I drove a 2010 International box truck for about 8 years , it had the automatic trans with no park which I found odd, the truck was very troublesome but it didn't need DEF fluid somehow International got away from needing it that year, the company traded it on a new Idealease one about a year or so before they let me go , it did take DEF and seemed to run better its had a Cummins diesel whereas the old one was an International. In the old truck I was coming back to N.J. from a delivery on Long Island on the L.I.E. and the truck just died the muffler was red hot, I let it cool down and the truck still wouldn't run and ended up getting it towed something went wrong in the regeneration system. I think we used rental trucks more than the 2010 box truck as it was always in the shop same goes for the 05 International tractor they bought to pull their tanker trailers always in the shop and breaking down.
Navistar was working on meeting the strict 2010 emission standards using a system that didn’t use DEF fluid in an after treatment device to meet the standards. It used a massive EGR system instead. Initially Cummins was working on the same concept but changed course when it became clear it wasn’t working out, and went with DEF.
Navistars CEO at the time was dead set on making the concept work and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Not only was it not meeting the standards and required using EPA credits while trying to make it work, but the trucks were breaking down constantly.
The board of directors tossed the CEO and somehow an agreement was made with Cummins to start supplying engines and their after treatment devices again, after they’d got dumped as a supplier. If Cummins had told Navistar to go pound sand it would have been game over.
The ex CEO was subject to many lawsuits for misleading stock holders.
The bad trucks were a big issue as their trade in value was next to nothing. Believe it or not, many were modified to remove the flawed emission control systems and shipped to Viet Nam. So if you ever visit Vietnam and wonder why there are so many 2010-2012 International tractors there pulling trailers, you now know why.
An interesting business story about how a bad CEO can single-handedly trash a company.
