Overdrive

October 2014

Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info

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48 | Overdrive | October 2014 Drive TesT A modern classic adapts F or Western Star general manager Michael Jackson, the challenge is straightforward: Preserve and enhance the niche truck-maker's products in such a way that allows you to leverage the full bounty of Daimler Trucks' impressive technological portfo- lio while retaining the brand persona of being something of an outsider. It's a tall order, but if the new Western Star 5700XE on-highway tractor is any indication, it's a charge Jackson and his colleagues have taken to heart. The truck takes a solid departure away from the long-nosed slab-faced Western Stars of yesteryear. As I posted photos on Twitter, one online wag, "Chadderbox," good-naturedly joked, "WOW! A new design for the first time since the 1970s LOL!" It's true that Western Star is a late-comer to the aerodynamic revo- lution that's decades-old in long-haul trucking, but Jackson thinks the timing Western Star has entered the aero age in a big way with its distinctive 5700XE. Western Star goes for a major style reset with its first aerodynamic tractor BY JACK ROBERTS 48 | Overdrive | October 2014

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