The Freightliner Cascadia was designed with fuel efficiency in mind, as well as improving upon several other features including the powertrain offerings, sound mitigation, safety systems, and overall mechanical reliability from its predecessors.

The Cascadia was sold chiefly in North America until 2020, when an export, primarily geared towards the Australian and New Zealand markets, was introduced.

The instrument cluster was redesigned to be easier to read, the seats have improved back and lumbar support, dashboard switches are repositioned with larger,[2] higher contrast text, and a battery-powered auxiliary HVAC system from Thermo King was offered.

The 2018 Cascadia's exterior facelift consisted of a hood cowl with a more sculpted and aggressive design, along with a redesigned front bumper, a larger grille, and the addition of all-LED headlights.

The Cascadia's sleeper contains a larger bunk, redesigned storage cabinets, and "aircraft-inspired" dimmable LED ceiling lights.

Other features of the truck include the Detroit DT12 automated manual transmission, ultra-quiet door and window seals, a single panel windshield, all LED marker lights and taillights, and a suite of active and passive safety systems, including blind-spot monitoring, collision mitigation system, and lane-keeping assistance.