Urgent Recall by FMCSA: Volvo Vehicles

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has a mission to reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving large trucks and buses sharing the roadways with other drivers. Many of the techniques and strategies that they use include developing and enforcing regulations for safety purposes, harnessing safety information to focus on higher risks, and targeting educational messages to carriers as well as commercial drivers. It’s all about the safety, after all!

Recently, Volvo Trucks of North America issued a recall alert when they gained information that four cases of steering failures occurred in their vehicles. These vehicles were specifically equipped with a greaseable two-piece steering shaft manufactured by the company Willi Elbe. Because of these incidents, Volvo has been taking it in their own hands to contact all owners of these affected vehicles and warn them to remove them from service until the problem can be corrected. However, Volvo does not want consumers to have to wait extreme lengths of time to have their vehicles fixed – therefore, they are working to replace all two piece steering shafts with a one piece steering shaft. However, they would also like to point out that it will take some time to acquire all the parts for every vehicle affected.

Volvo Taking Action

Because Volvo plans to offer these services as expedited as possible, they will be working with the suppliers of the one piece shaft to expedite delivery of parts to support the recall. Within the next four weeks, these parts should be received so that they can take off and help consumers get the quality fixes they deserve. Because customers have questions, a customer support line has been established for every matter. This number is 877-800-4945 opt #1.

General FAQ

If you own a Volvo like the ones described in the recall, you may have some questions. Here are some of the most common questions and answers that will help you understand the recall in full.

What models are affected and when were they manufactured? The models include certain 2016 and 2017 Volvo VNL, VNM, and VNX model trucks as well as certain 2016 and 2017 Mack Titan model trucks. These trucks were manufactured from May 11, 2015 through March 8, 2016. 19,863 of these vehicles are affected.

In November and December 2015, many people received a notification – is this the same one? Yes, this is the same steering shaft that was mentioned back in 2015. However, it is not the same issue. Volvo has actually identified other issues such as improper securing of the upper steering shaft and the pin attaching to the lower shaft not being properly installed by the supplier.

Can I continue to operate my vehicle? No, you should not operate the truck if it has been identified in the recall. Volvo recommends that the trucks are placed out of service as quickly as possible because of the severity of the matter and that the separation occurs without warning.

If I receive a temporary measure, will the truck have to be repaired again? Yes. However, you will receive a notification as soon as one piece steering shafts are available.

Each year, many consumers are unfortunately injured due to defective products, sometimes the fault of the manufacturer. If you have been injured by a product or vehicle, you have a right to gain compensation for your injuries. Call an attorney you can trust with your personal injury case today at Maggiano, DiGirolamo & Lizzi.