Down the track there’s going to be iterations of the Cascadia with even more gadgets, which embrace more technology and models developed to suit market niches. It will pick up a lot more from the Daimler family, equipment now available from the Mercedes Benz range.
Benz will always be the first to adopt any new systems, the American conservatism will see Freightliner running behind. Freightliner should be able to pick and choose from the array of new technology and go with whatever suits its customers at any point. If sentiment is moving towards hi tech, the truck maker will already have it available on the components shelf.
One of those technologies which will probably finally arrive will be mirror cam. This has had limited acceptance, even on the Benz product, but more and more are looking at it. Freightliner have had to do some work with adapting it from the Benz option, as the sloping A pillar does make it more difficult to fit, than on the more upright A pillars elsewhere in the the Daimler product range. The fact that they will improve fuel efficiency means there will come a point when fitting them will certainly come into play.
The DD 16 is not a big seller for Freightliner elsewhere in the world, and this means the 13 and 15 litre Detroits are being developed faster, as the top sellers on the US market. The DD16 is on Gen 4, while the two smaller engines are already on Gen 6.
Canada and Australia are the biggest users of the 16 litres, so there is a large enough sales volume to ensure further development down the track. So, there will be a next generation coming along for the 16 litre, which will be more fuel efficient and produce lower emissions.
There have been major updates on the transmission already this year, further refining the system. Between seventh to 12th, the AMT no longer uses the clutch, leading to more seamless and quicker shifts, matching the right engine speeds to make changes without the need to disengage the clutch.
This is one of those models brought into the Australian truck market where the truck maker has looked at he task the trucking operator needs to perform and honed the design down to what is needed, at the same time as fitting it into the dimensions it needs to be to remain legal.
The Cascadia does tap into a long held preference for a conventional truck in Australia, but the Europeans have been going forward with great strides meeting the needs of the B-double operator. The one thing the cabover struggles with in terms of driver acceptance is the size of the cabin and the bunk.
This 126 Cascadia does fit the bill for a prime mover in front of a 34 pallet B-double set, but in getting into the envelope it does end up with a bunk of similar size to the European competition. If it has one advantage over the growing number of European prime movers pulling B-doubles around, it is the better ride the driver gets sitting back halfway between the front and rear axles.
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