Shifting

some trucks use an automatic ive never driven one b/c im still in cdl school or another 2 weeks but we had a recruiter come in and brag abotu there automatic trucks. personally i prefer a stickshift keeps me more alert. They however did explain it was a design that you could choose full auto like a car or semi auto where u tap the shifter up and down to change gears and when in semi auto it wont change gears till u touch the lever. Sounds like a good design but again not for me. That and Trans Am only gets u home 4 days a month.

 

That sounds like an automated trans, where a computer decides (in auto mode) when to shift, and floats the gears as needed. You don't have the floor shifter, instead there is a small column-mounted shift lever.

Yes there are automatics out there, but you tend to see those more in dump trucks and pop/beer delivery trucks. Garbage trucks too.

 

There's all kinds of trannies out there. Besides the usual 9/10/12/13/15/18/20/I-lost-count-speeds, there are:

Automatics. Allison has been building them forever. Basically, just like your basic car slush pump. Only really big.

Automated. These are no-clutch, two-pedal trannies. They shift on their own, but you can still control the gears by pushbutton/paddle/whatever if you like.

Semi-Automated. Pretty much like the Automated except you still have to use a clutch pedal when stopping and starting. Kind of a halfway solution, and I personally don't see the point.

So there you are. We'll probably be using one or the other of these things until we're all space truckers hauling square pigs to Neptune.

 

USX has been using the autoshifts for some time now (if memory serves, their entire fleet is AS), Kreilkamp , TRL, Central Transport was getting lots in.

The list keep growing because some ##### in driver retention think that said trans will keep someone in the seat, when their bad treatment of the same driver has them ready to leave! Also, because you don't need to shift, it can help keep Noobs less distracted.

 

The story I've heard is that the tranny only shifts at the optimal RPM and gives better fuel mileage because of that. I also have to add that when I was in school, we had one auto with the clutch and it would have to be manually "buttoned" up to the next gear when it was cold. Otherwise, it was pretty nice to have in slow traffic.

 

i have seen but not driven the 2 pedal (no clutch) autos, 12 speed and the drivers that drove them LOVED them. they were NOT rookies, guys with many years of experience.

i drove a super 10 and straight 10 for 18 months, then moved into a 10 speed paddle shifter and thought it was AWESOME. the paddle shift had a clutch for starting and stopping but shifting was done by flipping the paddle up or down at the right engine RPM. drove that truck almost 4 years till i got a better job. moving back to a manual was a little tricky, took a couple weeks before i got the rhythm back.