Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/328695
T heir goals were always clear and actually, quite simple. They were to base their efforts on the very charcter- istics that made a Peterbilt what it was — traits such as quality, innovation and reliability — and make the new Peterbilt Model 579 best in class, in every perfor- mance category that mattered. But if achieving that goal was as simple as stating it, the new Peterbilt Model 579 would not nearly be the remarkable truck that it is. The genesis for the Model 579 occurred more than a decade ago, when Peterbilt introduced its first innovative aerodynamic tractor, an on-highway rev- olution that has since evolved into the Model 587. The innovative Peterbilt aero con- tinues to appeal to on-highway drivers seeking class, performance and spa- ciousness, especially those with team driver operations. The cab is among the widest on the road, wider than the rest of the Peterbilt lineup of vocational and regional haul models. And while the company continues to achieve unprecedented Class 8 market share with its lineup, fleet owners and drivers alike told Peterbilt that there was room for an even higher level of custom- ization — and it was right in the middle of the existing cab sizes. "Our product lineup certainly offered flexibility, but we recognized an oppor- tunity to provide an even better fit for many applications," says Peterbilt General Manager Bill Kozek. "The market was there for the new cab. "What we had to do was make it a Peterbilt." That's no small challenge. Making it that much more challenging was the goal of making the Model 579 best-in- class in the six product performance criteria customers told them mattered most: aerodynamics, weight savings, driver environment, visibility, sound quality and ride quality. "We learned, in talking to fleet owners, drivers and our dealers, that what mattered most to them was performance," says Kozek. "Certainly, traditional Peterbilt styling remained important to our customers, but performance is what they talked about first. The market today is made up of very sophis- ticated customers. "So we directed our engineers and design team that while the market has styling expectations from Peterbilt, any creation of style must be justified by purpose." The following stories demonstrate some of the specific challenges Peterbilt engineers faced in achieving best-in- class standards for the Model 579. The process started with identifying industry benchmarks, and then exceeding them. In each instance, Peterbilt partnered with the most innovative automotive suppli- ers on the planet to create solutions never before seen in the Class 8 market. Some were particularly challenging. For example, the acts of making a cab both wider and lighter would appear to be mutually exclusive. But in the end, the Peterbilt Model 579 can be defined in three simple words: Best in Class. "That's what drove our design team these last few years," says Peterbilt Senior Assistant Chief Engineer Kevin Baney. "We kept asking ourselves, 'Are we on track to hit this target, to meet our best-in-class goals? "If not, how do we get there?" Grounded in quality, innovation and reliability, engineers then raised the THE NEW PETERBILT MODEL 579 Building the Model 579 "The market was there for the new cab. What we had to do was make it a Peterbilt." 6 l FIRST CLASS