It's a Team's Life
It is not an AUTOMATIC
But wait there is not a clutch so it has to be automatic, right? Wrong, and if you drive it like an automatic someone is going to pay for a new clutch before very long.
There are a lot of technical terms that Bob could use but to me, the bottom line is a computer shifts our DT12 - 12-speed transmission at the right time every time. All I know about the Volvo is that they have an I-shift and it is the same principle.
If you have driven a manual car or pickup you know about skipping the clutch. It used to drive Bob nuts when at a traffic light I would lightly use the clutch and gas peddle to keep the pickup in place and yet ready to take off quickly when I could leave a stop sign or sitting on a hill in stopped traffic.
The same slippage happens when you let the truck “creep” forward in a traffic jam, moving around a truck stop, or at a customer. In a Freightliner it is called “Creep Mode” and it is hard on the clutch. If held up in traffic jams very often you will burn the clutch up in no time. They are not cheap to fix and usually the truck is in the shop for a while and we are not making any money.
You may have noticed when approaching a traffic light and slowing down when suddenly the light turns green and yet the truck does not move forward when you step on the throttle. The truck has gone from downshifting to looking for a gear and the sudden push on the throttle takes a second for the transmission to find the correct gear. It works much better to gently touch the throttle to give the transmission a second to go into gear.
The new trucks are amazing and the more you learn about them the better your driving day will be.
Take care of your clutch and it will take care of you.
Freightliner DT 12 Transmission
Bob & Linda Caffee
TeamCaffee
Saint Louis MO
Expediters since January 2005
Expediting isn't just trucking, it's a lifestyle;
Expediting isn't just a lifestyle, it's an adventure;
Expediting isn't just an adventure, it's a job;
Expediting isn't just a job, it's a business.