Complaint 2051822

Complaint Summary

FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL

Owner Narrative

These trucks have a non-adjustable default setting for Over and Under cruise control speed setting. This means, in the case of the truck I drove, that the cruise control will allow the truck to go 5 mph over the set speed before engaging the engine brake, or 4 mph under the setting before accelerating. The problem is that when set for the speed limit, the truck will climb to 7 mph over the set speed before engaging engine brake. When driving on a downgrade with a lot of weight, the truck quickly gets to well over a safe speed before the truck will attempt to slow down. This often results in an overspeed situation when approaching curves. In older models of Freightliner, and maybe in current versions that are adjustable, there is a setting to change this to closer to the set speed. In this model, or large companies' ordered versions, this adjustment is not available. The idea is to save fuel by "hyper-mile" style of driving. It makes for an unpredictable speed of vehicle, frustrating other drivers, and sometimes leading to unsafe overspeed situations.

Owner-submitted narrative on file with NHTSA. Complaint narratives are self-reported and have not been verified.