CarBrandLogos archive · Freightliner · 1995

FreightlinerCentury Class

Freightliner's aerodynamic answer to the square-nosed American highway tractor.

Photo: Ildar Sagdejev (Specious) · CC BY-SA 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in Freightliner history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Freightliner Century Class, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Freightliner arrived in the mid-1990s with a tractor designed around airflow rather than tradition. The Century Class replaced the squared-off FLD and gave long-haul fleets a sloped hood, wraparound glass and a sleeper cab shaped as a single aerodynamic form, at a time when fuel economy was becoming the deciding number in fleet purchasing. Under it went the standard American heavy-duty menu: Detroit Diesel Series 60 and later DD-series engines, Caterpillar 3406E, C13 and C15 units, Cummins N14 and ISX, with Eaton manual, UltraShift automated and Allison automatic transmissions.

Freightliner Coronado 2008 · selbst · Public domain

Design and engineering

It sold in volume and helped push Freightliner to the top of the Class 8 market under Daimler-Benz ownership. North American production ran to 2010, when the Cascadia took over, though export-market versions continued to 2020 and the cab has stayed available far longer as a glider kit, a rolling chassis sold without an engine and popular with operators rebuilding around older powertrains.

Freightliner CL 120 Columbia 2010 · Qwerty242 · CC BY-SA 3.0

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

1995–2010

Engine

Caterpillar C13

Technical specification

The Century Class, in detail.

Production: 1995–2010 (North America, 1996–2010 model years), 1998–2020 for export markets 1995–present as a glider truck kit
Class: Heavy Duty Class 8 Truck
Body style: Conventional Day Cab, Sleeper Truck
Engine: Caterpillar C13; Caterpillar C15; Caterpillar 3406E; Detroit Diesel MBE 4000; Detroit Diesel Series 60; Detroit Diesel DD13/15/16; Cummins ISX; Cummins N14
Transmission: Eaton 8, 9, 10, 13,& 18 speed manual; Eaton UltraShift automated manual; Allison 4500 RDS automatic
Manufacturer: Freightliner Trucks