Freightliner Cascadia - The Skinny

Okay I've put 12,000 kms on 2148 now and I've driven her hard for nearly 2 weeks so I guess its time to let you know what I think………………………………

When I picked her up at Calgary I have to admit I had mixed feelings, of course I was thrilled to get a brand new truck but remember I had lived in old 3045 for the last 9 months and I was used to it, I knew where everything was and it was what I was used to.

I had a condition that I think you could call "New Truck Syndrome" I got the keys and opened her up, sat in the driver's seat and looked around, she felt cold, lifeless and unfamiliar. I don’t mind admitting I really did feel like phoning in and telling H&R to forget the whole thing and let me carry on driving 3045.

I locked her back up, climbed into 3045 and slept on it ……………..

Next morning I got back in and started pressing buttons, gave her a good pre trip inspection and fired her up. The Detroit Diesel purred quietly and I took her for a spin round the yard to get a feel of the handling, she drives really well.

I parked back up and moved my gear across, I didn’t bother unpacking as I wanted to throw everything thru the wash anyway. I got under a trailer and dragged it down to Lethbridge.

This is my view of Freightliner's latest offering………………………

The Exterior

The first thing you notice about the new Cascadia is the big chrome grille, this looks really good and gives the truck a bit of a meaner appearance. The mirrors are now on proper mountings and not on the old wire frames. Another thing you notice is the absence of a sun visor, that’s a bit weird, looks like freightliner are just trying to save a few bucks. The visor was an excellent place to mount the Sirius antenna, I now have it mounted on the downward facing passenger side mirror. The hood is fastened down with a better type of lock although its more awkward to release, it’s a better system but I prefer the old one.

As you walk round the back, we have gained a couple more working lamps and the snow chains (which will stay on all year round) can be locked away, the suzzies (Hoses) are the same, I wish they would go over to the curly ones, they are much better. They have been cut way too long but this can be remedied with a few well placed industrial cable ties. The exhaust stack looks a bit girlie (sorry H&R but it does) but that’s just a cosmetic thing I guess, it does what it says on the tin and she does run very quiet.

Nothing much else seems to have changed, 5th wheel is the same, wheel and rear configuration are the same. Then you look under the walkway behind he shack to check your batteries and guess what, they're gone, some buggers pinched them…………………..

Well if you had bothered to read the hand book you would have known that they were under the driver's seat in a specially constructed battery bay that opens up and slides out, and then you also notice that the drivers side fuel tank has been moved back to accommodate this. The fuel tanks are the same size although unless the fuel gauge tells lies, I don’t think we get quite the range as the old one, not sure yet though it’s a bit early to tell, it might be that the fuel guage just shows a little lower.

He engine is the same Detroit lump but we have a new transmission or road train, it’s a 13 gear automatic using the same paddle gear selector except we now have a low gear setting that can be used as a crawler or set on hills to give full Jake braking power. This road train is very smooth although its painfully slow on the initial take off from a stand still. This can be improved by tapping the gear paddle into second before you move off, then it will always pull away in second till you switch the engine off again.

One massive improvement on the old Freight-shaker is the headlights, these are much better especially on dipped beam, I've got 2148 in the shop a the moment as am blinding all the pigeons so that should be even better when its put right.

Driving Controls

The seats are great when you get used to them although they are a little short in the seat length, it took me over a 1000 kms to get comfortable in it. It has up and down, forwards backwards, seat length adjustment, 3 lumbar adjusters and a recliner (which doesn’t move too much) and the seats also swivel round, oh yes and it has a weight compensator. I was probably just too used to the simpler old system and now I'm starting to get used to this system.

The steering wheel has adjustable reach and rake and can be shoved right up out of the way, also notice the wheel mounted cruise control one side and the info scroll, clearance light flasher and jake on the other side. Trouble is though its let down by the way the centre spoke is raised so you can no longer easily sit a laptop in there (when you are parked up of course)

The clocks are just different, they are all round dials, functional but not particularly pretty, I don’t think they were placed by anyone who drives truck for a living and when you have the seating and steering wheel set, the wheel hides the volt meter and the fuel gauge.

The stalks and buttons are more like a cars controls with a stalk mounted headlamp flasher and a proper 4 way flasher button which is nice. The windshield wipers are also operate by the stalks, the wipers their selves are the flimsy summer ones but they can stay on for now as they are fine for this weather. The dash easily comes off for burying wires and notice where I have mounted the Tom-tom and the Sirius.

She is fitted with an upgraded Qualcomm computer system with a colour screen which is a lot more user friendly, it’s a bit like a windows screen and its easier to send the various macros we send.

Interior Décor

Its still plasticy but now we have a bit of fake walnut on the cupboards and also proper doors on there although there seems to be less storage space than the old ones. One thing that I didn’t like was the fact that the cupboards were one solid piece from floor to roof so they couldn't be removed to make space for a fridge and microwave, I think this is the one major flaw in the design as now I have to buy out if I want hot food and I cant keep a nice cool drink for those long hot Californian trips.

There is a nice writing bureau built into it which has proved very useful and it keeps all your stationary together

Its early days but the night heater seems better, we wont know though till we hit -42. The bunk is fantastic, I think it’s a little bigger than the old one and they come with great mattresses on both the upper and the lower bunk.

We have a lot more lighting in the shack and a better heating control system. I miss the fully carpeted 3045 but the lino type flooring in 2148 is easy to keep clean, and also quite homely when covered with a couple of rugs.

Summary

She drives very well, she feels like a European truck, she is quiet, smooth and pulls well apart from a standing starts. She is comfortable to drive once you get used to the seats and the clocks are easy to read, apart from the 2 that are obscured by the wheel. I think the Cascadia is a huge improvement over the Columbia although its not perfect and you can see where Freightliner have tried to save a few dollars.

Do I like it……………………………….

Yes I think so, the good points outweigh the bad points by a long margin and she is a great drive.