10 speed

Good luck with that. You can ask but it won't happen unless your current truck will be broke down for more than a couple of days.

My advice to you is, if it is running and not broke down a lot, HANG ON TO IT! It doesn't matter if the truck is newer or older, they all have problems. Don't give away a good running truck for one that you don't know how it is. There are just as many freightliner's in the shop as prostars lately. I got a friend who is a trainer with a newer cascadia, stuck at the terminal with every wiring harness off and dpf problems. If its a runner, keep it and make that money.

 

Your automatic has 10 gears. No, on a serious note. I think they slowly changing back to manuals. It's luck of the draw. Somebody has to quit. Your truck has to break down. Then you get there truck.

 

You can have mine... If yours is ruining I'd rather have that Cadillac than this freightliner gremlin.

 

Don't hold your breath. I had to go through 2 trucks to get this one. You are also too new to have any kind of pecking order seniority to leverage switching trucks just because. You have to keep in mind that they don't want to take a truck off the road just to swap drivers. They can't phase out the old ones until they run up the mileage. I can tell you with certainty DEFINITELY don't say anything like what you are now to an FM or anybody about wanting to get reaccustomed to shifting so you can find another job. That would be like "famous last words." Just bide your time and be thankful that you have one that isn't falling apart. My first Prostar was a piece of junk. I literally made my best paychecks on weeks that I was in motels because at the time Breakdown pay was $120.00/day compared to $.26/mile with a junker truck.

 

Trust me when I say this... Once you have learned to shift you can't forget. You might grind a couple times here or there your first few shifts but after that it'll be nice and smooth. Don't worry about losing your "skill" of shifting.

 

Haha, sometimes I still grind and miss gears! But don't tell anybody!

 

Hell I thought I was supposed to grind every time I shift.

Sent from somewhere out there

 

I don't know that I believe companies are going to make you go out with a trainer if you didn't come out of a manual from your previous company. I guess if you had been driving the automatic for the last few years. All bigger companies have a drive test and if you show that you know how to drive a manual you should be fine.

 

The very small local company I drive for has a dump truck that has a very crunchy trans that grinds just about everytime.