A note to the anti-auto crowd

"Ever wonder why all the trucks made to hall over 100,000 lbs are autos"

We haul up to 330,000lbs, almost all our trucks are manual except for two of them, the autos are impressive at this weight because they do change gear fast but they don't overload the tranny at the same time, it cuts out transmission abuse by over-enthusiastic drivers and at that weight thats can only be a good thing

 

Nothong about floatong a gear should be fast and i need to set this record straight, i know some of these guys think i am seventy, but i am only 25 for petes sake god just blessed me with men who were old enough to remember what father time was like a twinkle in his daddy's eye. Two of them would have been over a hundred years old now if they hadnt passed on this year, they almost reached the centry mark the last remaining is 95 , smokes like the stack out of that old mack v8 engine, he probably wont be around much longer. I have only been state to state five years, but pulling our soybeans, our alfalfa bales for alot longer than that along with every load of beef i have record of( thats alot of logbooks so i wont go there ) . I thought ya'll might be funnin me but i took on thier mannerisms every one of thier mannerisms including the fact i was not a kid when it came to working the trucks, and how to be a world class agreeably grumpy mcgrumperton...... just to be perfectly clear about, sorry for the confusion.....

 

Exhaust breaks work fine till about 55000lbs but over that they are ineffective in my experience.
They also can cause issues with the valve stem seals on the exhaust valves.
Mercedes used to have a true engine brake that was quite effective.
I think it was called EVB but it was not standard fitment.

A retarder still cant be beat.

 

A retarded is an excellent device, savage stopping power but it's so user friendly and the way they can interact with the auto gearboxes is something else

 

I have lost the low side and been stuck only with 6-13 more than once in an old Pete I used to drive. Boss would ask if I could get it home, so I got it home. It was a mechanical 425 Cat and would take some finesse with the clutch to get it going in 6th, but it could be done (taking off on flats only).

 

This thread is retarded. If you like auto's, great. If not, also great. Drive whatever the hell makes you happy and screw the guys that try to make us feel dumb for not being enthusiastic about their new auto crap. Maybe one day ill try one or maybe not. Im open minded but some of these guys really try hard to push the #### they like on you and then criticize you if you dont agree. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

You're out of line mate ! Of course theres for and against, it wouldn't be much of a conversation if that wasn't the case besides the thread is called "a note to the anti auto crowd". And another thing, I havent seen anybody being criticised , i dont believe anybody on this thread is daft enough to think they are being personally criticised for their preference in gearboxes, it's only a conversation! don't take it to heart, if it's upsetting you don't have to participate and please refrain from name calling, we get enough of that at work!

 

Shortly there will be no need to help the auto out at all, Scanias new cruise control knows it's about to ascend a hill even before you do using gps!

http://www.scania.co.uk/trucks/safety-driver-support/driver-support-systems/active-prediction/

 

I read somewhere freightliner had some set up like this too.
I think that idea is a long way from practical.
I can't trust gps to work properly without giving her control of the engine and brakes.

 

They are selling this right now, however like you I'm a bit of a sceptic at the minute, I'll need to see it work for myself, although knowing scania it probably does work but I think it would be very annoying!

I've driven their active cruise control, that's crazy , it will follow the vehicle in front and if that stops you stop, handy for those days when you are arguing with the wife on SMS and you forget to look out after her last insult and you keep staring at the phone screen in temper lol!
Seriously though, active control is handy here in Europe in countries like Germany where there are long sections of motorway where you are not allowed overtake , it gets very boring stuck behind a long line of trucks slowing down and speeding up it would just adapt and you could read a book or something, ye are so lucky with your big open freeways!