Freightliner Driving MythBusters’ Quest for Truth

Since 2007, the Discovery Channel’s most-watched program, MythBusters, has featured Freightliner Trucks’ vehicles as part of the show both on-screen and behind the scenes. The San Francisco–based show is one of the Discovery Channel’s highest-ranked programs; its mission is to uncover the truth behind popular myths and legends by mixing scientific method with gleeful curiosity and old-fashioned ingenuity. The tests often include custom-built test rigs, explosions and flying crash-test dummies. At the end of each episode, myths are rated “busted,” “plausible” or “confirmed.”

Freightliner Trucks’ relationship with the show began when the Freightliner Cascadia^®, one of the industry’s most aerodynamic trucks, was featured on an episode about big-rig myths.

During the episode, the MythBusters team investigated whether a person could save on fuel by drafting behind a truck. The team also tested whether a car could reverse out of a moving truck trailer, turn 180 degrees, and drive away, similar to the stunt performed on the popular 1980s show Knight Rider. The stunt was assisted by Mike Ryan, a professional race truck driver and Hollywood stuntman.

The program featured both the Cascadia and Freightliner’s wind tunnel, the only OEM-owned, full-scale wind tunnel in North America for Class 8 trucks. Seeing the wind tunnel in action helped the MythBusters team understand how Freightliner developed the Cascadia to be so fuel efficient.

Later, the Cascadia was featured on the Discovery Channel’s website, www.discoverychannel.com, where host Tory Belleci tested whether you can draft behind a big rig on a bicycle.

In 2010, the MythBusters team selected a Freightliner Business Class^® M2 106 Hybrid dry-van truck to haul equipment to support the production of new episodes. They chose it because it is a truck known for reliability, efficiency, driver comfort and maneuverability, which comes in handy in San Francisco.

The van’s 20-ft body was built and installed at Supreme Corporation’s Moreno Valley, California, facility and includes a 16-ft retractable awning, exterior lighting and a hydraulic tailgate lift manufactured by Maxon Lifts of Santa Fe Springs, California. The truck chassis also features an Eaton 5kW auxiliary power generator that energizes accessories such as power tools and a refrigerator from the hybrid battery, reducing truck idle time.