Are "manual transmissions only" types of drivers supertruckers?

As most super trucker stories.. every lie has some truth to it.

 

In the last few months there have been a lot of posts that complain about people complaining of "toxic masculinity". They claim that those who talk about "toxic masculinity" are creating a generation of weak, useless individuals while completely missing the point.

Masculinity is taking care of your business. It's stepping up to the plate and doing what is right even when it costs you. It's acting with integrity.

A few years ago someone posted:

"But as I recall, not one driver wore flip flops nor shorts nor had a backpack. Back then, it was bluejeans, work boots or cowboy boots. He carried a small suitcase or duffle bag to the shower and emerged smelling of Aqua Velva."
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He was complaining that drivers don't look like drivers anymore. Instead of focusing on the points that matter - shifting, backing, getting the load delivered on time - he focused on attire at the truck stop. I took particular umbrage at the backpack comment. I find a backpack much more convenient than a duffel bag or suitcase, and why should my luggage choice invalidate my ability as a driver? It's much the same way with modern masculinity. The things that don't really matter - ordering a fruity drink at the bar, going to the strip club, manual/automatic transmission, etc - determine a person's manhood. It reminds me of the elementary school playground where little boys would try and one up each other - one kid has a dollar in his pocket and the next kid says he has a five dollar bill at the house while a thirds claims he's got even more 'in the bank'.

Toxic masculinity is focusing on the immaterial to boost an ego while ignoring real responsibility.

Screwing up on your own is more painful both for you and the person you learn the lesson with.

In the last 6 days I have spent 12 hours watching my trainee back up. On two occasions I was soaked to the bone. Had my trainee been on his own he would have hit many, many, many, many fixed objects. At the Walton KY Flying J I stood between him and another driver. We weren't anywhere close to actually hitting the other driver and we weren't impeding traffic through the lot (two other guys were doing that for us). Had this driver just been handed the keys, he would have caused a fatal accident in Asheville, NC. Long term this guy is going to be a good driver, but he needed to be shown how things work.

I was lucky in my CDL school. I was able to spend time on the backing range without an instructor just playing around. I learned a lot by running over cones - enough that in 12 years of driving I have 1 preventable accident and I've never actually hit anything. Leaving Tuckahannock Pa during a hurricane we were put on a 'bridge out' detour that trucks didn't fit on. I stopped before I hit the guardrail and as I and the driver behind me were talking about how to get me out of it we watched my trailer slide down onto the guard rail.

One of my big beefs with my training department is their reliance on Edgar Dale's 'Learning Cone'



This BS was discredited in the early 90s, but is still at the forefront of industrial curriculums. The reality is the most efficient path to mastery is a mix between instruction and hands on. When I started training I would just toss the trainee into things, interjecting when I needed to -which was often. Sometimes that wasn't an option due to load restrictions and I would have to get us moving right away. I found that doing demos of coupling/ptis/backing have a much greater impact than just letting the student do it on their own. When I changed to a "I do it, then you do it" model, my trainees do better. When needed it becomes "you do it, I do it, you do it".

The "learn it on your own" method only works if you get called on your mistakes. In our industry that happens when someone hits something. I would rather guys learn in ways that don't impact others.

 

Sadly these days society views just being a man, in a traditional sense, as being a toxic male.

 

“Automatics are so great, I just have to drive it like a manual to work right!” Not picking on you in particular.

I’ll take a manual any day when backing, put it in reverse and let the clutch out. When I’m backing a 16’ wide airplane wing through a 16’ wide door on an angle, the last thing I need is the truck lurching 3’ back.
Before I stopped that run one of our guys got out of an 18 speed Kenworth into a automatic Volvo. He couldn’t close our stretch trailers, the computer would just beep at him and say something like “clutch abuse” and nothing would happen. So the other driver would have to close both trailers. #### that noise.

 

Ok thanks will do Roger.

 

Well said sir. Going thru that right now

 

Don't worry about it, more than 10% of the active military are ####, dikes, or otherwise in the LGBTQ+ community. At any real attack on our sovereignty all Americans will stand true, regardless of their sexual orientation - provided the government lets them.

The southern border isn't overrun - not anywhere close. Even if it where, tanks (or walls) aren't going to do diddly. It's counter intuitive, but if you want to deal with illegal immigrants less border security is the answer. If you want to know why, a simple google search will tell you why, or start a thread in politics and tag me and I'll give you the links. Until then, please keep the politics out of the general forum.

 

Not so fast. While I agree with your version of masculinity. I have been called toxic by my very own daughters for saying it’s the man’s role to provide for his family and it’s not very manly for him to stay home while his wife works. I also believe that women shouldn’t be in front line combat. Of course I believe a man shouldn’t whine either and should perform any task to the best of his abilities. I also believe a man is the head of his household too.

 

Masculinity doesn’t rest on the type of truck you drive or the number of sexual conquests

 

I don’t see how any one can try to defend their manhood or argue that automatics are better
It’s pretty ridiculous when one of the main reason trucks have gone automatic is maintenance cost from operator error.
Mega carriers wanted the ability to throw any schmuck in the driver seat and now they do. it’s keeping all of our paychecks low
but you guys keep defending your garbage def auto trucks. It doesn’t matter if you cdl has a manual exemption. You’re just as much a professional box jockey as the next guy..
I’ve passed some waymo driverless trucks that drive better then most anyways. Waiting for the next thread in a couple years when you auto lovers start crying about how a computer took your job