Would You Choose A Freightliner, Volvo, Or International?

If I am a driver, I don't have a choice and don't even care what to drive. Whatever company has and gives to me to make money on, I'd drive. If I am an OO, different story. I'd get something, that is not prone to break a lot and fix expensive if it does. Staying away from Volvo as far as I can.

Art, chances are that the company you’d be starting with will run all three listed and some will all your preference if they have availability. You might rethink your stance on Volvo though. Their newer trucks are one of the most reliable on the road overall and in regards to power comparisons, in equally set up trucks, the Volvo puts more power to the ground than other manufacturers. They’ve really done their homework and built a very solid driveline.

I really don’t care for internationals, at least not the ones I drove. That said, I care about making money and getting home time. Nothing else really matters to me lol. If I was lucky enough to get a choice which one to pick (as a company driver) I’d probably pick the Freightliner since I’m so used to driving them and I think they’re pretty comfortable to live in and drive.

Robert, I've driven enough of Volvo trucks to know what they are. You are right about the power, the Jake break is phenomenal, quiet during wind, looks good too, but that's about it for me. I'd gladly "sacrifice" a bit of power and looks for better handling on highway, they are swimming, shaky steering wheel on every little bump, gas pedal requires foot twist work, cuz it sits up high, back pain from the sit, cuz it requires driver to be positioned in L shape all the time, no recline, do not like the idea of sleeping on top, bottom bed has thin foam pads, which is a no no for a good rest, and most irritating is a low frequency engine sound with crazy vibration on hills, when RPM go down to 1k before shifting down. Otherwise, yes, they are nice.. my son just recently spent almost 10k to replace just a clutch on I-Shift.

Robert, I've driven enough of Volvo trucks to know what they are. You are right about the power, the Jake break is phenomenal, quiet during wind, looks good too, but that's about it for me. I'd gladly "sacrifice" a bit of power and looks for better handling on highway, they are swimming, shaky steering wheel on every little bump, gas pedal requires foot twist work, cuz it sits up high, back pain from the sit, cuz it requires driver to be positioned in L shape all the time, no recline, do not like the idea of sleeping on top, bottom bed has thin foam pads, which is a no no for a good rest, and most irritating is a low frequency engine sound with crazy vibration on hills, when RPM go down to 1k before shifting down. Otherwise, yes, they are nice.. my son just recently spent almost 10k to replace just a clutch on I-Shift.

Im guessing almost all of the trucks in recent years at large carriers (for company drivers) are mapped and programmed to ridiculously low shift points. My Kenworth will drag a gear down to 800 rpms at times before downshifting if I let her. I usually manually downshift going up hills at 1050 rpm and it will kick her right into the preferred Rpm range. My trainers Freightshaker did the same thing, but it would hold it better most of the time. The Volvos we had in school seemed a little bit better at rpm management though. Our Intertrashinals haves the same tranny as the Kenworth most of the time, so they behave the same way.

Each truck is programmed slightly different though and ordered differently, so I was told, dont necessarily judge an entire product line on one truck. I didnt have any experience when I gave my preference for a truck, so I based my preference off things like interior layout, controls layout, mirrors, etc. Id love to say looks didnt play into it, but Im human, and its subjective. There is also a trade off with things. The freight shaker I was in had a phenomenally horrible ride, but it handled far superior to the other trucks I was in. It was very confidence inspiring where others felt too soft and wallowed to the outside of turns in comparison. Perhaps the harsh ride was the price of planted suspension. Cabinet layouts that give space sacrifice storage space, etc.

The freight shaker I was in had a phenomenally horrible ride, but it handled far superior to the other trucks I was in. It was very confidence inspiring where others felt too soft and wallowed to the outside of turns in comparison. Perhaps the harsh ride was the price of planted suspension. Cabinet layouts that give space sacrifice storage space, etc.

Davy, looks like you are a soft and easy going person. The question I have.. what would you prefer, soft and wobbly ride, or control? Second question, did you ride a Volvo, that junk, that friends of son's of mine on 2019 already replaced all injectors? I drive ONLY FRLTR since 2000, why, I drove one for 15 years, easy going, 70k a year, then took a break 5 yrs, doing my thing.. now from 2020 when Corona hit, I had no choice, paid 8 grand for a FRLR Century, fixes and updates on the way.. breaks, AC, tires.., but had no other issues ever. Yes it is "ugly", yes it is not pulling "well", BUT.. I am making same as the new anything. I am sitting home and enjoying my kids and family more, than "anything", in 9 month since New Year I've being home 4.5 month, everything else, I can deal with:)

The freight shaker I was in had a phenomenally horrible ride, but it handled far superior to the other trucks I was in. It was very confidence inspiring where others felt too soft and wallowed to the outside of turns in comparison. Perhaps the harsh ride was the price of planted suspension. Cabinet layouts that give space sacrifice storage space, etc.

Davy, looks like you are a soft and easy going person. The question I have.. what would you prefer, soft and wobbly ride, or control? Second question, did you ride a Volvo, that junk, that friends of son's of mine on 2019 already replaced all injectors? I drive ONLY FRLTR since 2000, why, I drove one for 15 years, easy going, 70k a year, then took a break 5 yrs, doing my thing.. now from 2020 when Corona hit, I had no choice, paid 8 grand for a FRLR Century, fixes and updates on the way.. breaks, AC, tires.., but had no other issues ever. Yes it is "ugly", yes it is not pulling "well", BUT.. I am making same as the new anything. I am sitting home and enjoying my kids and family more, than "anything", in 9 month since New Year I've being home 4.5 month, everything else, I can deal with:)

It is a toss up. The KW is compliant enough for what I need, it reminds me of an old Chevy pickup. Really nice ride and you learn to work with the suspension behavior. For the most of my drive, the punishment of the ride in the freight shaker out weights it's good points, I'm simply not in curves enough and when I am, I take them slowly anyway.

I haven't driven newer Volvo's, but from people I've talked with that do, they didn't seem to have reliability issues.

It's a mute point though for the most part, we can state our preference for a truck here at my company, but there's no guarantee we will get it. My terminal manager did me a favor in getting mine.

New Frieghtshakers are seemingly plagued with electrical problems and overly sensitive sensors lots of downtime and headaches. IMO International is a better product.

Don't forget about the DEF sensor going out and putting the truck in derate.