MAN used ZF arsetronic until sometime last year and have morphed onto ZF Traxon, which is basically the same thing but with improved programming, though my own jury is still out as to whether its an improvement after all.
Some of the quirks its gained do not help manual driving at all in my humble, and it’s still not up to being left to its own devices in auto for good smooth economical progress.
You’re lucky you missed out on the joys of autos Jake old mate, the worse thing they ever did, that change sparked the necessity for much of the other dumbing down technology as they’ve been trying desperately to keep the numpties from doing their worse, i’m surprised the industry didn’t see that for itself at the time, but no they saw the chance to cheapen the job, where they could get any bod off the street cheap and plonk him behind the wheel with a pre programmed route in the pratnav, select D and press the loud pedal.
And that is where we are now, with those who enjoy the job and try to do it right or even take a pride in their job being lumped in with the twerps who cause the mayhem seen every day on our roads, how we get it back i don’t know, but continually assessing people, making them sit for 35 hours listening in too many instances to utter ■■■■■■■■**, and pointing cameras in their faces as a last resort isn’t working…it was the industry who failed to realise there is a skill and attitude to lorry driving, they couldn’t wait to destroy all those years of learned knowledge, they never had the nous to think of finding the right young talent issuing them with a vehicle and pairing them off to run with a trusted old hand to pass on those years of experience, the industry is reaping what it has sown by the shovelful.
**On the very first DCPC session i attended the bod taking the class reckoned he was a lorry driving instructor and he must have told us twenty bloody times that it was no longer necessary to go down gears or use anything other than the footbrake because the brakes on lorries are so good now…him and i came to quite a disagreement about that, i was one of the older hands on the day so it sort of fell to me, absolutely wrong to be so poorly instructing (as a HGV driver instructor his words would carry weight with many) young drivers who haven’t been on the road for years and might actually believe that crap.
Edit…i should add another thing about these autoboxes.
Whatever my personal feelings about them (or rather the part they have played in deskilling the job IMHO) there is no denying they are supremely reliable, also they have stopped the more ham fisted couldn’t care less non drivers out there from wrecking gearboxes, but mainly clutches, regularly, and they can prevent the engine thrashers from ■■■■■■■ fuel out the exhaust pipe by pointlessly revving the ■■■■■■■■ out the engine constantly, so whatever i may hope for, they are here to stay because they do help protect the vehicle from abusers.
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