Not as its anything to write home about, but AS Tronic continues to down shift (to a lesser extent than under autoexhaust braking) as it slows, it most certainly doesn’t stay in a very high gear before offering up something more suitable for the speed its at, whether accelerator is touched or not.
As for training drivers in the BTSGTG method, i wonder when it changed, i took my test in '76 and the senior trainer who taught me most certainly didn’t drum any of that ■■■■■■■■ into me, the vehicle had to kept in an appropriate (braking) gear to its current speed during deceleration**…and the gearchange exercise was conducted at least once a day on the full 10 day course, appropriate gear control of the vehicle was drummed in…10 day course eh, time to teach someone to control a lorry properly? and not just get ‘em through the test’?
**no exhaust brake fitted to the training vehicles was normal but then few British lorries had exhausters back then that i can remember, i’m trying to recall the first lorry i drove with an exhauster, probably 3 or 4 years later, certainly nothing on Gardners nor unblown ■■■■■■■ 205/220/250 as i recall, i think there was an exhaust brake on the Volvo 86/88 (and they needed it), can’t remember about the Scanny 110 probably, first worthwhile retarder was a Jake on an ex demo ■■■■■■■ engined Sed Ack in '84, that barely needed normal brakes at all and they never needed replacement in the years i had it.
It’s disappointing to see how completely out of touch the training with the real world is if these ideas are current training, not a shred of mechanical sympathy nor economical long life vehicle operation, why on earth would a lorry driver not fully utilise systems the maker went to all the trouble and expense of fitting in the first place.
Yes the brakes are marvellous these days in comparison to previous generations of that there is no doubt, but why would you use the brakes alone when you simply don’t need to (trainers and in company trainer/assessors aint paying the bills), it’s not a car it’s a working industrial heavy vehicle which someone (maybe the owner/driver) has invested in as part of their business, the driver if he/she has any sense should instinctively want their vehicle to be as economical and safe in use as possible with an absolute minimum in costs and downtime for repairs which were not and will not be needed if the vehicle is driven correctly, as designed by the maker with a bit of mechanical sympathy.
The job gets further dumbed down, is this why we need adaptive cruise and electric parking brakes and automatic gearboxes now.
Whats ironic to me is the false economies, the fuss some trainer/assessors make about 5 minutes idling (those upstairs can see on the telematics so we’ll make a song and dance) costing peanuts, yet encouraging abusing the vehicle from cold and switching it straight off when the turbos still glowing, and as in this thread solely using the brakes day in day out…all the above is OK lads its someone else’s fivers we’re lighting.
