Snackbar is chillin'....at Shaffer

I have totally different experiences on the 2 DT12's I have driven in the past 2 months. The 1st was the '21 with less than 30k miles. It's creep mode randomly chose R2 to back, which launches you at the dock. I had R1 on it actually slipped the clutch to the point of overheating when trying to back into a spot at the Petro in Scranton with 35k lbs. This one with 188k miles lurches repeatedly when trying to back to the point that if it were a glass load like I pulled at WyMoore, it might have broken the load from twisting the trailer every time it lurched, then it finally gives up and gives me the 'creep mode aborted' msg.

The van experience the other day...it didn't panic at 17' but did at 175'...same van, same cruise set speed, my speed was just slower because I backed off... And this isn't the only time it has done it...I've even had it lose it's mind on multiple occasions (on both Freightliners)...I am a safe distance behind a large vehicle on adaptive cruise, then a smaller vehicle changes lanes in front of me (like 4-wheelers tend to do), it loses focus on the larger vehicle, still seeing smaller vehicle (based on the distance on the display) but then starts accelerating at the smaller vehicle briefly like nothing is there but then gives me a 'distance warning' chime and message (which is saved in the ECM every time it does it), slams it in 10th and high jake like I'm the one tailgating. Another hate for the DT12 I have is it doesn't do subtle...it's either full go or full stop. Any time you lift your foot off the throttle it goes into coast mode, so you must use service brakes to just ease off a little (to keep your distance like you should, and to keep from hearing the 'distance warning' chime)..if you don't use service brakes to slow, it goes into coast and then coasts itself closer to the other vehicle in front of you...then blasts you with the 'distance warning' crap. If you use your jake, even on stage 1, it drops a minimum 2 gears like you're trying to stop, not just slow down a little. If you use stage 2, it goes down 3 gears. The only way I have found to defeat the 2 gear drop is to also pull back and hold it in upshift as I am shifting it to stage 1 jake..it gives me a brief ''I can't shift there'' beep but engages the jake without shifting as long as I hold it in upshift.

I only drove that KW auto a short time, bobtail so I have no point of reference to compare it to. The only other auto I have driven is the mDrive in WyMoore's Mack, and it was hands down a superior transmission with the exception of backing because it either didn't have creep mode, or they didn't have it turned on...but, the Mack also didn't have a CMS system, it might have been just as annoying if it did.

I recovered an O/O's former company truck while I was in Deland. It was one of the older Cascadias with the OnGuard (and a manual transmission)...it worked far better than this new system, it only beeped when I was approaching a slower vehicle that got within a certain distance, just like it should.

If these autos are the future of trucking like it seems...my future is very limited. I had actually lost my mind briefly when driving that O/O's truck...I thought about seeing what Crete wants for it, just so I can go back to a truck that isn't too annoying to drive. But, I am not sure I want to go to that extreme just to get away from this automated purgatory.

 

I am on a rare load (at least based on my limited time with Shaffer)...I am picking up at a JBS meat plant (in PA). I repowered a load of meat a while back, but most of what I have been hauling hasn't been actual meat...some has been frozen meat like pork or chicken(or was a pork or chicken-like substance) , but were a -10 load. This load is fresh meat going to TX...yes, you read that right, I am pulling meat out of PA going to a state known for having abundant supplies of beef on the hoof. And again, my A/M came thru, even after all that down time for the truck issues, I still managed to turn just under 1700 miles on a short week, and this load is a 1600+ mile run to TX out of PA. So, Shaffer is still giving me the miles, even if they have annoying, no pulling equipment...this truck is a low down dog for power...a wet fart would be a challenge. Bobtail, it'll almost break the tires loose, put a trailer behind it, even an empty, and it's like it's pulling 80k. So this is going to be a frustrating day because I have to pull a fairly heavy load down 81 in VA.

 

When you put it in reverse, pull up on the shift lever. Just like running the high side of reverse on a manual. Not a lot faster, but enough to tell a difference, and a real PITA when you're trying to back up to a dock gently

 

I decided I had enough of the ######## distance warning message this morning(at 265 ft going 60 mph, and the active cruise kept slowing me down at 325 ft) because I had only been on the road 20 min an already had a headache behind my eyes...so I slowed down to 50 mph, set the cruise and said #### it to anyone that I pissed off...the cruise and e-coast drifted down to 45 before it picked up the throttle, and kept accelerating to 53 before going to e-coast again(up hill)then dropped back down to 43 on coast. I may have a brain aneurysm before I get this load to TX...these trucks stress me out and piss me off more than any truck I have ever piloted...I may not survive this...and if I die behind the wheel, I hope I take the ####tard who programmed these trucks out with me...but not at first, I hope they die a slow agonizing, painful death after I run their useless ### over.