Did freightliner intentionally set out to make a crappy automatic transmission?

Yes they have...

http://m.truckinginfo.com/article/2...ctive-cruise-control-looks-ahead-to-save-fuel

 

I just pulled 48,000 lbs in dry van total weight was 77,130 and my Dt 12 worked perfectly no problem shifting gears. It did not miss any gear. It did bring the RPMs up 1750before shifting gears and 1600rpms. It works great. That's in economy mode. I guess some must be programmed wrong.

 

Yes they have.....at least reading terrain for grades. It's Freightliner's integrated GPS cruise control system. I have it on my truck

 

Here's a question, anybody here use an auto for hauling an unbaffled tanker? One bad shift and you have surge for the next 10 miles and how would the auto react to the surge?

 

You need a engine that can pull at low revs.
And good sofware.
But done right it will run without a problem.

 

Haven't heard of that before. Does it still work if the truck is in eco mode?

 

Yes. I'm locked in too.

It's adaptive cruise. It's designed to get the engine ready for what's ahead. It monitors approx 1 mile ahead. If coming to the top of a steep down grade, it will down shift and start the Jakes automatically.

Every mountain I have gone down has been in cruise control....Cabbage, Grapevine, Flag, etc. I never have to rock my brakes. If I need a little more braking, I toggle the Jake lever and then put it back in the auto mode.

 

Same thing here, I haul lots of 44,000 45,000 lb beer loads, never have an issue. It does go 5 over before the engine brakes start working, so I just bump it down 5mph to compensate. The issue isn't the DT12, the issue is learning how to use it properly.

 

These work much better wgen your company leaves them alone. Too many carriers disable not only the Power mode, they disable any ability to manually shift up/down. Unmolested, mine worked great. I'm sure that when choked off it's probably a whole different animal.

 

I couldn't agree more. It's all about understanding HOW to use it.

When I 1st got mine, I was hesitant. I read the manual, watch videos, talked to other drivers that had an auto for a while, then played with it.

I can't say enough great things about it. Got it brand new, has 106k on it now, did 2nd pm few thousand miles ago and pulled ECM report.
7.99 overall MPG, 8.10 running MPG. It's starting to break in so those numbers will soar. MPG for April & May is 8.57.

I pull 40k + loads, do 48 states. I don't have these issues OP is describing at all. Never have. I don't have an answer for him, but either he has an issue going on, or he's driving it completely wrong.