On October 17, 2017 US Xpress, a large Chattanooga, Tenn., trucking company, reached a multi-year deal worth more than $200 million to purchase 1,665 International LT semi-tractors from Navistar International Corp. The deal includes 1,400 sleeper trucks and 265 day cabs.
“We had a chance to test one of their 2018 trucks and the test was extremely surprising. Fuel mileage was the best of class,” said Max Fuller, executive chairman at US Xpress. “We got pretty excited about putting this order in place.”
“The things we look at are the total cost of ownership and whether the truck has the proper support programs in place – dealers that have parts, good warranties, things that support the product after the sale – and International does a pretty good job in that area,” Fuller said.
The sale was a notable conquest for Navistar as US Xpress is a major buyer of Freightliner Cascadia semi-tractors. US Xpress has 7,400 trucks in its fleet.
The US Xpress sale was announced at the start of the Alliance Leadership Conference in Chicago. The conference brings together the top 90 executives of Navistar and Volkswagen Truck & Bus, the commercial vehicle division of the German automaker, to map out a North American Sales strategy.
Both Navistar and Volkswagen Truck & Bus joined in a business alliance when VW purchased 17 percent of Navistar for $256 million earlier this year and took two seats on the Lisle, Ill, truck company’s board of directors. Besides its own label, Volkswagen also owns the MAN and Scania truck brands.
