Looking for any legitimate advice I can get...

This is actually you.... right? ...
Florida man allegedly gave alligator beer, enticed reptile to bite him

 

I was just trying to get it drunk....don't judge....

 

While probably still not as nice as Volvo i-shift/Mack mDrive, if you have an Eaton AMT that is painful for slow speed and hills take it to the dealer and have the blended pedal and urge to move features enabled.

Those two features which were only released a few years ago really do make a huge difference and UltraShift it probably shouldn't have been released without them originally IMHO.

IIRC The Allison ht750 was introduced in ~1971 and was still being used in Mack and White dump trucks and cement trucks until the mid 1990s. GM started selling Allison transmissions in their buses in 1978, we bought two 4108s with them and they were great. Drivers complained a bit...but guess what bus they drove given a chance?

That said I personally still prefer three pedals for work and for pleasure, well...until I am in traffic.

 

Just ask yourself, of all the drivers you know that use auto's how many would be driving today if auto's never showed up where they work? And if you can come up with that figure, ask yourself how much more money would you be earning if your employer had to hire all drivers that knew how to drive a manual?
Where I work, its a pretty safe assumption that I would be earning at least $5.00 per hr more if all the trucks were manual.