Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/751200
COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2016 33 new pro le pictures minutes later. Several handshakes and a blast of the air horn later, we point the two-truck convoy toward Searchlight, Nevada. Back on the road, we found several long grades to challenge the Detroit pow- ertrain, which responded to everything I threw at it. e smart-shi ing DT12 consistently found the right power band from the 1,750 lb.- . of torque to get us up and back down as winds cut across the dry valleys. Standard enhancements that all minimize drag and dial down in-cab noise include an upper door seal, ellip- tical-shaped mirrors, a sloped hood, a bumper with an integrated air de ector and integrated antennas. Conversation in the cab was easy thanks to a third door seal and 3M's insulate; I've been in passenger cars with more wind noise. Freightliner worked with Teague, a designer of Boeing airplane interiors, to develop lighting, storage and ergonomic features. e result of that collaboration is a cab that feels more like a cockpit, with switches and controls intuitively placed within easy reach. e transmission and three-stage engine brake can be controlled via a blinker-style switch on the steering column, and ceiling-mounted LED lights o er more ambient cabin illumination to reduce eye strain. e new 5-inch instru- ment display, which is located front-and- center of the driver in the instrument cluster, is handy. With so much information available via a steering wheel-mounted toggle, I originally thought this might prove more distraction than bene cial. It's easy to geek out with so much cool technology at your ngertips, but the ability to select which information is most important to you – from tire pressure to axle load – makes it easy to distinguish data with a quick glance downward. e one-piece windshield delivers an unexpected boost in visibility, as does the elimination of splits in the side windows. at's a bene t you don't really notice until you're in the driver's seat. Visibility in the previous-generation Cascadia wasn't bad; it just wasn't this good. My test truck was out tted with the Elite Package, which included Oregon Ash wood-grain trim accents. My red sleeper also featured vented seats, a fac- tory-installed refrigerator, a 40-inch li - able lower bunk, a at-screen television mount, a 1,500-watt Xantrex inverter, an upper cargo shelf, the ParkSmart HVAC system with optimized idle, a full-size microwave cabinet, front and side over- head storage cabinets and a dimmable LED ambient light bar. Cascadia's new front suspension – a 12,500-monoleaf design – provides a smoother ride and improved roll sti - ness, and the steering gear was relocated further forward; that small change improved steering precision to a point that it rivals Freightliner's German-engi- neered C-Class cousins. e Detroit Assurance 4.0 suite of safety systems includes Active Brake Assist that now provides full braking on stationary objects, Adaptive Cruise Control and Lane Departure Warning with optional video capture. e propri- etary safety suite includes driver-friend- ly controls and is integrated seamlessly into the truck's dashboard, engine and transmission electronics and can enhance driver safety by mitigating col- lisions. ankfully, my a ernoon drive was mostly uneventful, and I didn't need to test much of this system beyond the audible lane departure warning. When Freightliner rst introduced the Cascadia in May 2007, the com- pany said it would o er 3 percent fuel savings over the Columbia and Century Class models that it ultimately would supplant. Freightliner estimates the inte- grated powertrain on the new truck will deliver 8 percent better fuel economy performance over the current-model Cascadia Evolution. Fuel e ciency gains are driven mostly by powertrain technology advancements and aerodynamic re nements, the fruits of Daimler Trucks North America's participation in the U.S. Department of Energy's SuperTruck project. My fully loaded Detroit 40K axle 6X2 averaged about 10 mpg, but we hit little tra c on the drive. It takes a lot of guts to completely reinvent a truck that is already among the most e cient products on the road, especially when you consider that a 40 percent-plus market share is on the line. But with the 2018 Cascadia, Freightliner has hit home runs in style, e ciency and comfort. Fuel e ciency gains are driven mostly by powertrain technology advancements and aerodynamic re ne- ments, the fruits of DTNA's participation in DOE's SuperTruck project.