2024 Freightliner Cascadia

Recalls

2 recalls name the 2024 Freightliner Cascadia. Newest first.

• Steering

  Feb 8, 2024NHTSA 24V09300011 vehicles

  Daimler Trucks North America, LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain 2024 FCCC MT45G, MT45, and Freightliner Cascadia vehicles. The steering gear assemblies may have been assembled incorrectly with fewer recirculating balls than are required, which may result in a loss of steering control.

  Risk and remedy

  Risk

  A loss of steering control increases the risk of a crash.

  Remedy

  Dealers will replace the steering gears, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed April 5, 2024. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1-800-745-8000. DTNA's number for the recall is FL995.

  Full recall details →

• Electronic stability control (esc)

  Apr 26, 2023NHTSA 23V299000266 vehicles

  Daimler Trucks North America, LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain short wheelbase 2020-2024 Freightliner Cascadia, 2021-2024 Freightliner M2 Business Class, 2022 Western Star 4700, and 2020 Freightliner Classic Cascadia vehicles. The vehicle is equipped with an electronic stability control system and tire combination that may understeer during a J-turn. As…

  Risk and remedy

  Risk

  Understeering during a J-turn may increase the risk of a crash.

  Remedy

  DTNA will replace the tires, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed June 19, 2023. Owners may contact DTNA customer service at 1-800-547-0712. DTNA's number for this recall is FL971.

  Full recall details →

Owner complaints

What owners report most

1. Forward collision avoidance13
2. Vehicle speed control6
3. Steering2
4. Service brakes2
5. Electrical system1
6. Suspension1
7. Tires1
8. Exterior lighting1

Latest complaints

• Sep 17, 2025TX
  Forward collision avoidance › Warnings

  The forward collision avoidance system fails to distinguish stationary objects from animate objects resulting in immediate engagement of the braking system.

• Jun 20, 2025IL
  Tires

  See attached document for complaint.

• Dec 30, 2024PA
  Electrical system · Steering · Suspension
  It is hard to impossible to drive the truck in a straight line (compared to models without the smartvalves), and often drifts side to side randomly without any warning or feedback. The steering requires constant input, and the "feel" of the truck is not correct to allow intuitive steering. When…

  It is hard to impossible to drive the truck in a straight line (compared to models without the smartvalves), and often drifts side to side randomly without any warning or feedback. The steering requires constant input, and the "feel" of the truck is not correct to allow intuitive steering. When driving in tight areas, I find that I need to stay at least a foot away from barriers or other objects to not be in danger of hitting them. When in width-limited areas, like construction zones, I often need to straddle the center line and block other vehicles from passing me, so as not to be in danger of collision. These controllability problems are induced by the "active" smartvalve system. This is the chassis leveling system that adjusts air to the suspension air springs (air bags). The smart valve system is there to allow a driver to adjust the suspension up or down as needed to assist in hooking in improperly positioned trailer (to prevent injuries). The system also actively interferes with what would be the normal operation of a suspension "leveling" valve, and adjusts and or blocks the normal flow of air in and out of the suspension when driving. This results in poor handling and control problems. I have asked to have the valve replaced with a normal "dumb" valve on my truck, since I have found that the trucks handle normally with a standard leveling valve. I have also found that in many curvy road situations, the truck is hard to keep from running off the road, even bobtail. There is severe apparent understeer, and it seems likely to be attributed to the smartvalve leveler interfering with the suspension. I see that there is a recall on Freightliners having to do with understeer problems on curves (Recall 234245 [USA]: Understeering during a j-turn may increase the risk of a crash.). The recall says that Freightliner will replace the tires; it is likely that this will not help in the case of models with an active "smartvalve" system.

• Dec 30, 2024PA
  Forward collision avoidance › Adaptive cruise control · Vehicle speed control
  The cruise control has been programmed to stay engaged, in many instances, after the driver has used the foot brake. In some situations, like approaching a traffic circle, I have slowed down with the foot brake, then had the truck unexpectedly start to accelerate after I released the brake. This…

  The cruise control has been programmed to stay engaged, in many instances, after the driver has used the foot brake. In some situations, like approaching a traffic circle, I have slowed down with the foot brake, then had the truck unexpectedly start to accelerate after I released the brake. This apparently has to do with a vehicle in my headway allowing the cruise to remain engaged, and then after the vehicle leaves my headway the truck thinks it can accelerate again. There is never a good reason for the cruise control in any vehicle to remain engaged after using the brakes. This results in unpredicted situations, like unplanned acceleration. This also applies to vehicles trying to merge in front of me, where I use the brakes to back off some and allow them in, but then the cruise (still engaged) will accelerate again toward the vehicle that was previously in my headway.

• Dec 30, 2024PA
  Forward collision avoidance › Adaptive cruise control · Vehicle speed control
  Complaint 1 When using cruise control in 2024 Freightliner Cascadia trucks with level 2 autonomous driving features, there is no option to turn off the autonomous driving features (and use standard cruise control); the driver is forced to use the system if he wants or needs to use cruise control.…

  Complaint 1 When using cruise control in 2024 Freightliner Cascadia trucks with level 2 autonomous driving features, there is no option to turn off the autonomous driving features (and use standard cruise control); the driver is forced to use the system if he wants or needs to use cruise control. This apparently is a software setting that is available in some versions, but is not available in models bought/leased to large trucking companies. Complaint 2 There is no way to adjust the "agressiveness" of the self-driving (acceleration and braking) feature of these trucks. The default in this model truck is unknown to me, but in slow-and-go or stop-and-go traffic, the truck is highly aggressive; the truck follows too close very often, and waits until the last second to slow or stop in most cases. This also happens in high volume, higher speed traffic.

• Dec 30, 2024PA
  Forward collision avoidance › Adaptive cruise control · Vehicle speed control
  These trucks have a non-adjustable default setting for Over and Under cruise control speed setting. This means, in the case of the truck I drove, that the cruise control will allow the truck to go 5 mph over the set speed before engaging the engine brake, or 4 mph under the setting before…

  These trucks have a non-adjustable default setting for Over and Under cruise control speed setting. This means, in the case of the truck I drove, that the cruise control will allow the truck to go 5 mph over the set speed before engaging the engine brake, or 4 mph under the setting before accelerating. The problem is that when set for the speed limit, the truck will climb to 7 mph over the set speed before engaging engine brake. When driving on a downgrade with a lot of weight, the truck quickly gets to well over a safe speed before the truck will attempt to slow down. This often results in an overspeed situation when approaching curves. In older models of Freightliner, and maybe in current versions that are adjustable, there is a setting to change this to closer to the set speed. In this model, or large companies' ordered versions, this adjustment is not available. The idea is to save fuel by "hyper-mile" style of driving. It makes for an unpredictable speed of vehicle, frustrating other drivers, and sometimes leading to unsafe overspeed situations.

• Dec 30, 2024PA
  Forward collision avoidance › Automatic emergency braking · Forward collision avoidance › Warnings · Vehicle speed control
  When a vehicle is merging into my lane, the truck will often not detect or react to the encroaching vehicle; this happens even when there is plenty of space, and the encroaching vehicle is halfway into my lane. I have had to intervene several times, since the truck was accelerating toward the…

  When a vehicle is merging into my lane, the truck will often not detect or react to the encroaching vehicle; this happens even when there is plenty of space, and the encroaching vehicle is halfway into my lane. I have had to intervene several times, since the truck was accelerating toward the previous vehicle in my headway, and ingoring the intervening merging vehicle. In contrast, the sensors in the truck apparently can see when a vehicle is near to the front, and mostly out of the headway of the truck (only part of the front vehicle in my lane, like when exiting). This truck will brake, and continue braking unnecessarily (and unnecessarily hard braking) for a vehicle that is completely out of my lane (by several feet), before continuing and regaining speed. This shows that the sensors are capable of "seeing" and tracking the vechicles, but still does not respond to traffic merging into the truck's headway.

• Dec 30, 2024PA
  Forward collision avoidance › Adaptive cruise control · Forward collision avoidance › Automatic emergency braking · Vehicle speed control
  When driving in highway traffic at moderate to high speeds (as well as low speeds), the truck will often accelerate with (and towards) a vehicle that is less than 1 second ahead of the truck. Certainly this often happens when there is not a safe distance between the truck and the next vehicle.…

  When driving in highway traffic at moderate to high speeds (as well as low speeds), the truck will often accelerate with (and towards) a vehicle that is less than 1 second ahead of the truck. Certainly this often happens when there is not a safe distance between the truck and the next vehicle. The trucks systems in no way seem to expect that the next vehicle could slam on brakes at any moment. I have had this happen many times when a vehicle merges too close in front of me and then accelerates. The truck will accelerate with the vehicle (that the truck is now tailgating), even though there is slowing or stopping traffic directly ahead of the vehicle the truck is following. The Safety Director at Tyson Foods, Robert Carl, told me in a conference call about the unsafe flaws in the truck, that these Freightliner systems are programmed to "try" to maintain about a 2.5 second following distance. Even this is patently unsafe. Driver safety guidelines (FMCSA) are: "If you are driving below 40 mph, you should leave at least one second for every 10 feet of vehicle length. For a typical tractor-trailer, this results in 4 seconds between you and the leading vehicle. For speeds over 40 mph, you should leave one additional second." It would appear that Daimler/Freightliner may have used Autonomous Driving software that was designed for cars, and has tried to "adjust" it to work in tractor-trailers. That is speculation, but based on the supposed target following distance, that may be correct. 2.5 seconds is certainly too close, and the distances of less than 1 second that I have commonly seen are not acceptable in any truck.

• Dec 30, 2024PA
  Forward collision avoidance › Adaptive cruise control · Forward collision avoidance › Automatic emergency braking · Forward collision avoidance › Warnings
  When approaching stopped traffic, sometimes the truck will respond and begin to slow down. At other times, the truck will continue at set speed toward a detected stopped vehicle, and in situations where the time and distance are way too short to justify no reaction by the system. The truck at…

  When approaching stopped traffic, sometimes the truck will respond and begin to slow down. At other times, the truck will continue at set speed toward a detected stopped vehicle, and in situations where the time and distance are way too short to justify no reaction by the system. The truck at sometimes acts like it is auto-driving; at others it acts as if it is only in crash-mitigation mode, and will wait for the driver until the last possible second and then slam on brakes. There have been some times where the truck actually gave a collision warning (alarm and display turns red), but in no way attempted to slow itself. This happens with vehicles detected in the truck's headway for multiple seconds beforehand. In short, the truck will sometimes apparently allow itself to rear-end a vehicle in front of itself, even though the sensors detected it and it had plenty of time to react. When there has been a collision warning with no action by the autonomous system, it has often been when there is less than 1/2 second for the driver to intervene.

• Dec 30, 2024PA
  Forward collision avoidance › Adaptive cruise control · Forward collision avoidance › Warnings · Vehicle speed control
  The cruise control (level 2 autonomous) will turn itself off without any warning sometimes. This happens any time the truck is set for above the speed limit by more than 2 mph. The truck uses a speed limit map, independent of actual posted speed limits. When the truck detects a speed limit drop…

  The cruise control (level 2 autonomous) will turn itself off without any warning sometimes. This happens any time the truck is set for above the speed limit by more than 2 mph. The truck uses a speed limit map, independent of actual posted speed limits. When the truck detects a speed limit drop to below the cruise setting, either real or imagined, the cruise control disengages without any warning or notification. This is a problem when I expect the truck to continue its autonomous function in traffic situations, but it does not, and without warning. The system will even disengage while it is operating; it will be slowing or maintaining a following distance, then disengage. The driver has no idea if the truck is still auto-driving until he is close to a rear-end accident. Also, bear in mind that speed limit signs are often only posted on the right side of the road; If there is something blocking the sign, like another vehicle, the cruise will still disengage without warning, and the driver does not know it. The only way to tell if cruise is still engaged is by looking for a small green icon in the bottom left of the dash display, which is over 20 degrees down from focal view. Also, there are times when the cruise disengages for no apparent reason. Sometimes there is a barely audible bluetooth-disconnect type sound, but often there is no audible warning. There is also no display warning of any type.

• Nov 13, 2024OR
  Exterior lighting
  On [XXX] I was traveling across Wyoming west from Laramie Wy to Cokeville Wy. It had been snowing all day with temperatures fluctuating between 28 and 31 degrees. I had my headlights on all day when the sun went down I was on [XXX] and I couldn't see anything. I had to pull over on the side of the…

  On [XXX] I was traveling across Wyoming west from Laramie Wy to Cokeville Wy. It had been snowing all day with temperatures fluctuating between 28 and 31 degrees. I had my headlights on all day when the sun went down I was on [XXX] and I couldn't see anything. I had to pull over on the side of the snow covered road to find my headlights totally covered with about a half inch of snow and ice. I asked my dealer to check the LED headlight heaters and was told Freightliner didn't build a heater for their LED headlights. LED headlights do not create heat on their own and there for will not melt snow and ice off like traditional halogen lights will. I travel from Oregon to Colorado every week and this is a serious safety defect it is dangerous to pull over to clear snow and ice on the side of the road just so Freightliner could save a few dollars on headlight heaters that all LED headlight manufacturers are already included on other vehicles INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

• Nov 12, 2024MI92,500 miCrash
  Steering
  The contact owned a 2024 Freight Liner PT. The contact stated while the driver was driving at 64 MPH, the driver heard a pop sound, and the vehicle veered off to the left and crashed into a cement guard rail. The contact stated that the driver was steering in the right direction, however, the…

  The contact owned a 2024 Freight Liner PT. The contact stated while the driver was driving at 64 MPH, the driver heard a pop sound, and the vehicle veered off to the left and crashed into a cement guard rail. The contact stated that the driver was steering in the right direction, however, the vehicle independently veered to the left. The vehicle was towed to the tow yard. The vehicle was deemed totaled by the insurance company. In addition, the contact stated that the same vehicle experienced a similar failure in January 2024. The contact stated that the vehicle was jack-knifed, however, the video confirmed that the driver was driving at 48 MPH and did not depress the brake pedal. Also, the contact stated that before the January 2024 failure, the engine was rebuilt in the vehicle. The contact was concerned that the failure was due to manufacturer defects. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 92,500.

• Sep 14, 2024UT
  Service brakes

  Intermittent air leak from the Turbo cut off valve on Wabco air drier, Causing loss of system air pressure. This issue has been happening on many of the freightliner trucks in our fleet, Ever since Wabco re-designed the air drier. Wabco tag info. 23161 116973 4324801450

• Mar 19, 2024IL
  Service brakes

  All 6 Rotors have circumferential Groves. Dealer refuses to fix the issue. It was dropped for repairs due to lack of proper braking. Dealer road tested unit and stated that everything operates properly. When confronted that groves will get deeper in short period of time and it's a safety issue they still refused to repair. Unit has bumper to bumper warranty for 100k miles.

Service bulletins

Technical service bulletins and other communications the manufacturer sent dealers about this vehicle. Ask a dealer for the full document by its number.

• 11011588Revised Technical Service Bulletin for Detroit New Final Drive Standard Performance Forward Carrier Change to Top Performance Passive Lube Management.
• 11011124Technical Service Bulletin for Detroit Drive Axle Identification and Lubrication
• 11011110Service Solution for Cascadia Optimized Idle icon missing on instrument cluster
• 11011107Service Solution for J1939 CAN issues for vehicles equipped w/ Bendix Side Radar w/ expanded field of view
• 11011098CX Advocate for P4 J1939 Communication Errors (TSB54-366-FTL)
• 11011084CX Advocate for discolored coolant surge tank
• 11011082CX Advocate for CARB tightening the Readiness Criteria applied to On-Board Diagnostic (OBD) test submissions for the Clean Truck Check.
• 11011076Warranty Information letter for Detroit Line or Line Seal, High Pressure Fuel Injector Standard Repair Time Updates
• 11011075Technical Service Bulletin for Repairing Seat Occupancy Sensor for ISRI, SEARS and National Truck Seats
• 11011072Revised Technical Service Bulletin for ABS Wheel Speed Fault Code Correction for MBSP Equipped Vehicles. Description of Revisions: This bulletin replaces the version dated 10/09/2024. Updated FMI number in the metadata.
• 11010186CX Advocate for CARB tightening the Readiness Criteria applied to On-Board Diagnostic (OBD) test submissions for the Clean Truck Check.
• 11010182Service Solution for Cascadia with Cummins Engines and eViscous Engine Fan with Communication Issues
• 11010177CX Advocate for overview of the remanufacturing process.
• 11010176CX Advocate for the following CSA: (24CSA-17,24CSA-19,24CSA-20) Gen 5 DD13 Turbocharger Oil Return Line Cracks, Heavy-Duty Engine Product (HDEP) Oil Separator Leaks, Discolored Coolant Surge Tank on Heavy Duty Engine Product (HDEP)
• 11010169Technical Service Bulletin for J1939 Communication Errors with Cummins Engine Automated or Allison Transmission and Bendix Side Radar
• 11010157Technical Service Bulletin for ABS Wheel Speed Fault Code Correction for MBSP Equipped Vehicles
• 11010143Service Solution for Detroit Successful Regen Reference for GHG17 DD Engines
• 11010131Customer Service Annoucement for Discolored Coolant Surge Tank on Heavy Duty Engine Product (HDEP)
• 11010130Customer Service Annoucement for Heavy-Duty Engine Product (HDEP) Oil Separator Leaks
• 11008539CX Advocate for NFD fill plugs
• 11008535CX Advocate for HDEP High Pressure Fuel Line Seal Failures
• 11008529Warranty Policy Letter for Steering Wheel Centering Policy Amendment
• 11008512Revised Technical Service Bulletin for ABS Wheel Speed Fault Code Correction for MBSP Equipped Vehicles. Description of Revisions: This bulletin replaces the version dated 07/17/2024. Added metadata for fault code.
• 11008508Service Solution for Detroit Successful Regen Reference for GHG17 DD Engines
• 11008496Customer Letter for Alcoa/Howmet wheel flanges
• 11008494Customer Letter for Alcoa/Howmet wheel flanges
• 11008492Customer Advisory Letter for Z-Bracket Welded too High on Rear Axle Differential Housing
• 11008490Customer Advisory Letter for Proactive Turbocharger Mounting Bracket Replacement
• 11008488Detroit Customer Service Annoucement for Gen 5 DD13 Turbocharger Oil Return Line Cracks
• 11008487Detroit Customer Service Annoucement for Gen 5 DD15 Cylinder Head Cup Plug Replacement
• 11007987Technical Service Bulletin for Wabco OnGuard Display Discrepancy
• 11007528Fuel Injector Cleaner Updated Procedure
• 11007527Cleaning Gen5 Engine Fuel Injectors
• 11007526Fuel Injection Cleaning Machine Priming Procedures
• 11007524CX Advocate for Wabco Onguard (TSB54-364-FTL, TSB54-094-WST)
• 11007523CX Advocate for Missing Regen switch menu on ICUC Screen
• 11007521CX Advocate for Lytx camera mounting & wiring routing issues (SS 3152-FTL, SS 766-WST)
• 11007517CX Advocate for ConMet Oil Pan Insert Additional Failures
• 11007516CX Advocate for clean idle label placement
• 11007514CX Advocate for Technical Service Bulletin for New Battery Cable Access (BCA) Parts for Improved Cold Weather Functionality (TSB54-369-FTL, TSB54-095-WST)

Every Freightliner Cascadia model year

Bars are owner complaints, dots mark years with recalls. Select a year to open its report.