There’s a new first in luxury freightliners.  It’s name — Freightliner Cascadia, and employees of Racing Performance Motorcoaches have just used it to create the first Cascadia truck conversion – combining a freightliner chassis with a RV amenities.

The new 45-foot truck will be featured at the 37th Annual Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky. where the vehicle will be shown off to other Freightliner truck dealers.  A group of eight Freightliner operators, business owners and customers from Catawba and Caldwell counties left for the show Wednesday morning traveling to the show inside the posh truck.

The Cascadia is the first Freightliner produced that takes aerodynamics to a new level surpassing its predecessors.  It has large lightweight aluminum sidewalls that are stamped and rounded with a “tumblehome” design to create a structure that prevents buzz, speak and rattle.  It also has shorter side extenders with breakaway sections that angle outward slightly to optimize aerodynamics and increase maneuverability.  Freightliner tested the truck in a full-scale wind tunnel facility to futhur refine and confirm its superior aerodynamics.

“Aerodynamically, it’s probably the best vehicle (of its kind) on the market,” Phil Ray, sales representative for West Carolina Freightliner, Inc., said.

The design also saves fuel, reducing consumption .25 percent, Jeff Pittman, co-owner of Racing Performance Motorcoaches said.

“In any business, especially fuel related, it’s going to be a major turning point to save the fuel,” he said.

Pittman said it’s also the first Freightliner Mercedes has been involved in engineering.  And the 10-wheel cab is capable of hauling up to 40,000 pounds, he added.

The concept of combining a freightliner chassis and a luxury trailer has been around for several years.  What makes this different is that it combines the new state-of-the-art Cascadia, with a luxury RV interior.

The body is a United Trendsetter motorcoach that was designed by Racing Performance Motorcoaches with the NASCAR and Drag Racing industry in mind.  Pittman said many drivers will spend as many as seven to 10 days living in the vehicle.

“Basically, anything you have at home, you’ve got,” Pittman said.

Inside the truck conversion, passengers can watch television or DVDs on a 32-inch Sony flat screen TV with in-motion satellite and Sony DVD player while sitting on leather sofas.  There is also a kitchen area complete with a sink, Sharp microwave convection oven and dining area with booth seating.  There is even a full-size shower in the bathroom that also has two bathroom sinks and mirrors next to a bedroom with a queen size bed.

Adding to the luxury is granite floors and Corian countertops, Pittman said.  And that’s a relatively basic model, he said, having already sold about 140 of them in the past 7 years, but not with the Cascadia chassis, which makes the newest model the most aerodynamic luxury RV on the market.

The model created by Pittman’s company didn’t come cheap though.  The

chassis itself is a $100,000 vehicle coupled with $215,000 worth of luxury inside the truck conversion.

“It’s just like building a house, because basically you design it all — the wood (cabinets), the walls, the floors coverings, the sofas — all of it.” Pittman said.

There will be another truck conversion at the show using a Show Hauler truck conversion, but the Catawba County group will be taking the only one with a Cascadia chassis.

The Mid-American Trucking Show is also the largest show of its kind in the country, according to Ray, with more than 12,000 exhibitors and at least 150,000 attendees.  So it’s a big deal to have the vehicle in the show, he said.  Pittman said there would be many potential buyers there as well that could order trucks from Racing Performance Motorcoaches.