Automatic trucks

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by ghost25, Oct 6, 2015.

  1. sdpetheram

    sdpetheram Light Load Member

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    I learned in an Eaton 10 speed. I'm honestly gonna miss the double clutching honestly. I have also heard some companies are going BACK to manual.
     
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  3. scottied67

    scottied67 Road Train Member

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    LIke I always said, automatics are the quickest way to get new meat in the seat. First you teach em how to memorize the pretrips word for word then it is seat time.

    You mean I have to watch the road and mirrors and the tachometer and remember to flip this little lever under the shift handle and push this clutch thing in not once but twice every shift? It doesn't go in easy so they force it in, next thing truck don't go. Beancounter in office says this ain't gonna work. We need trucks where you push the new driver pushed the go pedal and makes us some big bucks.
     
  4. MidWest_MacDaddy

    MidWest_MacDaddy Road Train Member

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    Ya, I much prefer just watching the road and mirrors... Seems like it would not only be easier to learn but anything that is simpler and easier might be just a tad safer in traffic too...

    Focus on what's happening around your truck rather than inside the truck.

    I took CDL school and tested in a 10 speed but I love my auto... And so does my left knee.
     
  5. DC843

    DC843 Medium Load Member

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    i learned in a 10 speed also. It wasn't difficult. Nobody here is saying that it's hard to drive manual (probably a pain in the ### in traffic sure). We are saying it's unnecessary. They have the technology to do it for you while also letting you go into manual mode for times you would need to be in a certain gear. I just don't understand the argument that its easier to learn so we shouldn't do it it's such backwards thinking.

    If you guys need to mail something do you pull out the old typewriter, go to the post office and buy a stamp and envelope, and then mail your letter...or do you just send an email? lets you were going to build a table, do you spend a lot of time and effort with the handsaw to cut the boards....or do you use power tools? Because apparently if you do either of these more modern ways of accomplishing tasks its makes you a p***y.
     
  6. scottied67

    scottied67 Road Train Member

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    Yeah that is the go-to pre-eminent defacto argument for automatic transmissions. ""Keeps the driver focused on the driving environment instead of shifting and clutching blah blah blah" -- one of those arguments you can't really contest.

    It's like the seat belt law, Most of us could get through 90% of our day without wearing it and still be alive but you cannot argue that with anyone.

    With time a person can learn to shift on feeling/hearing the engine and knows where the positon of the shifter is without looking. Time is something the mega companies just don't have to train new drivers so they opt for the autos.

    Within a few years you will have old salts reminiscing about the good ole days of 9 speeds, 10 speeds, 13 speeds and 18 speeds etc like the ole timers of today reminisce about the 2 stick trucks they drove.

    Then when they go to driverless trucks in a generation you will have old salts talking about how they used to run and gun supertruckin' Automatic big rrigs lol
     
    Last edited: Feb 4, 2016
  7. 1278PA

    1278PA Road Train Member

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    I'm not a driver yet and i don't want an automatic i better be training on a manual. I learned how to drive a car on a manual back 20 years ago and I plan on doing the same with a truck. I've read these companies shift back and fourth from autos to manuals. My guess is when they see the repair bills for the autos they will shift back to the manuals.
     
  8. DC843

    DC843 Medium Load Member

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    why do you think a repair bill for an auto is more than a manual?
     
  9. MidWest_MacDaddy

    MidWest_MacDaddy Road Train Member

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    My point is not whether someone could live their life without using, and preferring the life without, the technology of wearing a seatbelt or not... That's just personal preference.

    It's those that like, and prefer, using a seatbelt being actively condemned as being inferior to those that prefer to live life without the use of a seatbelt...

    In the end, what one prefers doesn't make them a safe driver or a menace to society... It's just a tool of the trade to get the job done.

    I, for one, could care less if any particular driver likes manuals or autos... But, when said driver begins to verbally abuse others for their legal and safe preferences, then I will gladly enter the jousting match... and will have a great time doing so too.

    Stay Safe no matter what you chose.
     
  10. MidWest_MacDaddy

    MidWest_MacDaddy Road Train Member

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    Get a horse... No repair bills... Just feed.
     
  11. jacquesi23

    jacquesi23 Medium Load Member

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    Averitt express
     
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