Automatic vs manual transmissions

I think it's an Eaton. 2017 Pro Star w/Cummins. Just has 3 positions. Not to be rude, but where else would you use an EB except going downhill?

 

Their is a 7 MPH over set cruise control that my engine brake won't kick in till. So I turn it on myself I want stay at the speed limit. Then for the long downhills, I use the Downhill Mode because it hold the truck for any speed you want over riding that 7MPH over speed kick in.

That is what makes the Detroit transmission so good. You set the speed you want down to 30 MPH lock it in and let the computers do the work. You don't have touch the brakes most times.

 

If it isn’t obvious, we’re the test pigs for autonomous trucks.

Just as robots cannot replace all humans in automated manufacturing (ask Roger Smith or Elon Musk) there will always be niche applications where it isn’t called for in trucking.

Demanding all or nothing makes no sense. Michigan B-Train? Seriously?

It’s like the advent of cruise control in cars in the 1960s: use it to increase time spent analyzing road conditions. It’s stress reduction. The nay-sayers claimed it would increase accidents. That same crowd that follows the bumper ahead. The driver as problem.

Analyze that end. Get rid of bad habits, spacing and slowing, foremost.

The test is average speed over a given route. Engine hours divided into miles.

Traffic volume dictates actual road speed. (Should tatto this in mirror-reverse on some truck driver foreheads).

Proper spacing won’t significantly increase trip time. Test it yourself.

As with the above post I won’t go back to drum brakes or a 10-manual. Not now. (Well, a pre-emissions large car with big power could do it, ha!)

 

Well I get nothing with this truck. 7.1 or so. Heck, I got that with an 07 Volvo that did none of this garbage. I think you guys have the better tranny.

 

Im joining the volvo ishift club on 7/6. Online driver training on their website explains everything mentioned here if you like short videos. Free. No spam just register name and email.

 

If I'm lightly loaded or empty I haven't seen another rig that can hope to keep up with me from stop light to stop light. Even loaded I have no issues keeping up with other rigs.

The transition for me was easy, I'd driven an auto in training so when I went back it was seamless. The DD 15 with the DT12 is a godsend. Does some weird stuff at lights on occasion but it kicks ###. Even in econ mode mash the gas and it will twist the hood.

 

I've been shifting since 78, I've had a dd15 505hp dt12 totally unmolested for the last 2 years. I'll just stop driving period if I have to go back shifting. I do Joiliet to toledo during the winter through that snow belt section off the lake and have never had any trouble just letting it do it's own thing I don't care what gear its coming from or going to, it has never been wrong.

Once you get used to the slight delays and other things that are a bit different about them you will learn how to overcome them, you could whine about the half second delay taking off or you can learn how to use it to your advantage.

It has never missed a shift going up any hill, click it into manual to go down and it will stay there until you shift or if the roads are dry use the cruise to go down and it will apply the jakes, brakes, or downshift to keep you going down at the speed you select.

It has never stalled out, eases into a dock in creep mode better than any clutching I've ever done.

AND it has never twisted the truck or lurched to spill my coffee.

Go for it, learn how to use it and I'll be you never go back.

 

It would help to know the truck you are getting, but I'll give you my exp. with a Mack M-Drive.

My current truck is a Mack M drive, 330K driving it, there is no difference between it and a manual in the winter. The one item to get to know is if the truck has a "Grade Gripper" or similar hill start assist. On Mack, it's called a "grade gripper", it's designed to prevent roll back when starting off, much like you might feather a clutch. Learn to hate it, it's not your friend, after al this time, I can subtly hear when my engages, I instinctively reach for the override switch and turn it off. It sucks when going forward or reverse. In winter driving, these features can cause a problem and make you spin out, hence why any time I come to a stop, I always disengage it.

Contrary to popular comment, you will not get whiplash backing into docks. I bump 3 to 10 docks per day, 5 days a week, I can count on one hand the number of docks I've hit hard in 3.5 yrs, and not a single one was the fault of the truck, they were all my fault because I wasn't paying attention. You can still feather the throttle when backing, it just takes practice and patience to learn to do it.

As for mountain driving, I run the Rockies, never once had a problem with the automatic giving me fits, whether it's on I 70 or the backroads. Many of the newer automatics also have a hill descent control, basically cruise control for the mountains. I've come off Eisenhower WB at 86K, hill descent set at 35 mph and maybe tapped the foot brakes 2 or 3 times. Usually I actually have it set slightly faster than the speed limit simply because I find it works better. You always put it in manual mode and find the correct gear to work with that hill descent control.

One thing that is good or bad, I get a chuckle out of the skip shifting. I've started off at 80k in 1st gear, put the pedal to the floor, and within a few miles I'm in 12th. Often going 1-3-4-5-7-9-10-12, recently with an empty, I went 3-5-7-9-11-12, the computer and various sensors all know what your weights are, within parameters, so that's never a problem, my only issue is I sometimes wish it would hold 5th a little longer in the RPM band so it does drop off as much going to 7th.

 

1 more vote for the Detroit Diesel DT12 Automated Manual Transmission. It’s a manual tranny that the clutch and shifter are worked by the computer. Computer picks the gears and will skip gears as needed depending on load. Full load it will go through each gear and from outside, sounds like it’s a manual tranny by the way it shifts.

 

We probably are, I drove one of the earliest edition Mack M-Drives back in 2011, I loved it back then. The guy who bought the truck now has 870K on it and hasn't had an issue. I've also driven a 2019 version with some updated software, I'm begging my bosses for a new truck.