Automated Tranny Pros and Cons

He just joined the forums today and already going downhill.

 

I would love to hear how a driver with an automatic and e logs who puts in 3500+ mile weeks is considered lazy.

 

Oh yea Allison has them. The KW mixers, all came with Paccar's & auto's. The shift fine. Now in a mixer is one place where yes, you want an auto.

 

Wait I thought the definition of a truck driver was someone that was too lazy to work, and not enough nads to steal.

 

That's management

 

I work as a retail clerk for a major retail chain. We get a lot of deliveries from Pepsi, Coca-Cola, 7-UP, Highland Dairy, and various beer distributors.

These truck drivers are both very hardworking as well as very fast. Also, they are quite accurate on their counts, incoming and outgoing. These drivers are NOT lazy in any shape, manner, or form whatsoever.

God bless every American and their families! God bless the U.S.A.!

 

I drive an auto as well and I guess I could take it or leave it. i do have a problem with the distracted driving that comes with an auto. I'm always seeing guys driving with the left hand and holding a phone or a big sandwich or something in the other. Or playing with the gps or Qualcomm, etc. So what was supposed to add safety, in my opinion, is actually causing more distractions. And I won't lie, I have even caught myself a time or two doing things with my "shifting hand" that I shouldn't be doing.

 

I have a 13 speed ultrashift in my cascadia and like it.
They're not really an automatic like a car, I think only the Allison is a true auto: the eaton, I shift etc are basically a computer operated clutch. Nowadays they are quite sophisticated ( ie the computer is programmed better) and they will skip shift up and down etc. I very rarely use manual but sometimes on a downgrade it helps.
Personally I like it.
In Europe now you won't see a manual unless it's a vocational operation, I think there's US will keep its manuals for a good while yet though.

 

Most manuals in Europe, as far as I've come to know, only really exist with people who own their own trucks. i.e. people who have pride in their rides and deck them out in all that fashion that's starting to make inroads here (like those curtains on the windshield).

And I don't doubt there are plenty of heavy-haulers in Europe that rely heavily on manuals. The mountains there are immense (I wouldn't trust a 100+ ton truck to a computer on a steep grade).

 

I'm a manual kinda guy (actually looking for an old twin stick Mack for a project) but my current outfit is 50/50 split between Volvo I-shifts and Allisons. Really not much to dislike about the I-shift except that the newest iterations really like to overrun the cruise set point with the jake in (A) mode. Our older models (same exact spec, D13/I-shift) are much better at maintaining a steady speed.