Deeply concerned about automatic transmissions.

So I have a solid year under my belt. The reason I say this is because I rode with people who could not shift. It was not a shifting problem, it was a (should not drive problem). Thankfully that person did not pursue his license after he failed his cdl. Could not shift or back.

I have a friend who drives for the company I started with, I have moved on to a better company. They are changing their fleet to automatic. He has 5 years experience and was told, this is your truck. He was said that it is hard to adapt but gives him less to worry about. For him, absolutely but he has miles under a shifter.

My point is the large companies cannot keep anyone or train them fast enough. So they buy into a automatic so they can get a body behind the wheel. So now we have people who cannot back, turn, safely go down a grade. I think the big companies are going to see a huge rise in law suits and fatals.

 

I love my Volvo I shift.

 

25 years out here, and I have to agree.

 

If I had a choice, never go back to manual transmission. Volvo I shift has been a good thing for me.

 

Sad part for the megas is huge lawsuits are already planned for. "Part of business"

 

Airplanes have autopilot for a reason. The plane must still be piloted during take off and landing. I think this also applies to trucking and auto shift. While it does make it easier for some steering wheel holders to get behind the wheel...the challenge of trucking in general will most likely be too overwhelming, leading them towards a quick exit from the industry no matter if they're shifting or not.

 

I think this automatic/manual issue is much ado about nothing. Sorry I'm not trying to troll the forum or start trouble but this is nothing but how the engines power is transmitted to the wheels. It speaks nothing about skills. Yes (shifting) means having to pay close attention to engines RPMs more, but in the end this in my opinion is not a problem. My biggest concern is the other things like letting drivers with less then a year experience actually train new drivers. This scares me so much that I get white knuckles when I'm driving in a large group of trucks on the highway. This industry has changed so much over the last 40 years. I was speaking to a friend about this a while back. Both of us can remember a day when you could depend of truckers for help if needed on the roadside, today this friend has told his wife and daughters to lock their doors and not open them or speak to any trucker that might stop. Sad commentary if you ask me.

 

It goes so much deeper then just having an automatic to train on.

 

I don't think the automatics are a problem, but I think they do change the average quality of the drivers. In the old days, anyone could get a license, but if you didn't have common sense, you couldn't keep a driving job. You couldn't keep a truck running unless you had some sense, you couldn't shift unless you had some skills, you couldn't get to your destination unless you could read an atlas, you couldn't keep a log book straight unless you could add 2 plus 2, and you couldn't keep the job unless you had the self motivation to keep out of the truck stops and get the delivery done on time.

Now, the drivers that would have washed out can just drive a truck and call roadside service, don't have to shift, don't have to read a map, don't have to even do a recap or add their hours in a log book, and the driver manager is flogging the drivers every time they have an "unplanned" stop. There's nothing to wash a driver out until they have that accident.

 

I drive a 2015 Cascadia Evolution. Its an automatic. I love that truck.