The forward collision avoidance system fails to distinguish stationary objects from animate objects resulting in immediate engagement of the braking system.
No injuries · No fire · No crash
See attached document for complaint.
No injuries · No fire · No crash
It is hard to impossible to drive the truck in a straight line (compared to models without the smartvalves), and often drifts side to side randomly without any warning or feedback. The steering requires constant input, and the "feel" of the truck is not correct to allow intuitive steering. When driving in tight areas, I find that I need to stay at least a foot away from barriers or other objects to not be in danger of hitting them. When in width-limited areas, like construction zones, I often need to straddle the center line and block other vehicles from passing me, so as not to be in danger of collision. These controllability problems are induced by the "active" smartvalve system. This is the chassis leveling system that adjusts air to the suspension air springs (air bags). The smart valve system is there to allow a driver to adjust the suspension up or down as needed to assist in hooking in improperly positioned trailer (to prevent injuries). The system also actively interferes with what would be the normal operation of a suspension "leveling" valve, and adjusts and or blocks the normal flow of air in and out of the suspension when driving. This results in poor handling and control problems. I have asked to have the valve replaced with a normal "dumb" valve on my truck, since I have found that the trucks handle normally with a standard leveling valve. I have also found that in many curvy road situations, the truck is hard to keep from running off the road, even bobtail. There is severe apparent understeer, and it seems likely to be attributed to the smartvalve leveler interfering with the suspension. I see that there is a recall on Freightliners having to do with understeer problems on curves (Recall 234245 [USA]: Understeering during a j-turn may increase the risk of a crash.). The recall says that Freightliner will replace the tires; it is likely that this will not help in the case of models with an active "smartvalve" system.
No injuries · No fire · No crash
The cruise control has been programmed to stay engaged, in many instances, after the driver has used the foot brake. In some situations, like approaching a traffic circle, I have slowed down with the foot brake, then had the truck unexpectedly start to accelerate after I released the brake. This apparently has to do with a vehicle in my headway allowing the cruise to remain engaged, and then after the vehicle leaves my headway the truck thinks it can accelerate again. There is never a good reason for the cruise control in any vehicle to remain engaged after using the brakes. This results in unpredicted situations, like unplanned acceleration. This also applies to vehicles trying to merge in front of me, where I use the brakes to back off some and allow them in, but then the cruise (still engaged) will accelerate again toward the vehicle that was previously in my headway.
No injuries · No fire · No crash
Complaint 1 When using cruise control in 2024 Freightliner Cascadia trucks with level 2 autonomous driving features, there is no option to turn off the autonomous driving features (and use standard cruise control); the driver is forced to use the system if he wants or needs to use cruise control. This apparently is a software setting that is available in some versions, but is not available in models bought/leased to large trucking companies. Complaint 2 There is no way to adjust the "agressiveness" of the self-driving (acceleration and braking) feature of these trucks. The default in this model truck is unknown to me, but in slow-and-go or stop-and-go traffic, the truck is highly aggressive; the truck follows too close very often, and waits until the last second to slow or stop in most cases. This also happens in high volume, higher speed traffic.
No injuries · No fire · No crash