NHTSA Complaint #11679210 — 2026 FREIGHTLINER CASCADIA

On August 1st, I was travelling on I-44 (a toll road with an 80 mph speed) near Claremont Oklahoma. I was doing 68 mph when a red warning message came up on my dash. It read...KINGPIN RELEASE ACTIVATED. STOP IMMEDIATELY! KINGPIN RELEASED WITHOUT REQUEST. I did not touch my brakes. I gently moved to the the shoulder and coasted to a stop...so as not to put any pressure on the kingpin or fifth-wheel and hoping the weight of the trailer would hold it in place til I could stop. I checked under my truck and the lock was perfectly across the jaws. It did NOT turn loose, thankfully. Our road breakdown dept and Tulsa Freightliner could not say what the problem was. Freightliner replaced the kingpin release button on the dash and hoped that was the fix. The service manager told me if it happened again, they would have to keep the truck at least a week and Dahmler would be opening a file on the problem. I know that means they don't know what happened.