Companies running automatic transmissions?

No, you explain to a prospective employer that all you've driven is auto's and your rusty with a stick and you'll need some time to get the hang of it.

 

Really..Like The Air Force Can Call People Pansies...Are U Serious Dude!!

 

Hogan is 100% automatic, and autoshifts. I would prefer to get a job with a real truck but do to some situations. this is the one that best fits my needs now. Just started with hogan. Waiting my second run. One question how to kiss a dock with an automatic. I slam it pretty hard. now in a normal truck i kiss it like a baby. And not looking forward to going on ice with this thing. I still look like a one winged chicken always reaching to change gears.

 

You're slamming the dock hard because you need to learn how to drive the automatic. Bet you didn't think there'd be anything to learn eh? The first thing you need to understand is what is going on inside the transmission at various times.

With most cars, you can put the automatic in gear and use the brake peddle to crawl forward or backward as gently as you like with very little effort. As you've already learned, that doesn't happen in the truck. This is because when you put it in gear and release the service brake peddle, its essentially the same as putting the clutch to the floor and shifting a manual into gear and then taking your foot off the brake while still keeping your other foot on the clutch. The clutch on the automatic doesn't take up until you get on the fuel and start making some torque.

So the trick for kissing the dock gently is to get good at feathering the fuel peddle and realizing that it takes a little time for the drive train to build enough torque to get the clutch off. So you need to be slow and patient on the fuel. Its not a case of apply a little and keep applying a little more until it starts to move, its a case of apply a little, wait for torque to build, then apply a little more if needed and wait again to see if its enough. If there is a grade involved you may need to cover the service brake peddle with your left foot to keep from rolling forward when you come off the fuel.

Give yourself a week with it and you'll be kissing docks as gentle as you ever did without even having to think about it.

And I wouldn't worry too much about ice. I've been in an automatic for about 3 months now and I've had a couple of encounters with ice and so far, its been no problem. Once you get good with feathering the fuel peddle, you can even get it to rock back and forth a bit to get moving on a slippery patch if you need to. Its a different beast than a manual but it does all the same stuff once you learn how to drive it.

 

Lots of folks don't know what they talking about
I drove straight trucks all my life, shifting all gears, ride my motorcycle shifting gears, now I'm driving schools buses for living, after take my CDL with automatic trans, could never have a OTR job, (no experience no chance) .
I know how to shift, to do so, I need to step on clutch, but I can't , I LOST MY LEFT LEG ABOVE KNEE, I think I deserve the right to drive a class 8 truck and I'm sure I can do the job right, without 3 pedal big rig, all I need is a chance!

 

I don't care what anyone says about it, automatic transmissions are the way to go. They just keep things simple. I know US Express and Trans Am use them. I was a truck driver (88M) in the US Army for 7 years and about 99% of all the vehicles they have in the US Army are automatic.
It is not true that autos have less power and excelleration. We were hauling 60,000 Lb loads through Iraq, just fine. We could also haul 55 ton, M1 tanks without any problems.
As for excelleration, they go just as fast as civilian vehicles. They get up and go faster than a manual transmission to. Sometimes we had to drive pretty fast (70 MPH) in Iraq, only when the mission required us to.
Anyway, nobody has a valid argument as to why automatic transmissions are so bad. I think all companies should swich to automatics.
What are people going to do in 15 or 20 years from now, if they phase out manual transmissions completely? With all the new technology they are developing now, that just might happen. I hope it does!
Think of it this way, most people on this forum have probably never used a typerwriter, they probably don't even know how to use one. Why? Because new technology of the computer made the typewriter obsolete. You also don't ride a horse and buggy to work, because you have a car. I think
in the near future, stick shift vehicles will be the same way.

 

The two companies I spent any significant amount of time with both had straight-10 Volvos and I was just happy with those.
Prior to driving a semi, I've never driven a stick-shift in my life.
After getting these down, they became second nature.

However, when I got on with Andrus, I was given an older Volvo with one of those God-awful, Auto-shift transmissions with a clutch for starting/stopping only.
It was an '01 model and this thing had a tendency to work and not work it wanted to.
Needless to say, I'm on casual/on-call at the moment and consider this a bit of a break from the road.
But if I ever do get back on full-time in any capacity, you bet your rear I'm aiming for something with a straight-10.

 

The only difference between a stick and an Auto is a small computer controlling the XY shifter.This being the case and with Fluid drive automatics presenting their own problems sticks will likely be around but may become the oddity rather than the norm.

The Seond and third generation ultra's and Volvo's Ishift have vastly improved in reliabilty and durability.

 

I think this thread shows how afraid people are of change.

Honestly, this just sounds like the bus system. When automatic buses started showing up, people were in an uproar and called them sissy busses. Now...when was the last time u saw a manual bus?

To the original post, there's nothing wrong with chosing a company for the automatic trucks because eventually all trucks will be automatic. It may take 10 years but it's less time consuming to a company to train people to drive automatics then manuals. And students are definitely more likely to crash a manual then an automatic.

 

anyone is welcome to drive what they want. I am just recently back into trucking after 30 years away. Driving a new KW for Trans AM is a luxury, I have driven everything from a model A Ford beach buggy at 9 years old to a 10 wheel dump 16 speed quad box no power nuthing loaders, forklifts, 93 ft fishing boats with manuel gears even a make or break ole engine u had to shut down and start in reverse. All that is to say I know a lil bit about trannys. Give me that auto in the KW at trans Am and the warranty u can kiss my DOT bumper as i get out of my truck and dont limp into the Pilot for a coffee