· Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) secures two new major orders for a total of 825 BlueTec trucks

· Penske Truck Leasing orders 750 Freightliner Cascadia heavy-duty trucks with cutting-edge BlueTec emissions treatment technology, retailer Meijer orders 75

· Martin Daum, President and CEO of DTNA: “By enabling us to reach the 10,000-order milestone, our customers have shown that BlueTec is the best choice for complying with the stringent EPA 2010 emissions standard.”

Portland, Oregon – Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) has secured two new major orders, thus substantially exceeding the sales milestone of 10,000 BlueTec trucks. “By enabling us to reach the 10,000-order milestone, our customers have shown that BlueTec is the best choice for complying with the stringent EPA 2010 emissions standard”, said Martin Daum, President and CEO of DTNA.

The latest orders were placed by the fleet operator Penske Truck Leasing and the retailer Meijer. Penske Truck Leasing, which has its headquarters in Reading, Pennsylvania, is a leading truck fleet operator in the U.S. To meet the EPA 2010 emissions regulations, the company has ordered 750 Freightliner Cascadia heavy-duty trucks equipped with BlueTec technology, making DTNA the largest supplier of EPA 2010-compliant trucks to Penske Truck Leasing. The parent company, Penske Corporation, operates a fleet of more than 200,000 vehicles and serves customers at more than 1,000 locations in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia.

The U.S. retailer Meijer, which has its headquarters in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has ordered 75 Freightliner Cascadia trucks equipped with BlueTec. “We’re extremely proud to deploy this innovative technology in our trucks,” said Tom McCall, Vice President of Logistics at Meijer. Randy DeBortoli, EPA 2010 program manager at DTNA, added: “Meijer ideally combines business strategy and environmental friendliness. Our trucks with BlueTec fulfill our customer’s requirements regarding efficiency and environmental friendliness perfectly.”

Every new Freightliner Cascadia and Coronado vehicle, as well as the Freightliner Business Class M2 medium-duty vehicle, is now available with SCR technology. The new Detroit Diesel engines are the most popular engines by far for all trucks of DTNA’s Freightliner and Western Star brands. The engines are mainly ordered by fleet operators, but as well by individual companies.

DTNA has introduced the emissions treatment system known as BlueTec to meet the EPA 2010 limits because the technology has proven to be the most effective solution for reducing pollutant emissions. BlueTec trucks have clocked many millions of miles in Europe since 2005, where they have shown themselves to be safe, reliable, and fuel-efficient.

When compared to an average EPA 2007 truck for an average vehicle lifetime of 1.6 million kilometers, the 2010 Freightliner Cascadia with the DD13 engine and BlueTec will reduce fuel consumption by about 43,000 liters of diesel per truck; reduce fuel costs by almost €23,000 per truck; reduce CO2 emissions by 112 metric tons per truck; and reduce NOx emissions to near-zero — thus eliminating more than six metric tons of emissions per truck.

All of the trucks ordered by Penske and Meijer are equipped with Detroit Diesel DD13 and DD15 engines, with displacements of 12.8 and 14.8 liters, respectively. The drive units are manufactured at DTNA’s engine plant in Redford, Michigan. They were created by Daimler Trucks’ global commercial vehicle engine network (“New Engine Generation”) and combine the know-how of truck developers in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. Daimler Trucks units have jointly developed the engine since 2002 to achieve superb fuel efficiency and meet local emissions limits.

All of the New Engine Generation models incorporate the BlueTec exhaust gas treatment system to substantially reduce nitrous oxide, particulate, and CO2 emissions while at the same time achieving high fuel efficiency. The Detroit Diesel engine was introduced in the Freightliner Cascadia heavy-duty truck in 2007 and has demonstrated its reliability and fuel efficiency over millions of miles.

Daimler Trucks North America LLC, which has its headquarters in Portland, Oregon, is the leading manufacturer of medium- and heavy-duty trucks in North America. Daimler Trucks North America produces and markets Class 4-8 vehicles and is a company of Daimler, the world’s leading commercial vehicle manufacturer.