On the Spot: Mack Traffic Stop & Go
Jim Park: So, this part will be not very exciting to watch. We’re going to demonstrate the low-speed modulation right now.
I put the truck in cruise by pulling up on the yoke, gave it a little bit of throttle.So now, the truck’s moving along on its own, one or two miles an hour at idle.
Okay. So, we’re easing along at four miles per hour here in fourth gear.So, if I downshift this to third gear, you can the downshift occurring there.Hit the downshift again. I’m in second gear now, crawling along at two miles per hour. So, imagine yourself in rush hour traffic in the morning. Speed on the highway is fluctuating a little bit. We’ve got, you know, control with your shift stock here to keep your speed, basically, modulated without using the foot pedal. This will actually work up to sixth gear. So, I’m in fifth gear now.
I’m going to give it sixth gear, and we’re just rumbling along here at six miles an hour. It’s easy to remember one mile an hour per gear. Downshift to five, I slow down a little bit, there’s a deceleration occurring. Downshift again, I’m into fourth.
So, I mean, that’s a a real stress saver if you’re driving in heavy traffic. You got to like that.
And to release the low-speed modulation, all you have to do is push your foot into it. As soon as you get up over a certain speed, it’ll disengage, and it’s business as usual.