When you were learning to get your license, remember if it was difficult for you to master shifting a five-speed manual? Five gears, shift order 1-2-3, etc., pressing the clutch, releasing the gas pedal, smooth but quick connection of the clutch discs... it all can make your head spin. At first, it’s not very easy to figure it all out, and you also need to develop your motor skills, as they say, “to improve.”
Now imagine, there are 9, 10, 13 and even 18-speed transmissions, in which all gears still have to be shifted in manual mode! To be honest, even though I was interested in trucks and the life of truck drivers, but I still can’t figure out how to manually shift so many gears.
To understand the intricacies of gears, you should turn to professional truck drivers. The first video, in Russian, is 23 minutes long (pay attention to the first minutes of the video. Maybe our readers can explain WHAT THIS IS?! Why are there three levers and what’s going on):
Second video about the basics of switching:
The third video, in my opinion, is the most informative. The only negative is that it is in English, but there are subtitles, they can be translated into Russian:
After watching all the videos, I suddenly gained even more respect for hard workers from high road. These guys have a tough job! And let most new trucks be equipped automatic transmissions, have less respect for the guys driving big cars I won't.
Everyone has seen an American hooded tractor at least once in their life. And how, exactly, can one not notice it? Nosy, swift, big - all these epithets, of course, are about Americans. At the beginning of the 2000s, Americans with bonnets poured into Russia in a flood, leaving all KamAZ and MAZ trucks at the end of the line. But what's the matter? Why did our truckers switch to overseas trucks? Since American tractors are direct competitors to Europeans, let's figure out which side is stronger.
Huge advantages against the backdrop of small disadvantages
American tractors have a lot of advantages, many of which are simply impossible for their European brothers in the saddle to implement. We're talking about a big cabin, a powerful engine, secure box, clutch and internal combustion engine. And, of course, “two meters of life” in front of the driver. In order not to speak in the abstract, let's take a specific brand that is in great demand in our market - Freightliner Cascadia. But first things first.Huge cabin
She's really huge. This is the most important and important advantage related to American bonnets. No competitor has a cabin like the American one. Our drivers, of course, appreciated the possibility of capacity and transformation of the cabin. You can live in an American tractor! Everything you need is here:- Microwave
- TV
- Coffee maker
- Water dispenser
- Two huge beds
If we are to compare with Europeans, then let’s compare Freightliner cabs Cascadia and, say, the same Scania. All that the European can offer is two meager sleeping places.
Powerful engine
The engine is really powerful and you can’t argue with that either. The Freightliner Cascadia, for example, has a typical engine power of 560 Horse power. Agree, impressive. Especially compared to its European classmates, whose standard engines produce 380-440 horsepower.Reliability is added to the powerful engine. American trucks are designed to work with a trailer gross weight up to 60 tons, that’s exactly why they need one powerful engine. In Russia, the permitted weight is almost a third less, which means that the tractor does not strain. The engine, even if desired, cannot be loaded more than 2/3, exactly, like the suspension, gearbox, etc. This is probably why Freightliner Cascadia tractors run an average of 2.5-3 million kilometers before overhaul. If you can’t imagine what a huge figure this is, then just think about the fact that our domestic KamAZ-5490, according to the plant (!), will be able to travel up to a million kilometers without major repairs. And the Freightliner Cascadia runs three times longer even without factory announcements.
Box
Regarding the box, everything is simple. Mostly, American tractors have a sixteen-speed gearbox. And its advantage is that there are synchronizers only in first gear. Synchronizers wear out quite quickly, so the developers decided to remove this element from the system for greater reliability.Clutch
The clutch can also be classified as an eternal part. The fact is that the clutch is only needed to engage first gear. It is without an amplifier, so it turns on with great effort, but due to the fact that the remaining gears are engaged without a clutch, it is practically not used.Two meters of life ahead
Of course, an accident is an unpleasant moment, but you need to consider its possibility. At frontal impact the driver of an American tractor is protected by the engine, unlike the driver European tractor, in which the engine is located under it. Taken together, the Freightliner Cascadia driver is protected by the engine, front end cover, front axle, power elements body, while the driver of a European truck is protected only by the lining.Minuses
The only downside that can be noted is that such a tractor can only be driven within the Russian Federation. Abroad, such tractors do not travel along the length.
Comparison
The comparison price will be approximately 4 million rubles. This is quite a bit for a thoroughbred tractor. But what competitors?KamAZ-5490 is new truck domestic production. Although, of course, this is a Mercedes-Benz Actros in an old body, but now the converted Mercedes is produced under the KamAZ brand. Nobody knows how many kilometers he will walk, and whether they will be so carefree.
Scania – for 4 million rubles you can buy a three-year-old tractor in decent condition. It will be better than new KamAZ, but worse than the bonnet American tractor. If you now ask why Scania is worse than Freightliner Cascadia, then scroll up a little - all the arguments are described there.
Freightliner Cascadia is the one that deserves more attention. Think for yourself, for 4 million rubles you can buy a two or three year old Freightliner Cascadia with a mileage of only 200-300 thousand kilometers. It will be a truck top level. All the arguments described above speak in its favor. In addition, it will have an advantage that the new KamAZ will not have - American quality. You can, of course, argue for a long time about the quality of Americans, but no one will argue that it is many times better than Russian quality assemblies.
Thus, the choice, of course, falls on the American Freightliner tractor Cascadia. All its advantages are described above, and they really matter.
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A tractor-trailer, also known as a truck-trailer or 18-wheeler, is a big tractor With diesel engine, which is designed for transporting heavy loads. Every year more than 4 million such tractors different types travel the highways, delivering goods, raw materials and farm animals throughout the country. The transmission (gearbox) in these tractors can be automatic or manual. Manual transmission involves the driver using the clutch to disengage the transmission and change gears as needed. The driver does this by listening to the engine and also watching the engine speed and speedometer. There are several methods for changing gears manual box tractor gears: standard shifting and dual clutch. Truck drivers work hard to learn how to shift gears correctly in order to avoid shift stress and preserve the clutch and engine of their trucks. Read on to learn how to shift gears using the dual clutch method.
