To select neutral, press the clutch pedal to the floor.
Then press the N button. Set the parking brakes and
slowly release the clutch pedal.
NOTE: Neutral is always available during ve-
hicle operation. When in neutral, requests to
upshift or to downshift are ignored.
D (Drive)
Drive (D) is used for normal highway driving. In drive,
the transmission shifts into the proper gear for start-
ing, and then automatically selects additional gears
as needed, in a range between the starting gear and
the highest gear.
To select drive, press the clutch pedal to the floor.
Then press the D button. Slowly release the clutch
pedal and drive the vehicle.
To start up in a gear other than the normal starting
gear, push the upshift arrow with D selected, and
while the vehicle is stopped.
IMPORTANT: AutoShift will not start up in any
gear higher than third gear.
The number of the gear selected will flash on the
auxiliary display until the driver presses the clutch
pedal. This gear will be stored in memory as the de-
fault starting gear until a different starting gear is se-
lected by the driver, or until the engine is shut down.
NOTE: The transmission may be programmed
so that it is not possible to select a starting gear
other than the preprogrammed starting gear.
L (Low)
LOW is used to hold the transmission in low gear
when descending steep hills. If LOW is selected
when the vehicle is stopped, the transmission re-
mains in low gear until drive is selected. If LOW is
selected while the vehicle is moving, the transmis-
sion downshifts at a higher engine speed than nor-
mal, in order to maximize the engine braking effect.
To select LOW, press the clutch pedal to the floor.
Then press the LOW button. Slowly release the
clutch pedal and drive the vehicle.
IMPORTANT: Before parking the vehicle, always
do the following:
•
Place the transmission in neutral.
•
Set the parking brakes.
•
Chock the tires, if parking on an incline.
Freightliner SmartShift Shift
Control
General Information, SmartShift
The SmartShift transmission control is an electronic
transmission control device. It is installed with the
following transmissions:
•
Eaton Fuller UltraShift
™
•
Eaton Fuller UltraShift PLUS
•
Mercedes-Benz Automated Gear Shift (AGS)
It replaces the typical floor-mounted shift lever or
dash-mounted push button control.
SmartShift accepts driver requests for transmission
functions and transmits them through hard wiring to
the transmission control unit (TCU). SmartShift is a
true shift-by-wire system.
SmartShift offers two main advantages over conven-
tional transmission control devices. Without a floor-
mounted shift control, usable cab space is increased.
The SmartShift control mounts to the right-hand side
of the steering column and is operated by the fingers
of the driver’s right hand, allowing both hands to re-
main on the steering wheel.
A two-position slide switch (
) is mounted on
the body of the control lever just before the paddle
widens out. The slide switch allows the driver to
choose automatic (AUTO) or manual (MAN) mode.
In AUTO mode, gears shift automatically, without
driver interaction. Manual gearshifts are accom-
plished by a momentary pull or push on the control in
the plane perpendicular to the steering wheel. Pull
upward (toward you) on the control to upshift and
push downward (away from you) to downshift. The
control is spring-loaded and returns to mid-position
when released after an upshift or downshift.
For Eaton Fuller UltraShift and UltraShift PLUS
(
), a four-position R, N, D, L) selector switch
is located at the end of the lever. For the Mercedes-
Benz AGS (
), a three-position R, N, D) se-
lector switch is located at the end of the lever.
Embedded in the selector switch is a small neutral
lock button to prevent accidental shifts into gear from
neutral. Any time you shift through N, press down on
the neutral lock button to move the switch from neu-
tral (N) to another gear, such as drive (D), low (L), or
reverse (R). When shifting to N, it is not necessary to
press the neutral lock button.
Drivetrain
8.14
