Steve Feucht doesn't have a nickname for his '00 Peterbilt 379, so let me suggest, "Almost Heaven." It has nothing to do with the John Denver tune of the mid '70s, but in the fact that this is a pretty glorious rig.

It's one of a fleet of 150 Peterbilts and Freightliners operated by Kreilkamp Trucking of Allenton, Wis., where Feucht has worked most of his adult life. His daughter and two sons also work there, which indicates the company must be one of the best places to make a living this side of the happy hereafter.

Feucht said he's had the Pete since last summer. Aside from his comfort and convenience features, it has a Cat C-15 driving through a FreedomLine automated mechanical transmission. He drives it on a regular run between a plastics plant in northern Wisconsin and a John Deere assembly plant not far from Allenton. He does this five nights a week, so he really doesn't need the long Unibilt sleeper.

"Shhh!" he answered when I suggested that. The Pete is fine just the way it is, and he really enjoys driving it, thank you. I did, too, during a trip that was too short but highly instructive. It would've been fine with a manual transmission, but the FreedomLine made it divine.

Maybe you'll recall from previous articles that the ZF Meritor FreedomLine is a "two-pedal" automated mechanical transmission, or AMT. It shifts itself automatically, and the clutch is automatic, too, so you need only the brake and accelerator pedals.

This is the main feature that sets the FreedomLine apart from Eaton Fuller's "three-pedal" AutoShift, which retains a clutch pedal for shifting into gear, starting out and stopping. To the driver, the FreedomLine could be a full automatic, like an Allison, but it's not, as we'll see.

In preparation for my visit, Feucht had taken the Pete into a wash bay and cleansed it of winter grime and road salt. Then he backed it onto a Great Dane reefer laden with about 40,000 pounds of cheese. This trailer was scheduled to leave that night; for us it was a big piece of ballast that lent some reality to this evaluation drive.

"Where do you want to go?" he asked as we were leaving the company's big yard northwest of town. I decided that a short jaunt down the nearby U.S. 41 freeway would be sufficient for a cruising experience. Then we'd swing over to Highway 175, the old rolling, curving route that parallels 41, and let the tranny do a lot of shifting.

No "bam-bam" shifts
I got a lesson right off the bat from Feucht, who's driven the AutoShift, too. On the way to 41, he approached a stop sign on a downgrade. "Right here the AutoShift would be downshifting really hard -- bam, bam, bam!" he explained. "But this doesn't do that."

Indeed, the FreedomLine made one or two leisurely downshifts, then declutched as Feucht made the arterial stop. He paused as cross traffic cleared the intersection, then released the brakes and stepped on the gas. The clutch engaged imperceptibly, and we moved out, through a hard left turn and down Highway 33 through town, and then onto southbound 41.

Up- and downshifting was uniformly gentle, and soon we were in 16th gear, rolling down the wide freeway at about 65 mph. It was all rather effortless, but Feucht said he balked when he heard that this tranny was going to be retrofitted to the tractor, which had come with a 13-speed manual.

"'What? I'm a truck driver!' is how I felt when I heard what they were gonna do," he recalled. "But it didn't take me long to change my mind. I wouldn't want to go back to a manual now."

Any problems with this transmission? I asked him.

"Well, every once in a while, about once a week, it locks up in 16th gear and won't come out," he answered. "It'll happen when I'm cruising along, but it's not a big deal. I've gotten so I can tell it's coming -- the engine will stutter a little just before it happens -- and I'll have to pull over to the shoulder, shut it down, and restart it. And that's it."

The FreedomLine automatically goes to neutral when the ignition's switched off, so it doesn't torque-lock in gear. Hanging up in top gear is a glitch that probably has to do with this unit's being retrofitted to this truck, and not to any inherent flaw.

Easing through the gears
Feucht took the Highway N exit and stopped at the top of the ramp. It was my turn at the wheel, so we traded seats. I belted up, switched into D for Drive, released the brakes and gently pressed the foot feed. We were on a slight upgrade, but the automatic clutch engaged smoothly, with nary a shudder in the driveline. The transmission walked its way up the ratio ladder as I turned right and accelerated down the county road.

Sixteen gears are more than a highway truck really needs, and this one usually started out in 5th. The driver can tell the FreedomLine to use a lower or higher gear for certain conditions, and to hold a gear to maximize the power of the engine brake. He can manually make every shift if he wants, but he will never operate it as well as the electronic controls. It's almost always better to leave it alone.

Any AMT feels like a manual transmission because power goes through mechanical gearing. The electronic controls of the AMT and the engine "talk" to each other, so the engine pauses between upshifts and revs for downshifts. Electropneumatic mechanisms flawlessly shift the gears.

Eaton's AutoShift and Meritor's own SureShift float-shift without disengaging the clutch, but the FreedomLine uses the clutch every time. Although the clutch is air-assisted, you can't hear the spent air exhausting. Because the transmission works so well, the truck doesn't need as much horsepower, in my opinion. The Cat C-15 in this Pete had a Multi-Torque rating of 380/430 hp, but it felt more like a 475 to me.

Someone standing nearby can listen to the engine's revs rise and fall and think, "Hey, that guy really knows how to go through the gears," but of course it's the electronic controls that are doing it. It's been about a dozen years since I first drove an AMT -- an Eaton model, in fact -- but I'm still amazed by the technology.

Freedom to watch the road
It's just a few miles between 41 and 175, and there I paused for another stop sign. I used both of 175's lanes while making the hard right onto it, and checked the mirror to be sure the trailer's wheels stayed on the pavement. With no gearshift lever to manipulate I could concentrate on the maneuver.

Again, the climb through the gears to road speed was effortless, and I was becoming aware of the Pete's attributes: decent visibility, even over the long, straight hood, nice seating position, manly instruments and controls (none of this Euro stuff), and its quietness and smooth ride. "This is just a delight to drive!" I declared, and Feucht agreed.

With the ATM doing the work, all I had to do was enjoy the delightful parade of Americana as we proceeded up 175: small towns with interesting old houses, friendly looking shops and taverns, and picturesque churches. The highway hugs the landscape as it passes over hills and through dales. It is gorgeous in autumn color, as I remember from my trucking days in this region more than 35 years ago, and is striking in white snow, as it was on this day.

The FreedomLine also saves money for its owner. John Kreilkamp says his Peterbilts with the FreedomLine are averaging a half a mile per gallon more than those with the AutoShift, and 0.8 mpg more than those with 13-speed manuals. Either ATM costs several thousand more than a manual, but the fuel savings alone will get him his money back in the first year of ownership, he figures.

One more thing: It is possible to "ride" the clutch while sitting on an upgrade. With no braking, the truck will roll backward, but giving it some throttle will smoothly engage the clutch. This stops the roll-back and can be done repeatedly until you're ready to move forward. This should be no problem for the beefy 17-inch clutch while bobtailing, but a heavy load could lead to some damage.

With only two pedals, the FreedomLine appears to be and pretty much acts like an automatic. It's easier to drive than an AutoShift with its manual clutch, but requires a little more thought than a fully automatic Allison.

The FreedomLine driver should know what a clutch is and does, and what it should not do. Other than that, he or she can enjoy the ride.

Whether or not you like the name, you're gonna like what the FreedomLine does. Just ask Steve Feucht.

SPECIFICATIONS

Tractor
Peterbilt 379 w/ extended hood, 127-in. BBC, w/ 63-in. Unibilt UltraCab High Roof sleeper

Engine
Caterpillar C-15 Multi-Torque, 375-435 hp @ 2,100 rpm, 1,450-1,650 lbs-ft. @.1,200 rpm

Transmission
ZF Meritor FreedomLine 16-speed automated mechanical w/automatically operated Sachs 17-inch single-plate diaphragm-spring clutch

Front Axle
12,000-lb. Meritor FF981 w/ long-life lube points

Rear Axles
40,000-lb. Meritor RT40-145 .w/ 3.21 ratio, on 40,000-lb. Peterbilt Low Air Leaf air-ride

Wheelbase
260 inches

Tires & Wheels
Bridgestone 295/75R22.5 on Alcoa Unimount-10 polished aluminum discs

Fuel Tanks
Twin 23-in.-diameter, 125 gallon each

Peterbilt's Finest?

The "large car" 379 is Peterbilt's single most popular model and the most sought-after (and thus highest-priced) traditionally styled truck, new or used. It's the single most numerous model at truck beauty shows because enthusiasts buy it. It is also quiet, comfortable and arguably the best-riding road tractor out there.

The 379's aerodynamics aren't the best, so it uses somewhat more fuel than the new aero trucks. But it's very well-built, and things like the removable aluminum fenders and big flat bumper cut repair costs. Most owner/operators love the 379, and so do drivers. That's why fleet owners like John Kreilkamp buy them, too. What better way to reward good drivers than give them an O/O-spec'd truck, and let 'em enjoy life while they're making money?

Peterbilt is the first truck builder to offer the new (to North America) FreedomLine transmission. You can order it on the 379 and the streamlined 387. The automated mechanical transmission and the 387's aerodynamics save expensive fuel, and Kreilkamp figures they are the future of his company. But the high-tech tranny works as well in the classic 379, which we enjoyed for this Rig Review.

30 Years Behind the Wheel

Steve Feucht, 47, is Number 2 on Kreilkamp Trucking's seniority list, having been here full-time for more than 24 years. Kreilkamp (262-629-5000 or 800-558-1724) is a family company: Son Travis, 24, also drives here; son Nathan, 18, works part-time in the shop; and daughter Casey, 20, works in the office. Wife Nancy stays around home in Iron Ridge, Wis. "Snaps," as Steve is nicknamed (he got it in school, for reasons best not related here), started driving trucks at 17, hauling cattle for his dad, Don, but soon got an outside job. He has been around the country but now stays on a regular run within Wisconsin.