anyone train and run on full automatics??

Really isn't stupid, just test in a manual and go to auto company. We have enough drivers without the restriction that still can't shift.

 

The reason I commented that it is stupid, is that it is just piling on more and more hoops and conditions, all of which have no appreciable bearing on a driver ability to actually do the job. Someone in a cubicle thought this up to justify their position at FMCSA. On one level, if a driver is not focusing on shifting, they are more apt to be focusing on not running over the pedestrian standing on the corner while they are negotiating the turn. I also understand the purists in the group that feel manhood is measured by the number of gears one shifts. In essence, the whole thing is stupid. The transmission does not make a good or bad driver.

 

I'd love to hear from anyone that has this mythical "auto only" exemption on their license because we've all heard about it for years, but I've never known anyone, in any state, that actually has it.

I drive a 10 speed everyday- prefer it actually- but we send guys to take their tests in autos every day. None of them have this "federal" exemption we've all heard (and feared) about for so long. Jus sayin

 

Whether or not it is license restrictive, my own OPINION is that everybody should learn to drive a stick shift. (This is as true of 4 wheelers as of big truck drivers.)
It is pretty obvious, at least to me, that the more prepared a driver is, the more likely he is to find a decent job.
And sooner or later, almost every trucker is going to be told to drive a tractor that does not have an auto shift in it. Sure, maybe the outfit you go to work for has nothing but autos. But just maybe, on down the road, you find that there is this really great company that you'd just love to work for, but they have stick shifts, and you never learned to drive one. So while you are busy trying to get up to speed by learning how to shift, this great company has filled the jobs that were open, with folks that know how to drive a stick.
It ain't rocket surgery here...

 

The majority of our new trucks including our sleepers have all been automatics here at UPS Freight. Been told by the shop it's because of the better fuel mileage and less maintenance cost.

 

Transam and maverick for sure. Usxpress, Schneider have a mixture of trucks manual and auto. I'm sure there are a few others. Not sure where you live mesilla valley transportation is all automatics.

I believe averitt is automatic.

 

Yeah, I keep getting news blurps from time to time from International trucks, since I use to own a 9400, that Mesilla Valley is using the Allison TC10 automatic for a lot of their trucks.

 

Try Abilene Motor Express out of Richmond VA. All automatics, good equipment, reaally good miles. And my company Cargo Transporters out of Claremont NC too. All automatics, home every weekend, start at 40cpm I believe.

 

gntorres61, when did Cargo go to all automatics? Do they still have any manuals in the fleet?