Recently, I mounted a coffee maker to the top of the refrigerator in our 2022 Freightliner Cascadia, “Celeste”. As I sit in the nicely equipped driver’s lounge/sleeper bunk area of our Cascadia, I can pour myself a cup of freshly made coffee while taking time to reflect. I think about how spoiled I am regarding the amenities that are offered in a truck today vs. the small, cramped sleepers that were the norm during what many refer to as the “Good Old Days”.
The truck of choice in the past was the cabover design with a doghouse to enclose the engine. It required you to lift yourself up out of the seat, slide, or crawl, across the doghouse to gain access to the sleeper berth. In those days, there were no amenities such as the ones offered today, which we mostly take for granted.
These days, I do not find myself nearly as fatigued from my daily routine as I was in the past, driving a cabover-style truck with a rigidly mounted cab and a spring ride suspension. Today, I am pampered by power steering, lane keep assist, cruise control, air-ride rear suspension, Hendrickson AirTek Air Ride Steer Axle, along with an air ride cab which is further enhanced by the LINK ROI Active Cab suspension. All these help to make the ride really close to Heavenly.
At the start, or end, of my day, I can relax in the Cascadia driver’s lounge which consists of a small foldout dinette table with two individual folding seats on either side. There is ambient lighting which can be adjusted to my taste with a simple flip of a switch. The lights can be bright for reading or dim for relaxing or watching television. In our Cascadia, the refrigerator prep kit has allowed me to put in a dorm-style fridge with a freezer that can keep my choice of healthy meals, cold or frozen, during my time on the road. In addition to this, the Cascadia is equipped with the Dual HVAC system which operates from power with the engine while I am in transit. The Dual HVAC system cools or heats the cab through the use of stored battery power, for when I am on my rest breaks. With proper management, I’m able to easily complete my mandatory 10-hour breaks without the need to idle the engine.
We have added Merlin Solar panels to the hood and roof, which provide additional flexibility for powering items such as lighting, radio, television, refrigerator, microwave, and the newest addition of a proper coffee maker. When the sun is out, I have been able to operate my microwave for up to 7 minutes without the need to start the truck’s engine to maintain battery voltage.
The features that I have discussed here have a lot to do with the name that we gave our Cascadia. The ride combination of the Hendrickson AirTek Steer Axle, Freightliner Airliner Rear Suspension, and the LINK ROI Active Air Ride Cab Suspension have made for an unprecedented smooth ride. That, and the harnessing of the sun’s energy through the Merlin solar panels, which is much like extracting energy from the heavens, is where we came up with the name “Celeste” which derives from the Latin Caelestis, meaning heavenly or celestial.
The “Good Old Days” may have been good for many things. But, these days, we enjoy having the many comforts of our 2022 Freightliner Cascadia, Celeste.
