Having just made its first debut in Louisville, KY last week at MATS, my new 2018 Freightliner Cascadia took me back to North Carolina where I completed officially moving personal items into my new truck.
I began this first trip by loading in Statesville, NC enroute for Laredo, TX. This week, included a stop off to Dothan, Alabama to participate in the Four Star Freightliner Dealership “Open House” event. The event drew drivers, fleet owners and technicians from the area who were able to get an up close look at the new truck inside and outside. I had many attendees ask great questions and overall the truck was very well received.
This first shipment out, the load weight was not particularly heavy coming in at approximately 52,000 GVW. Cruise speed for this trip where applicable was set at 65 MPH . I left with a full tank from Statesville, NC and proceeded down I-77, I-485, I-85 to Atlanta where I picked up I-285 and continued onto I-85 to I-185 to US 280, US 431 and US 231 where I stopped at Dothan, AL for the “Open House.” After the event, I continued onto US 231 into Florida where I then caught I-10 to I-12 stopping at the PETRO in Hammond, LA due to the low fuel price. I didn’t really need to fuel up at the time however I wanted to take advantage of the great fuel price. After fueling, I recorded on paper the fuel mileage results which were 10.743 and 10.7 by the dashboard readout. In my opinion, we’re off to a great start.
During this first trip out, In Hammond, LA I experienced a heavy rainstorm in which I noticed how much better the visibility was from the new one piece windshield and revised windshield wiper sweep area. Another observation during the rain was the rear view mirror glass remained relatively clean despite the heavy storms that I encountered. I am pleased with the new dashboard layout, driver display and quietness of the cab. Additional improvements have been made in shifting smoothness and logic of the DT12 Automated Manual Transmission. The final observation in this early honeymoon run is how much the Collision Mitigation System has evolved. This truck is equipped with the latest generation of Detroit Assurance. The system performed flawlessly through Atlanta, GA. I did discover a new feature which made me chuckle at the time, while on the final stretch of US 431 before arriving in Dothan, AL the outside air became still, the road was straight and with not traffic around me, I began to check to vehicles alignment. With the road straight, I released my grip on the steering wheel in order to see if the truck would drift to the right or left. I was “playing around” with this for about 10-15 minutes while there was no traffic around me. Suddenly, a message came up in the driver display suggesting that I pull over and go to sleep. I am going to have to ask questions on this feature, but I am assuming the truck was able to misinterpret my lack on attentiveness with a drowsy driver. I had never fully taken my hands off the steering wheel I just simply slightly released my grip to do this test.
I am looking forward to reporting more from the seat of the 2018 Freightliner Cascadia. Click on the previous highlighted words for the specs on this truck .