Freightliner Trucks is replacing its 11-year-old Business Class medium/heavy-duty series with a totally redesigned “M2,” which constituted one of its major announcements at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville. The M2 is roomier, quieter and smoother looking than the current models, and well up to battling competitors’ Class 5 through 8 midrange models.
The Business Class M2 was first unveiled to Freightliner dealers and trade-press reporters in Phoenix. That’s where I drove the extended-cab local/regional tractor that you see here. The extra behind-the-seats space can be used for more seating, stowing gear or for a 24-inch-wide bunk.
The bunk is what this tractor had, and while I didn’t nap in it, it looks like it would come in handy in certain operations, like piggyback-trailer toting, where drivers must often wait for assignments. That’s exactly what Freightliner and other builders have in mind with their extended-cab models.
The M2 went into production in June as a 106-inch BBC model, like you see here. Later will come shorter and longer versions with 100- and 112-inch bumper-to-cab dimensions. The M2 series will expand as the current Business Class is phased out.
Drivers should like the M2’s roominess, smooth ride (depending on chassis equipment), attractive automotive-style interiors and excellent outward visibility. Windows are huge, and the steeply sloped hood makes for cabover-like visibility. Adults can stand right at the bumper and still be spotted by the driver; only kids are still hidden. That’s pretty much the case with the current Biz Class, but the M2 also improves visibility to either side.
With David Abernathy, a technician at Freightliner’s test center in Portland, Ore., I drove this M2 tractor from Phoenix’s southeast side over to a trailer leasing yard on the southwest side. We returned a 28-foot van rented for the intro, then bobtailed back to the hotel complex.
Any stoutly sprung, short-wheelbase vehicle will give you a somewhat choppy ride. This one’s axles were rated at 12,000 pounds front and 23,000 pounds rear, with a wheelbase of 176 inches. So it did its share of bouncing, especially while bobtailing. But Abernathy, a former trucker, said the Airliner rear suspension took out most of the shock. He had driven others with steel-spring suspensions and said they were really rough at times.
This M2 had a 300-horsepower Caterpillar 3126E, which was plenty gutsy under light load and would probably pull well as gross combination weight climbed toward the tractor’s 55,000-pound rating. The Eaton Fuller 10-speed was easy to shift and offered more than enough ratios.
The new cab is wider and longer, and its doors bigger than the current cab. The steering wheel is multi-adjustable, helping accommodate big, medium and small people. The dashboard, instruments and controls are modern and attractive, sporting the automotive style that’s become the rage in midrange trucks.
In my eyes, the Biz Class M2’s styling, inside and out, is less flamboyant and more, well, businesslike than competitors'. You can order chrome trim on an M2, but it's not standard as on some others, including the Acterra from sister company Sterling or the new 4000, 7000 and 8000 series from International.
You can make real tight turns with any M2 model because wheel cut can be as much as 55 degrees. With several straight trucks I drove, freeway handling at 65 mph was very stable, and wind noise was nil. These are quiet trucks, whether powered by the optional Cat 3126E, which most display trucks had, or the standard MBE900 diesel in four- or six-cylinder versions.
The one Mercedes-Benz engine I drove, in a Class 6 chassis with a stubby van body, was quieter than the Cats, as Freightliner people claim. They also say their M-B 6-speed manual transmissions are quiet and easy shifting, and the one in that truck indeed was. Making M-B components standard is a move toward vertical integration, yet Freightliner promises the M2 can be custom outfitted for many jobs.
As for that “small” bunk, go to any antique truck show and look inside an early 1950s conventional sleeper-cab tractor, and you'll find that two or so feet was all the old boys had to snooze in. And their “big” engines put out all of 180 to 220 horses. If you could lower your modern expectations, you could actually go long-haul truckin' in this rig. – Tom Berg
Own the Night
The U.S. Special Forces have a saying, “We own the night.” It refers to the night-vision and infrared devices that let them see as if in daylight. Bendix has adapted some of that military technology in its X-Vision infrared system, soon to be a factory option on most makes of trucks, and currently available from Bendix for retrofit.
Infrared systems detect heat, so animals and people show up bright white against darker backgrounds. X-Vision can detect temperature variations as small as 0.2 degree F, allowing inanimate objects, such as road surfaces, fences, trees and buildings, to be identified.
The Bendix system has a mirrored projection device that shows a virtual image in proper proportion to real life. Its unit displays the image on a black-and-white screen; however, Kenworth will use its own LCD driver information panel, located to the driver's right in the dashboard to display the image.
At the Mid-America Trucking Show, I drove Bendix's demonstrator, a Peterbilt 387 equipped with one camera and multiple viewing screens and devices.
Bendix claims X-Vision lets you see 1,500 feet ahead, compared to 300 feet for low-beam headlights and 350 feet for radar-based devices. That means 13 seconds more warning time at 60 mph than the four seconds you get with radar. Experts say that each second of additional warning time reduces crash occurrence or severity by as much as 90%.
The Bendix engineers and I started our journey from the show grounds to areas that were dark enough to properly demonstrate the technology. Driving northbound on I-65, I noticed that the roof-mounted camera scanned the road starting several hundred feet in front of us.
A pickup ahead of me was almost invisible in X-Vision. Only its roof was seen. That's because it is more important to see farther down the road than close in. If an animal comes out of the dark within 100 feet or so, there won't be time to react. In fact, the best course of action might be to ride it out rather than take extreme evasive maneuvers. Looking farther ahead, you'll be able to spot most animal life or vehicles long before they become a threat.
Still following the pickup, I crossed into Indiana, then headed east for a few miles on a state road to a combination of industrial areas, farmland and woods. Even without streetlights or oncoming headlights, I could see the road curve more than a mile ahead, way beyond what I could see through the windshield. I could also see flecks of white in the fields. The folks from Bendix said they were small field animals.
We didn't see any deer or large pets, but Bendix personnel were stationed strategically along the road, assuming their roles as "targets." In one case, they stood in the center of the road beside a stopped car that had its high beams pointed toward us. Through the windshield, the people were invisible against the headlights' glare. Through X-Vision, they stood out boldly, while the headlamps were mere pinpoints on the X-Vision display.
Out in the country, I found myself fixating on the display, trying to drive by it alone without looking out the windshield. I was told it's a common trait among first-time users. The way to use the system is to scan it, much as you scan instruments and mirrors. The Bendix folks said it takes only an hour or two to learn to use it properly.
I don't know if that would be true for the Kenworth version. The retrofit kit uses Bendix's display that projects a proportionally sized virtual image optically. Other builders plan to use that system as well. Both versions were on board, and both could be adjusted for brightness and contrast, much like a TV set.
I found the in-dash display screen poorly positioned compared to the Bendix display, which was on top of the dash, at the base of the windshield. There it could be quickly scanned without taking my eyes completely off the road. Image proportions were more realistic, more natural and easier to understand.
Since the unit reads differences in heat, I was concerned with its performance in rain, fog and snow. Anything that diminishes or absorbs heat will degrade X-Vision performance. Because most of us slow down for bad weather, there should still be adequate advance warning.
Another concern was the price, initially set at $4,000 for a full retrofit kit that takes about three hours to install. Excise tax on a new truck adds $480. Bendix says that, like most electronic devices, there will be future cost reductions as volume builds.
For now, X-Vision may be limited to only those who, like our military, want to own the night and can afford the very best. When the price gets down to a more reasonable level, I believe most drivers will want this. It really is a safety breakthrough. – Paul Abelson
