Auto vs. Manual Transmission......

SMH. No way to respond to that. I don’t what television manufacturers were thinking when they introduced remote controls. No wonder society has gone to crap. It’s those darn remotes!!

I guess we should also do away with other technology such as jake brakes, auto slack adjusters, heated mirrors, air ride suspension, sealed led lights, radial tires, etc. they too have made driving “easier” ... God forbid.

 

Your truck doesn't have an ECM? Throwing the word automatic around is a misnomer. These are electrically shifted manuals. They will last just as long. And bringing up a lightning strike is grasping at straws. The odds are astronomical.

 

People used to dig ditches with shovels. Now we use a backhoe. Is that dumbing down or working smarter and more efficient?

 

The fact that you guys can't tell the difference between different types of technology is disturbing.

Just because something is newer technology does not mean it is an improvement. Some new technologies are amazing, some just suck. Some are great for some applications but not every application into which they can be shoehorned.

 

I'll prefis my comment by saying I've been in trucking since 1970. I saw my first automatic transmission (in a truck) in 1974. As I recall the driver liked it but said it was in and out of the shop a lot. Back then, automatics were not something that most drivers wanted, and I was one of them. I was lucky (or so I felt) to avoid them until 2002. Then the shoe dropped and I got my first taste of an "auto clutch" (electric as I understood it) and, I was to say the least unimpressed. Meritor had put something together that was not a driver's dream. But as time went by, things improved somewhat. Through the mid 2000's things began to improve with the Eaton Auto Shift. Still, running on super singles and pulling a gasoline tanker in all seasons (especially winter) I can tell you I never stopped longing for a manual transmission.

Currently, I drive a new Mack with an AT in Vermont. I'm not on super singles but, when you get in those tricky "simi-stuck" situations, when you need to get moving but the #### wheels break loose real easy, I curse the AT.

In hilly territory, it always leaves me feeling like it needs another gear.

But on my way to load, early in the morning, my right hand is free to hold my coffee.

 

Food for thought:

Why do jockey trucks have Allisons instead of the "automated" transmissions?

Jockeys mules carry the same weight, and, arguably SHIFT more, MUCH MORE, than a truck that drives on the street does.

 

LOL... I have no idea what he said, but then, maybe I'm 2old???

 

Allisons are usually have only 7 gear ranges, it may have a under/over drive range as well. They tend to run lower speed, no need for highway gears on the non road legal units.

 

i've driven a jockey truck on the road though---at 65mph. This one had an Allison and seemed to do as well as any manual. i would think top speed is a function of rear-end ratio as well as gears in the trans?