2 trips in...

And learning to shift this and that... such as those 10 speeds crossing the box from say 6th high to 5th low....

Beat trainee over head until he or she quits grinding. Reward every soft click click of the right kind of shifting with bribes, meals, food, rewards etc.

 

I've had an auto for 1 year. I mostly love it. Over 160 mile trip it's about 15 minutes slower than my manual 10 speed Volvo. It's doesn't pull hills as well as the 10 speed but it does MUCH better than the auto Freightliners we have. Those things slow from 65 to 45 on hills our Volvos might slow to 60 on. They are worthless. And the Freights shift into neutral when the truck gets 0.00001 mph over the Cruise set speed and does not reengage until about 3 MPH below the Cruise set speed.

My one complaint about the autos we have is they don't back-up for poop. In a manual I backed at idle speed with my foot off the gas, guarding the brake. In the auto if you don't keep your foot applying throttle it will stop with even a slight angle between tractor & trailer. I don't like having to give it fuel in reverse. If I hit something the computer is going to show me riding the fuel pedal, which will indicate to office flunkies I was going too fast. But in heavy traffic or city driving it's a dream.

 

You're not going to tell your next company you can't drive 10 speed are you? Repeat after me "I drove 10 speed & automatics, depending on which truck they gave me." If you never drive another 10 speed at this company it's an accurate statement.

 

There was just a video posted from one of those YouTube guys that got fired from a company with autos. Had almost 2 years experience in an auto straight out of school. Went to a company that road tested him in a manual. Said he got sent home cause he couldn't drive the manual.

 

M&M's work wonders. Just be sure you toss them in the air accurately so the trainee can catch it in his mouth without moving the steering wheel.

 

If you do manage to drive another manual, and for newbies that drive manual, here's some advice about being able to use the Jake brake effectively:

The holding power of the Jake is greatest in high rpm's, upwards of 1500 rpm's. If I am approaching a stale green light sipping the fuel at 1200 rpm's, I downshift so my rpm's are at LEAST 1500 and set the Jake on high. That way if the light turns yellow I have immediate full Jake assisting slowing down with the service brakes. If you maintain only 1200 rpm's the Jake has relatively little holding power, and what little power you had quickly disappears as you apply the brakes and your rpm's drop. The Jake is designed to stop working at 800 rpm's, to keep the engine from stalling. In a full on "gotta stop RIGHT NOW" situation FORGET about wasting time downshifting. Get on the service brakes at high rpm's. When the Jake stops holding at about 900-1000 rpm's engage the clutch and KEEP YOUR FOOT ON THE SERVICE BRAKES. You can think about shifting either after you come to a complete stop or after you slow down to a speed far enough from the light to find a gear, generally in low range.

Many companies set up their trucks so the Jake can't hold you back descending any kind of grade without violating their over speed policy. For example, if you are governed at 62 mph they set it up for rpm's to be about 1200 for fuel efficiency. If you get dinged for going over 67 mph that's about 1500 rpm's. All this means if you are descending even a 3-4% grade you can quickly get over speed, because the Jake doesn't really have much holding power in lower rpm's. You have to downshift to get your rpm's up, play with low or high Jake settings, or maybe snub brake to keep it under control. Don't be afraid to let the rpm's wind up to 1800 or so before snub braking back to 1400.

 

The setting of jakes to fail company speed polcies is a form of entrapment and not acceptable on the mountains ive run. If you are gonna have a freaking jake on a truck by gawd let's have a freakign JAKE. So you can say.. ease off Mt Eagle at 15 mph 3rd gear max rpm whatever the engine will stand on full jake and float all the way to the bottom without touching your #### brakes once. That is how I do it. Every single time at 80,000 pounds.

 

Amen. It gets even more weird. Swift sets up a 10 speed, for example, so 9th gear can maintain UP TO 1500 rpm's for 30 seconds, then it will drop rpm's to 1300. Feels like your engine is stalling for a moment. At 1300 now you lost the horsepower curve and usually can't ride the torque curve on their neutered engine and end up having to downshift. You COULD have maintained the pull in 9th at 1500, but the pencil pushers think you need to drop a gear or two to burn more fuel.

 

Tell me this.

Where in hell are you going to drop RPMs to 1300 from freaking 1500 or whatever when you are at a certain road speed downgrade, in a gear for that specific rpm and speed. If the engine is rolling over and dying on you under a company installed software command on a downgrade...

That has to stop. People will get killed by having a unreliable engine, Imagine ice scenario out west engine stumbles throws force onto the drives, trailer comes off stretched hits the fifth wheel then thinks about coming around....

 

I should clarify that rpm drop happens when you are on the throttle pulling up a hill. It's still a safety issue.