toonsy:
Zac_A:
stu675:
I love neutral, can go fasterWe used to have a driver like that… He’s someone else’s problem now thankfully.
We had one when I was running a euro fleet. He got jail time in France.
Bessines sur Gartempe. Remember it well
A20?
50kph over the limit?
Repeat offence?
Lowered speed limit on downhill section?
Three grand or more fine?
Franglais:
toonsy:
Zac_A:
stu675:
I love neutral, can go fasterWe used to have a driver like that… He’s someone else’s problem now thankfully.
We had one when I was running a euro fleet. He got jail time in France.
Bessines sur Gartempe. Remember it well
A20?
50kph over the limit?
Repeat offence?
Lowered speed limit on downhill section?
Three grand or more fine?
156kph. 97mph as I recall.
Flew out to Limoges, from Stanstead, with many euros in notes to bail him out but it was of no use so I kept it to the lawyers and drive the vehicle back myself.
He got two months plus another 12 months on suspended.
Had another chap given a two year sentence in Spain. That was a right messy one that. Murky in the extreme.
dailymail.co.uk/travel/trav … ested.html
It wasn’t quite as presented by that article with many a missing detail.
the maoster:
If your lorry is gradually reducing speed and you’re not noticing it you are not paying enough attention. The end.
I don’t continually watch the speedometer, I would rather look out of the windows to see whats happening around me, than watch my speedo gradually reducing! 
stu675:
toonsy:
stu675:
Can you all please tell me what trucks you are referring to?Volvo for me
That’s good to know you can choose adaptive or fixed cruise control. They both have benefits, but like Stephen I also hate when it subtly reduces speed. If only it gave a warning sound when it does it, like when cruise drops out completely. In a Merc, and I think Dafs, you can’t choose cruise without adaptive.
The Actros lets you disable the adaptive by pressing up on the right hand keypad thing. You’ll have a white icon of a vehicle on top of the cruise symbol when its on, and it goes blue when you’re following something. It’s useful for single carriageway roads where you’re following someone that continually speeds up and slows down.
AEBS often picks out signs on a bend and flashes up a warning, it doesn’t often brake though (for me).
Again, on the Actros, the front radar used for detecting vehicles/obstacles can become clogged (even during rain) so the system turns off temporarily resulting in the loss of adaptive cruise and the onboard speed display of the vehicle in front.
Every Actros I’ve had lets you use the gearbox in manual and it keeps it there, unlike a previous DAF, which thought it knew better and switches back to auto after a few seconds.
Dav1d:
stu675:
toonsy:
stu675:
Can you all please tell me what trucks you are referring to?Volvo for me
That’s good to know you can choose adaptive or fixed cruise control. They both have benefits, but like Stephen I also hate when it subtly reduces speed. If only it gave a warning sound when it does it, like when cruise drops out completely. In a Merc, and I think Dafs, you can’t choose cruise without adaptive.
The Actros lets you disable the adaptive by pressing up on the right hand keypad thing. You’ll have a white icon of a vehicle on top of the cruise symbol when its on, and it goes blue when you’re following something. It’s useful for single carriageway roads where you’re following someone that continually speeds up and slows down.
AEBS often picks out signs on a bend and flashes up a warning, it doesn’t often brake though (for me).
Again, on the Actros, the front radar used for detecting vehicles/obstacles can become clogged (even during rain) so the system turns off temporarily resulting in the loss of adaptive cruise and the onboard speed display of the vehicle in front.
Every Actros I’ve had lets you use the gearbox in manual and it keeps it there, unlike a previous DAF, which thought it knew better and switches back to auto after a few seconds.
DAFs, the ones Ive driven at least, the ACC can be set on the separation button so it is simple CC. Mine came with a "revert to auto" when switched into manual. The dealer re-set it so it didnt do that. Few mins on a their `putor, after a few phone calls. Stopped my boss getting a ear-ache.
I love technology - but not when it comes to driving. I don’t trust it. I’ve had too many sudden braking examples when the Actros thinks it saw a flea running into the road. Adaptive cruise can be OK for a short time, but you still need to monitor what it is doing, so you may as well turn it off and do it yourself. Auto wipers are either too fast or not at all. Auto lights - I’m quite capable of seeing when it is dark, and turning the lights on, thank you. Mercedes Auto gears? Don’t even go there. I’ve got a goldfish with a better understanding of gears. Lane departure warning - sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. Can’t distinguish changing lanes without indicating (empty road!) from wandering tired.
Most of these systems do not work properly 100% of the time, and less than 100% is useless as far as I am concerned.
The first thing I do when I get in the truck is turn all this crap off (if I can) so I can use my own brains to drive the truck.
Conor:
Only in lorry driving do you find people actively wanting to make their job harder than it needs to be and literally begging the boss to buy kit that means they have to work harder for the same money.
In fairness I rarely agree with anything you say on here or your tone normally, but on this I am with you 100% . There’s always an element of the “good old days” or not being “a proper driver” because you embrace technology and the modern world we live in.
stu675:
My daily driver is a mirror cam Mercedes Actros.
Acceleration and braking:- It has active cruise control with PPC, so when that’s engaged it can accelerate from 1 mph* to 56 on its own, according to traffic in front of it and slow down to a stop all on its own. I will generally intervene to start slowing down earlier to make sure it is smoother, but, in the right circumstances, it could do it itself. The PPC means that it can negotiate roundabouts and bends at a safe speed without intervention, depending on if you are lucky with traffic.
Steering:- nothing more than a lane departure warning, no intervention made by the truck.
Gears:- Auto obviously, I very rarely have to intervene.I find all this makes my life easier (obviously I don’t feel any threat of being redundant yet), I don’t have a wide experience of other trucks, what can they do?
*Once after a very brief stop it started all by itself, but usually I have to initiate it moving.
The same as it could 2yrs ago, settle down there just aids ffs I wouldn’t be calling this autonamy.
Well my old 4 series has cruise control and that’s about it as far as automation goes. Wouldn’t have it any other way… there’s a reason why it’s the most reliable lorry in our same-manufacturer fleet, far less electronic junk to go wrong and that’s just on engine and gearbox management 
I embrace technology wherever possible as long as it is genuinely of benefit.
Driving aids on my truck and my truck tomtom are 2 examples.
I love both.
Why not make life easier for myself…
