manual vs. automatic

Good advice here from pattyj....learn how to use the manual , learn how to double clutch, then you'll have less problems moving on from there. You need to know how to shift a manual , if for no other reason than once you break-down , if your company decides to re-power you with a rental , an auto may not be available .....

 

Well said! Your signature if very funny

 

I've driven manuals, autoshifts and push button auto's, probably 300K exp. in manuals, 6,000 with push button manuals, and 1.2m with autoshifts. Get your exp. with all three and then you decide, while I'm a proponent of auto's and autoshifts, I do support the notion of learning on a manual so you'll always have that knowledge.

Keep this in mind, manuals, except in certain applications, are going bye bye, autoshifts are slowly phased out. Eaton has discontinued the autoshift and is now only making the freedom line trans or manuals. PACCAR, Int'l, Freightshaker are all steadily ordering more and more auto's. Volvo/Mack the default selection for a trans is iShift or mDrive push button, that are wonderful creatures in the winter and in the mountains, just understand, the transmission is smarter than you are and won't let you break it or hurt it (think HAL9000). Once you learn it, you'll love it.

 

You likely will not get the choice of what transmission you drive. I never have. In school you should learn how to drive a manual, as that is what you will likely be tested on at the DOT to get your license. My school would not let us test on the one automatic that they had, which is good idea I think. We never drove the automatic either, as we were there to learn how to drive a manual. Now, if someone failed their driving test 10 times because they could not shift, then the instructor would decide if they could use the automatic or not for testing.

Also, we only drove 10 speeds in school, but my first job was driving an 18 speed.....my new boss took me for a test drive and showed me how to shift it for a few miles, and then I drove it...not hard to learn, but it took some concentration to remember what gear you were in, as you shifted the H pattern 4 times to get to high gear.....I guess I didn't always know what gear I was in, but I knew where I was going for the next gear. Later on with at a different job I also drove a 13 speed a few times, and it is the same pattern as the 18 speed, except no split gears in the low range.

If you go to work for someone driving, you will have to take what they have on the lot, as they will not go out and buy you what you want, at least that has been my experience.

Best of luck in your school.

 

Learn them all! You will be fine! Take what you get learn that, stay there at least a year, And then go where ever you want to, Remember to G.O.A.L. There shouldn't be a problem if you always learn where your out is! Take Care!

 

The best driving experience in my career was when Volvo let the company use a loaner, hoping they would buy more. It was a Volvo midroof with Volvo engine & Volvo automatic transmission. I pulled liquid tanker 48 states and Canada/ all weather/all terrain. If I wanted to become an 0/0, that's exactly what I would buy. The company felt the same & that's what they started buying.

 

My company has manual 10 speeds, auto-shift 10 speeds and "like a car" automatics which are Allison 6 speeds like a Chevy pickup only a lot bigger.
I've driven all three in ice and snow and on steep grades here in the west with a GVW of 104,500lbs,of the three I like the Allison automatics best.
That said I wish we had 13 or 18 speeds going up big hills, going down big hills I've had issues with some of the auto-shifts and don't care for them in general and my current truck has one so I drive daily with it.
The Allison autos work just fine going down hills IMO.
A new driver should as suggested learn a stick first then you'll be prepared for whatever comes along.

 

I test drove a Volvo back in the mid 90's that had a auto, they $ucked, Now I sure they have gotten a lot better, But for me, the tranny of choice is a 18 speed

 

Correction: I said, "you shifted the H pattern 4 times to get to high gear"..... I should have said you shifted the H pattern 2 times and use the splitter button when in each gear. So you shift with the stick and then you shift with the splitter, and then the stick and then the splitter, repeating for all 8 gears x splitting = 16 speeds. Also you have to preselect with the splitter button when you come out of a gear. So you are flipping the splitter button 16 times to get through all the gears. When upshifting with the splitter you let off the throttle until you hear the upshift complete and then step back on the throttle.
So you have 16 gears you are using on an 18 speed, as you do not use super low unless you are starting when on soft ground.

 

Never thought about the rental thing but that too is an excellent reason to learn manual.