Freightliner’s new Cascadia takes innovation, performance and comfort to the next level.
Freightliner spent millions on research and design for the new Cascadia tractor, focusing on lower operating costs, driver comfort and overall ease of ownership.
The truck takes the best of its predecessors and incorporates a host of new ideas as well. This truck was fun and easy to drive, but it will likely show its true value over time in comfort, simplicity and savings.
My test drive of the truck started at the Las Vegas speedway just north of town.
Freightliner’s Drive Smart Tour organizer Keith Harrington knew of my enthusiasm for shifting gears, so my ride was a white 2008 Cascadia 72-inch Condo – 125 inches BBC – with an Eaton-Fuller 10-speed standard shift, right behind a 14-liter, 455 horsepower Detroit Diesel Series 60 engine making 1,550 lb.-ft. maximum torque: a base model. We were a convoy of six rigs, five pulling dry vans at about 78,000 pounds apiece; the sixth truck was a bobtail day cab. The other trucks had automatic transmissions, and the Mercedes Benz MB 4000 and Caterpillar ACERT engines are also available.
The mercury stood at 108 degrees F – and 120 to 130 on the pavement. Clear skies threw down a southwest wind that worked as well as a hair dryer.
The Cascadia’s rack-and-pinion steering and 50-degree wheel cut combined with a low-slung dashboard and shortened, sloped hood for maximized visibility. I’m 76 inches tall and keep the seat up high, but all I saw of the hood was a thin white line across the windshield’s lower edge.
