What are your thoughts on automatic vs manual transmissions?

I think you should drive whatever you're comfortable with.
Sounds like you like the auto , so good for you.
Don't understand why you feel the need to put down drivers
with a manual. I've got a 13 sd.manual and really don't care what
everyone else has.

 

Haven't driven an automatic yet, but I look forward to it. No matter how familiar I get with a manual, it is still taking up some of my attention in traffic. That tiny amount of distraction might matter one day, so I want to get an automatic as soon as feasible.

 

The auto is nice in traffic. I still get nervous with it on a slick road or in the rain. I moaned when I got the first auto about 3 yrs ago. Wouldn’t want anything else now.

 

It depends on the situation really. After 25 years of driving I still rather the Manual if I'm driving Otr or even Regional more because with Manual I feel more in control of the truck. However, certain transmissions gear better if I'm driving in the city such as the Volvo's Automatic gear ratio being shorter on the lower gears when existing the long turning off ramps aren't bad but I still driver in Manual mode (Note: I'd still perfer a Freightliner though over a Volvo when its Manual with the Eaton RT 13).

I just find way more control with Manual transmissions whiles driving up hills as well.

A lot of Experienced Trucker realized that there's a huge difference now opposed 25 years ago on the highways and roads with Truck drivers. With 75% of trucks being Automatic compared to only 5% back in the early 2000's I see way more accidents occurring and a different breed of Truckers out there. 4 way independence vs. 3 way makes a huge difference when driving. Plus the difference of a Trucker compared to a four wheeler used to be the shifting of multiple gears (13, 15 & 18 speeds). Now anyone thinks they can drive a 18 wheeler because they are Automatic which lowered the bar on the 'Quality of the driver's who is skilled'.

 

I liked mine, it was way better than other autos I’ve driven. The one I drove (2014 Mack Pinnacle) had the performance shift thing, or whatever they called it. It had a performance mode you could activate that would keep it in each gear longer, which helped a lot on hills. It definitely took a little manipulation but I found if I put on performance mode and downshifted a gear, it would climb the hills no problem. I always joked that I used my right hand on the shift pad more than I used my foot to drive that thing. But yeah, I guess if you gotta do all that work with an auto to make it work than you might as well just be driving a manual. LOL

 

I prefer manual...for durability. Last truck I owned had over 800k on the clock and had the original clutch. 1st auto I drove was a 2016 mDrive. 1st transmission was replaced at 275k, the 2nd was 3 months later because Mack sends the transmissions they remove back to the factory to be remanufactured, so the replacement transmission they put in the 1st time was a reman'd and it must have been worked on by a trainee rebuilder. The 2nd transmission worked o.k. The auto's use pneumatic cylinders to shift...which wear out and need replaced...my right arm will last a lot longer than any pneumatic cylinder. The same with the clutch. On an auto, it is moved with pneumatics...and the computer can't feather the clutch when backing...even in 'creep' mode, it's either letting it out too fast or hitting the clutch like your stopping. As far as shifting, especially on the mDrive, I shift smoother, it was either launching you like a tractor pull and torquing the frame if you tried to go hard, or short upshifting too soon if you tried to gradually roll the throttle up like you do with a high horsepower engine. The DT12's I have driven were pretty much similar, and in traffic, auto's can't make up their mind (the ones I have driven have manual mode disbled, so they're always trying to upshift or downshift when staying in the same gear is preferred). And the DT12s I have driven try to skip too many gears when loaded heavy...and shouldn't be skipping gears at all. When on really slick roads, a manual has a clutch so if you need to ease on the clutch to roll across an icy bridge, or slick stretch of road, you can. An auto is either going or slowing against the engine which could cause you to jacknife...all told, a 13 spd, manual is the ideal transmission for the average freight hauler that hauls legal weights to various locations all over the country.

 

The Freightliner DT-12 auto has a special Descent Mode. Not sure if lots of drivers even know about or how to activate it. It will hold the truck going downhill at the speed you set. It will automatically switch engine brakes levels and downshift to hold the speed driver sets it for.

If crossing bridge with ice, just let off the power and it will stay in gear. If you take foot off pedal completely only then will it go into neutral

 

Only if the owner of the truck lets that node be activated. I don’t want the truck in neutral at any point . They’re not automatics they’re AUTOSHIFTS. It’s trying to engineer the driver out of the equation. Worked great for Boeing.(sarcasm)

 

I had an old driver kind of describe it like smoking. Lol as in most smokers just smoke because it’s a nervous twitch of some sort. He said manual shifting kind of became the same thing and when he tried to drive an auto he didn’t know what to do with himself. Lol he described how driving the manual kept him more in tune with the driving process overall. Now I’ve driven both, but 90% auto. I can see his point. I think manual shifting definitely keeps you more directly involved in the driving process itself.

 

Personally, I don’t give a rats rear end what transmission is in your own truck.
What is really starting to grate on my nerves, is those that have the mentality that all manuals should be eliminated as soon as possible.
I have wondered why they have that additude?
I driven manuals, and auto shifts, much prefer a manual.