Automatic trucks

Wow! Great Post!

 

It would have to limit your prospects with some companies

 

Gotta get up pretty early in the afternoon to pull one over on me too MG.

 

I'm still trying to get a handle on all the guys that say their left left leg gets tired in traffic. Once I start rolling I never touch the clutch again. I know probably 50 drivers personally and none of them double clutch, everyone slip shifts. Are schools teaching double clutching?

 

They're probably talking about stop and go traffic. Duh!

Schools teach double clutching, yes.

 

I have seen a couple of current course descriptions from driving schools and double clutching is specifically mentioned.

 

If you take CDL in TX in manual you have to dbl clutch or fail. And autos are nice in stop and go . Got stuck on I 95 in DC a month or so ago. Over 3 hours. Leg was killing me. Pulled into closed scale S of town. Must have been 50 drivers there all rubbing their left leg. Didn't feel near as old after that.

 

With an auto shift...It would make no difference because you'd still be clutching.

50 guys in a scale? And they were all rubbing their left leg?

 

the school i went too had an old retired and donated USXpress Freightliner that was an automatic. it had the clutch for starting and stopping. the only quirk i found with the thing other than it shifting better than any human can lol was with this truck,when you were slowing down and it was in the high side, it would automatically go into next lower gear. after it is below 5th, when it is downshifting, it will go to neutral and the shifter/gear indicator light will blink. you have to pat the gas to make the trans downshift one more time. then it goes to neutral again, then pat the gas to drop it another gear. the pain i had with it was when your making low speed turns, the unnatural thing i had to deal with was patting the fuel pedal when starting the turn. every time i would be in the middle of the turn, the dang thing would go to neutral and when i would apply the pedal to start speeding up, it would be in neutral. really irritating if you ask me.

the only benefit i see to having one would be 4pm traffic around Atlanta, Nashville, NYC etc. it will save that leg a little bit from the clutching over and over, but i would still take a 10 or 13 speed any day.

when it came time for the DOT road test, they didnt let anyone use the auto shifter lol.

 

Well a few may have been rubbing their 3rd leg -but I didn't get that close. Bunch of worn out, POd drivers. DC 4 wheelers are as rude as I have seen.