Con-way Freight Will Add 875 Freightliner Trucks to Fleet

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Transport Topics / July 16, 2015

Less-than-truckload carrier Con-way Freight is purchasing 875 new trucks to update its fleet of linehaul and pickup/delivery vehicles.

In a July 16 statement, the LTL carrier, the largest subsidiary of Con-way Inc., said the vehicles are made by the Freightliner division of Daimler Trucks North America.

Con-way ranks No. 4 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.

Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Con-way said it will take possession of the trucks this year.

Of the total, 450 will be Class 8 Cascadias for linehaul work and the rest will be Class 7 M2s for pickup and delivery.

The carrier also is buying 1,750 new trailers made by Con-way Manufacturing, formerly Road Systems, another unit of Con-way Inc.

“The new power units will provide greater fuel efficiency, as they are designed with better emission controls and features,” said Tim Killilee, senior director of maintenance at Con-way Freight.

“Most importantly, we have listened to our drivers and incorporated their feedback in the process, including features they’ve identified as being critical,” Killilee said.

The Cascadias will have automated manual transmissions, and the M2s will have fully automatic transmissions.

The company said managers made that choice because “without the need to operate a clutch and manually shift through the gears, drivers are able to place additional focus on traffic and road conditions as well as proactive defensive-driving techniques.

” The linehaul tractors also will have forward-looking, adaptive radar for front-collision avoidance, lane departure warning and rollover-stability control systems. The parent company also owns a major carrier, Con-way Truckload.