why you do not want a automatic.

79,790 lbs down Eisenhower and Vail twice this week with my push button auto Mack, never smoked the brakes, because I rarely touched them, hill descent control is a miracle. Select descent speed, let the computer do the rest. If anything, I have to give it fuel because the computer tries to slow it down too much.

 

We road tested a guy today, 40 yrs exp., had never driven an automatic before, don't know if the boss is going to hire him, but by the time the road test was over, 20 miles, he was in love with that automatic.

 

Hmm, our fleet of 11 trucks are all push button autos, with the plan to order two more later in the year

 

And until you've actually driven one and seen how they operate, you never will get your head around it

 

At 79,790 lbs, my auto started in 1st, then went to 4th, then 6th, 7th, 10th, 12th. Climbed Genesse in 10th, dropped off Floyd Hill in 10th holding 45 mph. Dropped off Eisenhower between 35 and 37 mph in 9th, dropped off Vail in 10th holding 47 mph. Never once touched the brakes either. Let the computer do all the work.

 

Spoken by someone who has never driven one.

 

Talked to SNI container driver few days back, he's expecting a '15 Freightliner with an auto any day, they have 10 of them locally and are swapping in 10 more before end of summer.

why are they switching back to manuals?

and yet, my company has been all autoshift since 2000 and now push button autos, running local, flatland and mountains, with an average weight of 65,000 lbs. No complaints from any driver. All of my coworkers had at least 10 yrs exp., when they came to work for us. Not a single one will willingly part with the keys to those trucks and go back to manual.

I'm still trying to figure out what this mystical control thing is that you feel you have more of with a manual.

Then you were doing something wrong, and the computer is not going to let you cause harm/damage to the transmission. Trust me, the computer is smarter than you.

Really, what gear can you start in? I can start off up to 4th with the press of a button, put the trans in performance mode and let it run the gears under 100% throttle accel., and I've already shocked a few other trucks with accel. I can get wheel spin bobtail under hard accel in 4th gear. This argument comes back to settings, gearing, horsepower and torque. BTW, as a comparison, our O/O drives an '04 Columbia, MBE 4000, 445 hp, 10 spd manual. Bobtail, my '15 Mack, MP8, 445 hp, 12 spd auto, will out run him from a light. Yes, I realize there is a difference between my odometer with 33,000 miles and his odometer with 600,000 miles.

 

So anyone that drives a Auto isn't a truck driver ? Do you use Cruise ? ? Bunk heater? A/C ? Air ride seats ? Tilt wheel ? cell phone or do you still use a pay phone ? just curious

 

striker dont try and confuse the unwilling with reality
I am just an average driver but I couldn't shift my 13 speed as well as this 12 speed auto. 95000 miles today hasn't been in manual yet
I don't drive 70 but there are a few hills on 80 just a lil north of ya

 

10-4, I just remember when I started trucking they were mostly autos and went back to manuals.

Not sure, asked one of the drivers that had one and he said he didn't know why they were thinking of switching over.

Compared to the Eaton Autoshift 10 speed I came out of, I have more control. As far as what gear to start off with. Most were programmed to always start in 2nd gear and wouldn't allow you to start any higher, while some others allowed you to start in 3rd but no higher.

I'd start off in 3rd, go up to 1300rpm and bump up the shifter, it would beep and not allow me to shift up until i was over 1500rpm. Most of the trucks would hang in gear until you went over 1500rpm. Most of the guys that work there drove them hard, winding them up to 2000+rpm all the time. My trainer would put it in manual mode and hit the rev limiter all the time. Dude was in his 70's and had over 35 years experience. It made my skin crawl every time I rode with him.

In the eaton autoshift highest I could start was 3rd. The truck I'm in now can start in 5th empty. The eaton auto had no performance mode, only manual or auto mode. Also their trucks were setup for fuel economy, so it changed how the engine applied torque. Not sure how it works, but thats what the mechanic told me that worked there.

I'm only quoting what my boss said. The owners of the company don't want autos in their fleet.

Personally no, I don't use cruise in my work truck, I did use a bunk heater when I was otr, of course I use AC, air ride seats, tilt wheel, and cell phone.