Automatics

I didn't like them until I tried them, specially if you run la a lot. Currently driving a 10 and love it.. but auto is much easier lol

 

I like driving and could care less if I ever go back to a manual, which is why I bought my truck with a 12 speed I-Shift.

Shifting gears all day long ain't all it's cracked up to be, in my not so humble opinion.

 

You could be right, shifting is 2nd nature to me now, don't even notice it. My personal car is also manual can't compete with the convenience and piece of mind of an automatic though.. but it also gets a lot more boring. Found myself using my phone more when I had it. Automatic transmission + adaptive cruise control and that annoying beeper that Volvos have.. perfect for texting, you don't need to pay attention anymore lol.. so much for safety...

 

"Automatic transmission + adaptive cruise control and that annoying beeper that Volvos have.."

Not sure what what you mean about annoying beeper? My 2016 Volvo doesn't do what you're alluding to.

Another aspect about my like of the I-Shift is that about a month ago I tweaked my left knee and can't tell you how happy I am not having to use a clutch pedal all day long.

 

I drove a rental truck yesterday. You guessed it automatic. As far as the concept of an automatic goes- I have NO PROBLEM AT ALL WITH IT!! As a company driver the benefits to an auto are undeniable. Keep in mind I'm a local driver in a major market - traffic is just part of the deal.

The problem is that while in concept an auto is great, in reality the darn things don't work! To be fair I hear the volvos are awesome. I would love that. But the autos I've driven have been a disaster. Backing them is downright dangerous and driving forward is tortureous. They're so slow!!

I've driven them about a dozen times now and while I LOVE the convenience of them, and would never knock another driver for preferring them, my personal opinion is the ones I've driven haven't been a pleasant experience. Again, I hear the volvos are sweet and I'd like to check them out- but the freightliners and internationals I've driven have been dreadful

 

Which is why I bought a VOLVO with their I-Shift auto. I've driven the others and there are no comparisons.

 

I don't have a problem with automatics, but I do agree that it'll limit you. Sure, you might learn enough to pass at driving school, but if you ever have to do a pre-employment road test in one, your lack of experience will show.
The autoshifts as is have a long ways to go before they're ready for severe duty off road driving - when you did see autos, they were the Allisons - true automatics - and they were preferable to the 18 speeds in some ways... when you got all 6 engaged and you're fighting the slide while you're driving, shifting a crash box becomes a hell of a lot more difficult in those instances... of course, it can be done, and I've done it, but the Allisons really did shine at those times. You'd only be dealing with the Allison OTR if you were running an expediter truck, though... very few T/Ts have them... I work for Public Works for the City and County of Denver, and our Freightliner 120SDs have Allisons, but the Macks have the M Drive. Which, they're fine for running around in the city... OTR, the gaps between gears are much too wide. The military runs them in the M915s, M916s, FMTVs, HETS, HEMMTs, etc, etc.
The autoshifts you'd be driving OTR are much different.. I know how they operate, but I don't have any experience driving them, save for a couple road tests or running trucks to MHC for warranty work, all bobtail.. I think I'd prefer a manual. I suppose I'm just set in my ways. I think most of us in this thread have enough experience that we could drive an autoshift for a while and not have to worry about not being able to pass a road test in a manual. Save for the OP. I don't really know that, if you had a great job offer in an auto truck, that I would tell you to pass it up for the sake of driving a manual.
Of course, you could also say it won't matter anyhow... I mean, in the end, we'll all wither away and die, and so will our loved ones.. all of them. A manual transmission won't change that.
Do whatever the hell you want. It's your career, and you should be able to weigh your options and make an informed decision accordingly.

 

My first exposure was a school bus, a Blue bird short with on a Allison Auto as a kid in middle school Prior to that the bus driver actually shifted, stack of 9 gears and high and low range. I remember her lip compressing to stress as she downshifted on monsterhill because for that bus making the shift from high range to low required her to go across the whole box to the side. And of course greyhound.

But until 2001, nothing truly heavy big trucks like the one that showed up in my new truck. Ex squealed like a happy princess Boy did she squeal the way girls and women do when they recieve something very special. That was the only two times I heard her squeal in twentyyears. in joy. She would eventually survive (And a little help from me already explained some time ago) a tractor jackknife west of Knoxville on a inch of ice where it tightend up on a upgrade bearing left. I lost trucks three through 7 into the canyon thta day. But the automatic combined with the ABS technology and wheel spin sensors etc performed beautiful as if the Freightliner engineers used one in skid pad tests.

But duing team ops 24/7 software build up filled the disposal buffer twice bricking the whole #### lump of ####e. Tow please, Busted JIT Loads please yell at everyone please.

Im a telling you getting towed was a good trainee experience and the two drivers in Dallas were to of thier game.

Viva le Auto. After all it's only money to burn yah?

 

It is... who said it wasn't. They were all auto, then went manual but are back to auto now...

 

The beeper that I'm talking about is when something is in front of your truck. About a car length.. all of them have it.. super loud and annoying, and in socal is inevitable .. drives me nuts