More smartdrive foolishness

Try to understand your experiences aren’t typical.

 

i drive an 18 speed manual. my boss keeps buying 18 ultra shift trucks. my truck is a 2017 T880 day cab. he is trading off the older trucks and i am talking trucks that are 10 years old. i hope to keep my truck for a long time, because i really dont want a junk autoshift.

 

They may be great, maybe just good, but for some reason there is not one automatic running the haul road, period. The bigger companies that run it have all tried them, always wound up with a factory rep or team of them riding for a month or 2, and they have never made one work yet. I even own one of the older auto shifts, for what it is I am not complaining,and it did well for what I bought it for, that is until it didn't all of a sudden. lol

 

Well shoot - BUT sounds like they did you a favor - better gigs out there for sure - Best of Luck

 

one more thing about the auto vs. manual it seems they brag up fuel mileage, but they dont actually get the mileage they claim. i get between 4.5-4.7 MPG on a T880 manual 18 yet another driver i know of driving a brand new ultrashift 18 is only getting 3.8, similar equipped trucks besides the transmission. i think the autoshift, shifts way too often and is actually not as efficient as the manufactures would like the companies to believe.

my boss will go around and tell people that drivers "love" the autoshifts, truth is some guys tollerate them and some hate them. he also goes on to say manual shifts burn too much fuel..... the truth is i can get better mileage with a manual. make sure the tach needle is in the green arc on the tach for cruising. 1,000-1,300 for level grade cruising.

 

Been doing this 26 yrs, have driven everything from a Maxidyne 5 speed in an R-model to a Meritor 13 speed...I am currently cursed with a MP8 Mack with an mDrive 12 speed AMT(same basic transmission as an iShift Volvo). Under 400k, and I am on my 2nd transmission, which has been pulled twice because of issues. We have brand new Anthems with transmissions being replaced already (under 40k miles). And I am 3 times smoother with a manual than this transmission ever thought about being.

 

Did you end up finding a new gig?

 

Amen to that my friend!!!!