manual transmission, which all help minimize driver fatigue.
Standing out from the crowd
“Creating a uniquely styled truck that maintained the ‘long nose’ look was of major importance during the development of the 5700XE,” Platt said. “It’s no secret that Western Star is the last Class 8 truck manufacturer to offer a full aero model. We used this opportunity to research and find what many customers really wanted in a truck. We found that even fleet drivers want to drive a truck that stands out in the crowd.”
Many of the features—a polished stainless steel grill surround and bumper, as well as a sun visor that provides adequate sun shade—that make it hard not to do a double take as the truck rolls down the road also serve an aerodynamics purpose to boost the truck’s efficiency. Fleets looking to retain drivers are taking a long look at the 5700XE as a potential equipment-related solution.
“Driver retention is huge, and the 5700XE is the truck loyal employees want to drive,” Platt said. “Daimler has the perfect blend right now with the Cascadia being a great fleet truck for those thousand truck orders; the 5700XE is the perfect complement as the reward truck. To punctuate this, consider that both trucks have the identical Detroit powertrain. While this is the most efficient powertrain available, it also provides the same extensive parts and service network and helps streamline driver training.
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