Fired for load shift, deemed preventable by safety.

Did the systems cause the hard brake or did the following distance cause the system to react with a hard brake? What would’ve been the outcome if he had the same following distance but wasn’t using the cruise?

 

I got my CDL with an automatic restriction and spent my first 14 months in a governed 65mph auto transmission truck, and relied on adaptive cruise A LOT. When I got rid of the restriction and started driving an 18-speed at a different company, I immediately got out of the cruise-control habit. Even slight inclines and declines will require shifting when loaded, so using cruise wasn’t efficient at all. Even those 11 hour days were spent mostly on the pedal. I do night line haul now, and my longest drive is 2 hours. We have autos and 10-speeds, and I stay with the pedal for both. I realize now what a bad habit it was relying on adaptive cruise in the past. Not putting you down at all because I did the same for a long time, but when you do land a new gig, get in the habit of driving on the pedal a lot more than using the adaptive feature. You’ll be a much better driver.

 

You’ll be a more relaxed driver on non adaptive cruise. This is the law of unintended consequences, they take a handy thing, cruise control, and eff it up in the name of safety. Those of us old enough to remember broom stick cruise control (piece of wood cut to length to hold throttle open wedged against seat ) greatly appreciate cruise control and abhor the nanny devices that have taken the operation of the truck from us and turned it over to a stupid computer

 

Ha ha, Yup I'm one of those, I drove a Scammell Highwayman with a Gardner 150 engine and 6 speed gate control. 38 mph flat out, really needed my cruise control. Not against the seat but jammed against a useful screw sticking out from below the facia directly above the foot pedal. One of the few UK trucks of the time with the engine out front, so we used to joke that on a nice straight road we could move across to the passenger seat to get the left arm browned up to match the right.

 

When you don't have the cruise on, it drives like a regular truck. The driver is full control at that point. It may scream at you before you crash, that's about it. If he gets too close, then the truck starts going crazy with buzzers. When the cruise is on, typically the truck will adjust your speed for you. For instance, if your driving 65, and your coming up on a vehicle going slower, if you're following distance is good enough, it'll adjust your speed to keep a good following distance. When a vehicle pulls out in front of you, there's no time for it to adjust the speed. It's gonna do a real hard brake, and in bad weather, I can imagine that being devastating. So all that being said, following distance and high speed will cause the hard brake.

 

I don't think the adaptive cruise is a terrible idea totally. I think if used properly, it's very helpful. If you come into a larger city and the flow of traffic is slower than the speed limit, the adaptive cruise is helpful in giving you an idea as to where your speed really should be giving the volume and flow of traffic. That's not to say drivers necessarily need that, as they should be paying attention, but you see some of those truckers hauling ### in a 55 or 60 mph zone, or following too close in heavy traffic. The hard braking I could do without.

 

I think that’s called Active Drive Assist. I use that too, especially because the closing/opening rate has a lot to do with whether or not that ###### camera is activated. You don’t need the cruise on to use it though.

 

There is about a half second of warning before the brakes are actually applied.
It is proceeded with a little huff of air and the throttle is let up, and then the brakes kick in.
If you are aware, you can cut the cruise and apply the brakes yourself in a more controlled fashion.
Do not apply the brakes yourself before using the cancel button for the cruise. Applying the brakes at that point will not turn off the cruise control.