Automatic Manual Transmissions vs Manual Transmissions

Discussion in 'Experienced Truckers' Advice' started by ChicagoDave, Dec 22, 2015.

  1. ChicagoDave

    ChicagoDave Bobtail Member

    Joined:
    Dec 22, 2015
    Messages:
    32
    Thanks Received:
    38
    Location:
    Chicago
    0
    I'm curious. Why don't you like elogs?

    I like the efficiency. When I stop to take a leak I want to get back on the road faster and keep going. Elogs cut at least a minute or two off my pit stop.
     
    Last edited: Dec 22, 2015
  2. Hick

    Hick Heavy Load Member

    Joined:
    Dec 4, 2014
    Messages:
    928
    Thanks Received:
    1,624
    Location:
    West Virginia
    0
    I asked mine for my rib back just yesterday.
     
    jammer910Z and mountaingote Thank this.
  3. ChicagoDave

    ChicagoDave Bobtail Member

    Joined:
    Dec 22, 2015
    Messages:
    32
    Thanks Received:
    38
    Location:
    Chicago
    0
    LMAO. I hope that was a joke.
    Did ya get it? LOL
     
    mountaingote Thanks this.
  4. PackRatTDI

    PackRatTDI Licensed to Ill

    Joined:
    Jul 15, 2006
    Messages:
    14,765
    Thanks Received:
    22,568
    Location:
    El Chuco, Tejas
    0
    Boys go to Mars to get more candy bars.
    Girls go to Jupiter to get more stupider.



    There's more to it but I can't remember.
     
  5. PackRatTDI

    PackRatTDI Licensed to Ill

    Joined:
    Jul 15, 2006
    Messages:
    14,765
    Thanks Received:
    22,568
    Location:
    El Chuco, Tejas
    0
    I love my Volvo I shift. Put it in power mode and I can out accelerate cars when lightly loaded.
     
    striker and ChicagoDave Thank this.
  6. mountaingote

    mountaingote Road Train Member

    Joined:
    Sep 22, 2012
    Messages:
    2,026
    Thanks Received:
    7,916
    0
    If you run paper you don't have to show a pee stop
     
  7. PackRatTDI

    PackRatTDI Licensed to Ill

    Joined:
    Jul 15, 2006
    Messages:
    14,765
    Thanks Received:
    22,568
    Location:
    El Chuco, Tejas
    0
    If a dot pulls you over after you leave a rest area you're going to wish you had. ;-)
     
    kiwi23 and ChicagoDave Thank this.
  8. Toomanybikes

    Toomanybikes Road Train Member

    Joined:
    Apr 8, 2009
    Messages:
    2,423
    Thanks Received:
    3,287
    0
    Most drivers feel they have less control backing up with a auto since their is no feel for the clutch engagement point. Auto manufactures have been continuously working on and trying to improve the back-up issues since they have been reintroduced.

    Really? Do you like to be concentrating on you gum when walking or concentrate on your walking when chewing gum? At some point when driving shifting should become second nature, require no more thought, and if it isn't, you cannot "double clutch or float with the best of them."

    AMTs are full of maintenance and reliability issues. I known companies that have bought AMT trucks just to pay for the expense of replacing them with manuals just over reliability issues.
     
  9. Starboyjim

    Starboyjim Road Train Member

    Joined:
    Dec 10, 2011
    Messages:
    2,039
    Thanks Received:
    1,425
    Location:
    Weed, CA
    0
    I don't like the computer selected shift points very much. I don't like the way you can't hold steady in a gear if the computer decides it wants a shift - in a corner, up or down a hill, or a situation where I don't want another gear. I don't like the way Auto trannys go down hills very much. I don't like the surge backing into a dock or coupling very much. I don't like riding the brakes to gain control very much. These problems are not bad problems, and cruising down an open road, who could tell the difference? Auto tranny sure gives a lot more cab space.

    I'd heard about the fuel economy discussion, so I did a firsthand experiment. I had been assigned a new Volvo 670, D13, I-shift tranny, 34 miles on odometer. Drivers, that truck was so sweet, like driving a Cadillac. After about 10K miles to warm it up, I ran another 10K on full auto shift, then ran another 10K manual shift. (I-shift has a manual shift button you can use, pretty good) Both sequences on average terrain, average wind and weather, average loads and weights. Comparable conditions in both sets, in other words. This was realtime truck miles, not track miles, so these averages are as accurate as l I could get, as trucking allows.
    Jim - 6.8mph, average terrain. Auto tranny w/computer shifting - 6.3mph. These numbers are very realistic, and I'd say a driver can squeeze more miles out of a tank of diesel than a computer. My experience, anyway.

    But really, if you like auto tranny, drive one. If you don't, don't. See? Easy!
     
    kiwi23, finbyrd and ChicagoDave Thank this.
  10. Hurryupandwait

    Hurryupandwait Light Load Member

    Joined:
    Nov 22, 2008
    Messages:
    274
    Thanks Received:
    192
    Location:
    Canada, Northern Ontario
    0
    Prefer the manual, feel like I have more control with it and I enjoy shifting my own gears. Drove an automatic for a summer it was alright (still had a clutch so I guess not fully automatic). I don't think I'd like an auto on the hills in winter though.
     
    ChicagoDave Thanks this.