Freightliner Innovation Truck

[TeamCaffee]

Just found this article on the Freightliner innovation truck. We saw the truck at MATS and were awed by all of the cool gadgets on this truck. We were impressed by the fact the truck had no mirrors and relied on cameras. We talked to Henry Albert who was able to test the truck and were given some insight on how not having mirrors will be new learning curve.

Henry said that when you go to look beside your truck you look to the sides for your mirrors. On the innovation truck the cameras are mounted in the dash which sounds cool. The problem is you cannot move your head to get a different angle and what you see is what you get. The lack of mirrors would be very disconcerting and would take some time to get used to.


Jalopnik - Freightliner "Innovation Truck" Has A Huge Aero Kit - freightliner cascadia

 

[layoutshooter]

That is really cool. You ae looking a the wave of the future. I read somewhere that our mirrors account for 10% of the drag we deal with. Paying attention to aerodynamics will give a huge boost to our mpg. I wonder which ideas or combination of ideas will make it to the production stage. Layoutshooter

 

[aileron]

Cool looking truck

 

[layoutshooter]

I saw some drawings, I think they were in the "J" magizine, where some guy that designs race cars was working on a "slippery" truck. It is about time they are really going to pay attention to this stuff. Layoutshooter

 

[pelicn]

That's a slick looking truck!

 

[piper1]

Hopefully some of that stuff makes its way onto production Cascadia's very soon. I think Freightliner screwed up a bit with the current back of cab fairing system. When they designed the truck a lot of fleet customers were complaining about how much it cost them to replace fairings and the damage they did to the cab when a rookie kissed them with the trailer so they came up with those little "breakaway" fairings it has.....

Then fuel hit $5 a gallon. Now everyone wants the big fairings again cause they work better.

Some say the Prostar from IH has a more aerodynamic shape and if it does, my bet is it is the back of cab treatment as IH stayed with longer fairings. Hopefully Freightliner brings these 'Innovation Truck" fairings to the market real soon.

BTW, I gotta admit the "innovation girl" that was standing with the truck has made the pictures I took a lot more entertaining.

 

[Jack_Berry]

that is a cool truck. i like the pb tractors with the fender kits. these fender skirts will keep all the spray down as it passes in the rain.

 

[pelicn]

The fender skirts look cool, but one blown tire and there's a huge expense.

 

[layoutshooter]

Yeah and I would be concerned about snow and ice build up on them. Layoutshooter

 

[P51bombay]

The problem is you cannot move your head to get a different angle and what you see is what you get. [/FONT][/COLOR]

One would think that the cameras would be (or should be) moveable in which case it could be even better - but somewhat slower.

 

[TeamCaffee]

One would think that the cameras would be (or should be) moveable in which case it could be even better - but somewhat slower.

I really like that idea as I just cannot get my head around the thoughts of looking at the dash instead of to the right and left.