Trucking in North America vs around the world

Idk maybe I'm just old school at heart. What attracted me to trucks as a kid was the big tires, the polished wheels, chrome. The little puff of black smoke out the stacks when shifting. The ragged, raw sound of a diesel engine. The cackling of the jakes. The whistle of the turbo. The fact they DIDN'T ride plush like a car. The 15-18 gears to pick from. Its a job, not a Sunday drive lol.

 

There was always a truck in the yard from the day I was born until the day I moved out. The day I decided I wanted to turn wrenches was the day my old man and I went up to the dealer to check something they found while inframing his truck. I remember seeing the guy up there working away on the engine and the big stack of old pistons and random pieces on the bench. That was the lightbulb moment right there. I wanted to be that guy one day.

 

@98989 I think it was you and I talking about Western Star's production numbers a while back. According to this article, less than 8,000 were sold in 2016. That honestly blows my mind because they are as common as Peterbilt and Kenworth out west.

At 50, Western Star just getting started - Truck News

 

yes we do.
i like it because it is work truck. on going tractors are boring to me, i am not interested in distribution at all.
i like fire, military, municipal, heavy haulage, vacuum/jet, concrete pumps or pumi, big cranes, cranes in general, timber and construction trucks.

 

A Model , we have a very advanced computer shifting gears also ... a zigs mounted in our head.

 

And who would be best to listen to about why they feel that way ?

 

they base their opinion without experience on trucks equipped with gearbox, or without proper use (trying to understand, reading manual, asking other people...), they think if they put it in D that they dont have think about anything.

edit: many of this drivers are not using their manual transmission properly too