Bad news for manual lovers

100% correct.

There is absolutely zero reason whatsoever to spec an auto in an OTR application....UNLESS....you plan to churn rookie drivers.

 

That's one argument, but I also like them because they're easier on my sciatica.

More room for my fat ### to move around without tripping over a stick.

Less obstacles for wires to get wrapped around. (I'm an electronics geek)

 

Between you and Generallee, I am going to fall off my bunk laughing so dang hard....lmbo I have no arguments for your reasons...lol

 

First they suck them in with all this great new technology and claims of this and that so they buy these trucks then soak them for all they're worth on the back end when it breaks down.
Imagine sitting in an intersection and that computer decides it should only go in reverse.
You'd think with all the computer related problems already, one wouldn't want to add shifting to the list.

 

Haha! Yeah it's been entertaining. We're done with vacation and going back out in the next couple days. I don't log on here when I'm busy.

 

If you can answer the question I provided, then you would have the evidence. 'Driver-dependent' action, is if not, almost entirely dependent on gear 'selection' in cause relation... of overly slick roadways... typical of snow and ice. With this said... What can you NOT do with an automatic?

 

That's not the question. The question is "Why do you need one?"

 

Yep. Get a whole fleet worth of overpriced unreliable trucks and fill the the seats with people that can't drive anything else. Sounds like a great way to run a business. LMAO.

 

Oh boy has this thread exploded!

You guys saying my cool, long nose 379 can't avg better than 4 - 5mpg are wrong. It's overall average since I've been driving her is 6.3. That's with very un-aero flatbed. If I had an aerodynamic shell truck but kept my same pre-98 tuned, non-EGR 500hp/2000ftlb Cat 3406E, Eaton Manual 13spdOD, and 3:55s riding on 24.5lp tires; I bet I could average 7.5 with a van trailer.

This engine can also cruise at 1200rpm, do it regularly, which is pretty close to the 1150rpm the DD15s will cruise at. I can also shift without reving it and wasting fuel. I just float her out and lightly raise the rpms and float her back in.

And whoever is blowing their knee out shifting...Guess what! A manual can be driven without ever touching the clutch except to begin rolling or come to a complete stop. Which also can be minimized by slowing early at lights and timing the green. You won't have to stop and touch the clutch!

She has never left me sitting on the side of the road either. And she eats DD15s for lunch pulling the hills. I usually just flick her down to 9 low, ease into the fuel, then I grin as she lays down two modest trails of black smoke and that DD15 fades away in my west coast mirrors.

The ergonomics of a Pete 379 are almost perfect, and that tuned Cat has perfect throttle response, and when that turbo pressure is rising up you can hear it and the guy you're passing will hear you passing him and look to see if that's a jet about to overtake him. Then those 8" straights come roaring by him as the air coming around that Pete's big square nose about puts him on the shoulder. There just ain't no feelin', like Petermobilin'!

Heck, If you guys want to learn one on one with me how to really master driving a real truck, just bring $1000 and I'll spend a day training you the right way. That's cheap compared to all the fuel and knees you guys are wasting!

 

Like I said in the other thread a couple of weeks ago, if you like an Auto because you're lazy & you think it makes your job easier then fine, come out and admit it. But when you start making up these BS facts then we have a problem.

Nothing more annoying then hearing an Automatic shift thru an truck stop parking lot with that air noise (at least that's what it sounds like).