Cameras and E-logs and Automatics oh my!

your both typing on computers that can be monitored by the gov't at any time without notice or warning, in fact just expect to have your posts monitored.

 

contact AMES Construction, Denver, Colo. they run two Mack Titan's, one equipped with a Mack M-Drive push button trans. Both tractors are only used to hual OS/OD construction equipment. While your at it, contact Lightning Ventures, again, Denver based construction/dirt hualing company, again fleet of more than 80 tractors, all are either autoshifts or push button M-drive autos.

 

I'm still waiting for someone to show me how they have more control in a manual than an autoshift or a automated. All three give you a manual mode, that allows you to select the gear you want to be in.

Well Doc., I drove manuals for the first three years I was a driver, then my company switched to autoshifts, like the rest of you dinosaurs, I was opposed to them, but, I'm also young enough (apparently age has something to do with this) to understand technology and willing to open my eyes and look at the future. I had 330,000 miles on manuals, I now have 1.4 million on autoshifts and M-drives, I run the Rockies with these trannies, rain, snow, sleet, ice, hail, tornado's, pestilence, consistently grossing 80,000 lbs. I've driven 9, 10, 13 and 18 spd manuals, I've driven 10 and 13 spd autos and 12 spd M-drives. As for reliability, we used to have 3 10 spd manual Frieghtshakers, one is now long sice wrecked and gone. One of the other two was kept as a spare, both had the trans rebuilt not once, but twice and the one three times. In less than 800,000 miles of use, they had the clutch replcaed as well. Oh, and they were driven by drivers with more than 20 yrs exp. behind the wheel of commercial vehicles. Now, my last tractor, '00 Mack CH, had 978K on it when we traded it in. In the first three years of ownership, we replaced the shift motors every 6 months due to failures, which it turned out was a problem for Eaton/Fuller related to manufacturing defect. After those first three years, the next time the shift motors were replaced was 8 months before we traded in the truck (sept. '08). The clutch/clutch brake were replaced at 650K, the clutch itself could have gone at least another 100K, but since the trans had to be pulled anyhow, the company had both done at the same time. The internals of the trans were touched, and the fluid was changed once. My current tractor has 399K, the shift motors were replaced at 360K, about a 20 minute project.

Am I running heavy hual, no, but I'm running in conditions and on roads that most of you claim aren't suitable for these types of trans, and I'm doing it every day in all weather conditions with all types of loads.

AS for you guys being dead and buried, well, that's a sad statement. We used to have one old timer, he retired about 6 yrs ago, and passed away 2 yrs ago. We joked he got his CDL sometime just before the last dinosaur died off, there wasn't much he hadn't or couldn't drive. When he first got that autoshift truck, he hated it, after 3 months, he loved it, anytime it was in the shop and he was told to drive one of the old manuals, he would take the day off, he wanted know part of them anymore. But, then again, he also recalled a time before A/C, power steering, air ride suspensions, air ride seats, and all those other creature comforts we take for granted today.

 

"Pestilence" ... (chuckle).

 

It isnt "Your" truck. It is "their" truck.

 

You said "oversize". Now, if you meant "Heavy Haul and Superloads" then your point is taken. But, as someone else pointed out there are quiet a few huge loads being moved in Europe with auto transmission trucks.

 

Doc, I won't argue with you that for what you are doing you may be better off with a manual, unlike some people I do realize that unless you are actually driving the truck and doing the work it is hard to say what is best, at least when it comes to the realm of niche trucking.

The only thing that you pointed to that I have an exception with is the durability issue that you brought up. We used to be an all manual fleet, we dabbled with Autoshift, Ultrashift, Freedomline(VERY similar to VOLVO/MACK I/M- shift every since they came out.

Yes there were some problems with the early ones that took a while to get ironed out, and it IS a bit of a learning curve for the driver, not to drive the truck, hell any 5 year old could get in and put in in gear and step on the gas.

BUT there IS a learning curve to understand ALL of the tools that are available with some of these setup's, I will bet you there are a GOOD number of people out there driving around in an automated tranny that have yet to figure out how the put it in manual mode, I bet there are still more that don't understand that these trannies still have TWO speed reverses, they just do not take the time to learn.

It IS for this reason that we did go all automated with our last two groups of trucks, I simply have less expense to keep the truck on the road, our brakes have less wear, we have yet to replace a U-joint or carrier bearing, and we are seeing OVER 800,00 miles on a clutch.

I may not be as old as some on here, but I did cut my teeth growing up on the farm with a tri-plex and no PS,hell most of these people have never even heard an air starter or a "buzzin dozen" so I have been around a bit. I even bit the bullet last year and the new truck I bought myself is an Ultrashift, do I miss the stick,,, sometimes, but overall, I am pretty happy with it.

Maybe I am just getting lazy.

 

I've seen some strange cats out here. Im one of the strangest. One thing I thankfully haven't seen yet is some dude wearing women's drawers.

i did see a Werner driver the other day in his fruit of the looms just the other day. He was standing up in the cab with an open curtain, smoking a cigarette without any shame whatsoever. This hand was smart. His drawers were color-coded. Yellow means front, while brown means back. Who said Werner had a bad training program?

Now I don't know I he had a camera or not, but I sure as hell don't want to be the company man that has to look.

Keeping with the latest thing, I don't know if he had an auto-shift or not.

 

Some companies lock out the manual mode, why I don't understand, but it's been known to happen so as to prevent driver damage.

 

As far as the cameras go, they ARE recording all the time. 24/7. Our company, that I'm trying to leave, will be getting them. The manufacturer is DriveCam. We had them at Roehl but you only got one if you kept having hard braking and accidents.

It records 24/7 but doesn't keep the data. If the accelerometer is triggered by a jolt or taking a corner too fast it saves 10 seconds before the event and 5 seconds after the event and sends it to the DriveCam company. Then they decide if your company needs to see it or if its just something normal that happens such as hitting a bump in the road.

We were told they can't "spy" on us and watch us, that's BS. At Roehl I was shown by a dispatcher how they could access the camera and see what you were doing real time. So I know it's possible.

A lot of the guys that have been at the company for 10+ years are threatening to leave if they put them in.

Though its "for our safety". It's a crock of crap. I wouldn't care if the cam is pointed forward, but I don't want a cam at my face all the time.