McLEAN, Va. (Oct. 3, 2012) - The American Truck Dealers (ATD) announced today the nine nominees for the 2013 ATD Commercial Truck of the Year, an award recognizing the top truck entries in the heavy- and medium-duty categories.

The heavy-duty (Class 8) truck nominees are Freightliner Cascadia Evolution (equipped with Detroit DT12 transmission), Kenworth T680 76-inch Sleeper with PACCAR MX Engine, Peterbilt Model 579 and Western Star 4700SF.

The medium-duty (Class 3-7) nominees are Ford F-650, Hino 195h, Isuzu Reach, Kenworth K370 Cabover and Peterbilt 337 Extended Day Cab.

The annual award, which will be presented Sunday, Feb. 10 during the 2013 ATD Convention and Expo in Orlando, Fla., recognizes a winner in both the heavy- and medium-duty truck categories. The ATD convention will once again run concurrently with the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Convention and Expo in Orlando from Feb. 8-11.

To determine the winners, a five-member panel of journalists will test drive and evaluate the trucks at ADESA Las Vegas on Oct. 5. The judges are Tom Berg, chief judge, Heavy Duty Trucking ; Paul Hartley, writer and owner of AddMedia; David Kolman, Fleet Maintenance Magazine ; Jim Park, Heavy Duty Trucking ; and Jack Roberts, Commercial Carrier Journal . The judging categories include innovation and design, safety and driver satisfaction.

About ATD

The American Truck Dealers represents about 2,000 medium- and heavy-duty truck dealers. ATD members share in NADA's programs, services and benefits. ATD hosts an annual convention and expo for dealers and dealership managers. For more information, visit www.nada.org/atd .