PALM BEACH, Fla. – Truck production of the new Detroit DD8 medium-duty engine began on Feb. 5 Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) announced today.

The DD8 is the latest addition to Detroit’s powertrain portfolio, and was prompted into production at the request of DTNA’s vocational dealers and customers looking for a medium-duty solution. The new engine is available for Freightliner M2 106, 108SD, and 114SD truck models. Engine ratings range from 260-375 horsepower with 660-1,050 lb,-ft. torque in single- or dual-stage configuration.

According to DTNA, the new engine is ideal for segments like construction, dump, mixer, plow, towing, refuse, and fire and emergency.

“We’ve covered the full spectrum with this product,” said Kelly Gedert, director of product marketing, Freightliner and Detroit Components. “Our customers and dealers have been asking us for a medium duty engine product for years and we’ve always had third-party solutions available, but we want to make sure we’re providing our customers with choice. Going forward, we are the only ones in the industry to have proprietary and third-party solutions for our medium-duty customers.”

The DD8 engine was launched in Europe back in 2013, Gedert said, so DTNA already worked through all the kinks and flaws and brought a seamless engine to the North American market.

“This is not the first time the engine has been utilized,” she said. “So, there’s millions of miles accumulated so it’s not like it’s brand new. It’s been tested and already have fixes in place before we’ve brought it to North America. It’s a proven product already for us and we are anticipating customer adoption.”

According to Gedert, the company invested $375 million to optimize its global medium-duty engine platforms for the North American market.

“What this number shows is that we have a really strong commitment in making sure this product is successful for NAFTA,” she said, adding that engine production began last year.

As part of its uptime mission, Brain Daniels, manager of Detroit powertrain and component product marketing, said the Detroit Connect Virtual Technician remote diagnostics systems comes standard with the DD8 engine.

“Virtual Technician helps fleets make informed service decisions within minutes of an engine or aftertreatment fault event,” he said.

Daniels added that Detroit kept vocational customers in mind when designing the engine’s durability.

Vocational customers are not a concerned with fuel economy, he said.

“If you look a typical vocational customer, these are guys that do 10-15,000 miles a year. And so while fuel efficiency is great, it’s not as meaningful as someone who does 80-100,000 miles a year. So, what we focus on is things like the B10 life. And the DD8’s B10 life says that 90% of the engines will go beyond 400,000 miles before they are overhauled.”

The engine also comes with a three-year/250,000 mile warranty, and has an engine break option.

“The DD8 is built for performance with features that meet the needs of those specialized segments,” he added.

Daimler invited members of the trucking press from Canada and the U.S. to test drive its DD8 engines in a variety of different configurations on a closed course at the South Florida Fairgrounds.

“Detroit components are designed to work together for optimized efficiency. Regardless of the application, Detroit has powerful solutions that positively impact on our customers’ bottom lines,” said Gedert. “When customers demand Detroit, we deliver.”