automatic trucks

I've put 170,000 miles on my Prostar with an Automatic. Love it. Pulls loads good, heavy traffic its a dream. Yes playing with the throttle works. Snow and Ice...I ran Northeast and Midwest all winter in all conditions. Really had no problems whatsoever. 42-43000lbs in the box, severe downgrade. Not a problem, kick it into manual mode, shift down two or three gears, full engine brake on, enjoy the ride. It pulls low gear very well but very sluggish up to 45mph, after that it picks up the pace quickly. Good in City Driving and extreme tight areas. Yep, love it.

 

Again, it's based on the owners settings. I've driven two M-drive loaner tractors, both were locked in econ mode by Mack Trucks, until the buyer decided how they wanted them.

 

Been driving a VN670 Volvo D13 /Auto for almost a year. After shifting for 30 years this is the cat's meow. I thought it would suck in the winter but last winter was the worst driving in 30 years and it performed like a champ. I can blow any shift truck off the line loaded or not. Screw shifting.

 

Given a choice, I'd take an automatic. That being said, I'll drive whatever is offered by the company. Right now I'm in a 10 speed and perfectly fine with it.

 

I've driven a few automatics thus far in my short career:

10-Speed Freightliner Smartshift
12-Speed Volvo I-Shift
12-Speed Eaton Autoshift ('05 Pete 386)
10-Speed Eaton Autoshift ('05 Pete 330)
6-Speed Eaton Autoshift ('12 Pete 346)

IMO the I-Shift is currently the best that I've tried so far. It has Economy and Performance mode, it seems to get decent fuel mileage in our current configuration (forget the exact numbers) and it's just a tad smoother than some of the others. The Smartshift is outfitted to a 2014 108SD and it's a pile of junk. Do not like it at all, very rough upshifting. The 6 speed is by far the worst, I don't know who spec'ed the truck like that from the factory. But I guarantee it will blow the doors off anything else from a standstill when empty.

All in all, I enjoy driving the automatics. But I can hop in a truck with a manual transmission and not complain either.

 

I had a 07 Columbia with an Allison 6 speed and a MBE 410 hp motor. running only the Northeast, I loved the transmission. It was like driving a car,punch the D button and GO. My current Freightshaker has the same engine but with a 13 sd. In those 8 mile backups,I still miss the auto but I'll drive a wheelbarrow for this job.

 

I have a 12 speed meritor freightliner with the smart shift. I love it. Actually harder to drive than a manual.

 

I drove one for about six months, zero complaints, really loved it in those big cities with heavy traffic.