A question from an ex truckerto some of you super truckers

the only 2 stick other 5/4 i have driven was in r mack--iirc the rear stick was just for high and low range---complete with tarp strap to keep the #### thing from rattling around

 

I retired from the military way back in the late 80's and they still had 5 and 4's in all the road trucks in the Navy Seabees. I've never driven a Mack with twin sticks buit did plenty of runs up and down Hyw 101 in CA loaded with contruction rquipment in GMC's. But those were the old screaming jimmy days. You could pull a lot of weight if you knew how to. I loved them.

 

Never driven one on the road, but I did get through a few shifts in a gravel pit with an old KW water truck. Would be interesting to learn how to do on the road with an actual load though.

 

there are 2 Macks where I work that have the double shifters. one I've driven, the other I haven't.
I'm not a super trucker, barely a driver, lol

 

the one I drove here is like that, "complete with tarp strap", lol

 

So, what, in the O/P's opinion, makes a driver a "super trucker?"

Seriously. Just because someone doesn't know how to use the two-stick shifters does not make that person a dolt. It only means that person started driving after improvements were made to equipment that eliminated the need for two sticks. It doesn't make anyone "better" than anyone else simply because he or she started in the transportation industry when they were moving freight with oxen. It just makes that veteran OLD. And with a title like the one of this thread....a curmudgeon.

Go get a cigar and a martini, put your feet up and turn Perry Mason back on. If this is your attitude toward those of us entering the industry after you...to heckle rather than help....you are better off in retirement. Enjoy what you have earned and leave transportation to those of us currently in it.

However. If you are willing to describe and teach the operation of antique vehicles, I would be more than happy to learn.

 

I learned on "two sticks" and never even knew how to drive an "air shift" transmission until I bought a truck with one in it.

 

My mechanic has a B-61 with the 5x4 and pop out windshields. Air wipers and a wig wag to boot. She's a runner with manual steering, mechanical gauges and a metal dash.
Even the dog on the hood is gold for those who know what that means....... so bring your sincere desire to lean and I'll set it up with the wrench. A trip around the block will see if you have what it takes to make the dog bark.....

 

What year did they start the Pedigree designation?

The dog on my truck is silver, the dog on the bosses' truck is gold however.

To the OP: yes.

 

B models didn't have gold dogs or popout windshields; gold dogs came later, popouts were earlier models. The thing about 2 levers is that the auxiliary is doing pretty much the same as your air shifted button, except (to me anyway) there's more driver control with a manually shifted lever than a finicky air valve. It's not rocket science, or a "lost art" like some people would like you to believe. Only an old fashioned transmission.