Abilene Motor Express....A New Place To Call Home

Oh there are LOTS of manuals in this company... and they are all down at the Keystone Museum that Mr. Jones owns!!!

 

I was told in orientation that "overuse" of manual mode would result in them disabling it in your truck. But they also said that "overuse" meant almost constant. I dislike my KW starting in 2nd gear no matter what. So, depending on the weight of the load, I'll switch to manual mode so I can start off in 1st or 3rd. Especially when I need to get moving quicker than auto shift mode will shift.

 

Everyone I have spoken to says the same thing. Freightliners have manual disabled. Maybe that was the only way they could keep it in eco mode.

The engine and transmission is peach otherwise.

 

That makes sense.

 

Long before I got this truck I was told Freightliners didn't have manual mode. Never thought that would be an issue until the first time I was coming down those hills on I64 in W. VA in the pouring rain with only 2 hp coolers in the trailer.

Talk about pucker factor when you downshift and the computer takes over, changes back up to 12th and engages eco-roll.

 

I thought about those and edited my post to add the "company fleet".

I have heard his personal trucks are signed Keystone and he occasionally takes them out for spin so watch out for those if you are out on the road and feel the urge to moon another trucker.

 

@Redtwin maybe check to see if the previous driver was the abuser of manual mode and had it disconnected... Just didn't get turned back on when it was reassigned?

 

I would think auto mode down a mountain with 80k would be very dangerous.

 

It can't hurt to ask, but it was something I heard even during training about the Freightliners. I also ran into someone who trained in my truck and the trainer had it from brand new and he confirmed that the manual mode was disabled.

Its a shame as the transmission is probably the best of the bunch. Smooth shifting and a really effective creep mode which is great for slow steady backing. The eco/auto mode just ruins it as it forces upshifts too quickly which means the engine often bogs down in too high a gear killing acceleration when you need it most merging on highways or pulling out into traffic.

In those situations I keep my hand on the shifter so I can constantly downshift whenever the ECU upshifts prematurely.

 

With 80k there is less chance of the drives breaking traction due to engine braking, even on a wet road I am dreading this coming winter though. With only 4k in the trailer and a heavy downpour I didn't want to chance using the engine brake. Luckily that light load didn't tax the service brakes too much, but it is never a good thing having to rely on those.