Information on Freightliner VIN Codes

Freightliner manufactures semis and other types of heavy-duty trucks. Each truck built after 1981 has a 17-character vehicle identification number (VIN) that identifies it like DNA or a fingerprint. The VIN tells certain characteristics of the truck.

The first three digits

The first three characters of a Freightliner VIN indicates the country of manufacture and identifies the brand. A "1," "4" or "5" in the first position indicates the truck was built in the United States; "2" means Canada and "3" means Mexico. "FU" identifies Freightliner.

The next five characters

The next five characters identify the model or line, series, chassis, cab type, engine type, brake system and gross vehicle weight rating. Codes for features change from year to year.

The remaining characters

The character in the ninth position is a security digit to prevent fraud, and the tenth identifies the year. The remaining characters identify the plant and assign a serial number for the sequence it came off the assembly line.

VIN decoder

Several online VIN decoders can identify all the features of a Freightliner. Enter the VIN into the space provided at Vindecipher.com and click "Get VIN data" to see a translation of the codes.

References

• VINquery: FAQs
• Gates Corp.: Heavy Duty VIN Decoder

Resources

• Freightliner: Bigger Selection