J.D. Power Study says Medium-Duty Trucks have Better Quality

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Ca. — The quality of medium-duty trucks has greatly improved in the last few years, but, oddly, customer satisfaction has declined.

That’s according the 2011 U.S. Medium-Duty by J.D. Power and Associates 2011 U.S. Medium-Duty Truck Customer Satisfaction Study, released last week.

Owner-documented problems decreased by 26 percent between 2007 and 2011, pointing towards higher quality, the study found. Owner satisfaction, however, dropped 27 index points among trucks that have been in service 13 to 18 months.

"When we dig deeper, we find that it’s not the number of problems," said Brent Gruber, senior manager of the commercial vehicle practice at J.D. Power and Associates, "but the nature of the problems that are causing owners to be less satisfied with their trucks.”

The last five years have seen manufacturers make significant improvements to wheel/tire, braking system, and cab/body quality, which resulted in the decline of total problems. Engine problems, though, are another story.

“Declining engine quality is putting downward pressure on satisfaction,” said Gruber in the press release, citing electronic control module calibration and regeneration systems as the main culprits.

The study also found that Class 5 trucks had the highest quality levels in 2011.

Hino ranked the highest in customer satisfaction within the conventional truck segment, and performed well in engine satisfaction and overall quality.

Freightliner was the most improved from 2010, the study noted, due to higher engine satisfaction and cost of ownership satisfaction.

The study was based on responses from 1,037 primary maintainers of 2010 model-year Class 5, 6 and 7 conventional cab medium-duty trucks between June and July 2011. It looked at six different factors: engine; warranty; cost of operation; cab and body; ride/handling/braking; and transmission.

“Medium-duty trucks are sophisticated vehicles that are often used for more demanding applications,” Gruber said. “Between the complexity of the truck and engine and the rugged use, there is a lot that may go wrong with these trucks."

While Gruber acknowledged that manufacturers are trying to improve overall quality, the focus should now be on addressing the number of engine related problems, and meeting the demands of new emission and fuel efficiency standards.