On the steep climb up Cunningham’s Gap, award-winning driver trainer Bill Manton discusses how to manage your engine temperatures in this video.
The video instalment below is part of a series of videos designed to help truck drivers navigate the steep ascent and descent of Cunningham’s Gap on the Cunningham Highway in Queensland.
Manton takes to the Gap alongside TMR’s principal program advisor for the South Coast region, Nicholas Lancashire, in a Wickham Freightlines’ Kenworth.
“This is a very long hill climb, it’s quite steep, especially if you’re loaded, so these trucks can get quite hot. Can you tell me a bit about that and what your recommendations are on how to climb up a hill in a way that’s managing your engine temperatures?” asks Lancashire.
Manton responds, “Temperatures are getting hotter with Euro 6, the higher compression diesel engine has certainly caused a lot more heat.
“With all of this technology, it costs you heat, so if your temperatures are coming up, the best thing to do is drop down a gear, keep your RPMs nice and high, to keep that air flow going and keep the coolant flowing.”
This series of videos has been produced by the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR), in partnership with the Queensland Trucking Association (QTA).