The American Truck Dealers (ATD) announced the winners of the 2014 ATD Commercial Truck of the Year, an award recognizing the top truck entries in the heavy duty and medium duty categories. Winners were announced during the ATD Convention & Expo in New Orleans.
The commercial truck maker International was selected as the winner in both categories. International’s ProStar with Cummins ISX15 received the heavy duty (class 8) award; its TerraStar 4x4 received the medium duty (Class 3-7) award.
“We are humbled to receive this award,” said David G. Mannella, vice president and general manager of ITA Sales and Service, Harahan, La., who accepted the medium-duty award.
Mannella was called back to accept the heavy-duty award along with Richard Sweebe, partner in Summit Holdings, Memphis, Tenn.
“Well, I spent a long time writing my speech last night,” Sweebe joked to the crowd. “I didn’t know I would be doing this. Thank you.”
Other nominees for the heavy-duty category were the Kenworth T880 Vocational Truck with PACCAR MX-13 engine and Peterbilt Model 579. Nominees for the medium-duty (Class 3-7) were the Hino 195h-DC, Kenworth Class 6 K370 Cabover and Peterbilt Model 220.
The winners were selected by a panel of journalists. Judging categories included innovation, design, safety and driver satisfaction.
The 51st annual ATD event runs concurrently with the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Convention & Expo from Jan. 24-27 in New Orleans. For more information, visit www.atdconvention.org.
