What I learned two days ago

Yep, it's getting so a full manual is an option that you have to pay extra for, like it is when you buy a 4-wheeler. My company only uses mDrives, which are the red-headed step child of the AMT world, they blow (figuratively speaking).

 

I don't see what the big deal is about shifting grears. It's a good skill to have today because lots of truck still have manual transmission. Soon all trucks will have auto shift. How many drivers today can drive a two stick transmission. Not many and it's old skill not need anymore.

 

94% of the drivers being shoved through these Mega Company Driver Mills are nothing but steering wheel holders, the days of actual truck drivers are becoming less and less.

The automatic trans just fills the seat with a warm body quicker.

 

I read, Ram ( they don't even call it Dodge anymore) for 2019, discontinued the manual transmission, being the last to offer one in 2018..

 

It's funny watching people that spend 99% of their time on pavement raging on automatic transmissions.

 

well they have auto braking and developing self driving vehicles so it is just evolution.

 

Who drives a truck without power steering ??? Back in the day real drivers did not need power steering. You had some muscle in your arms. It's called technology, and something that was not possible 20 years ago. It doesn't make you less of a man or truck driver to use technology.

 

It has nothing to being less of a man, it has a lot to do with control. I prefer a manual because I get to choose what gear. More times than not, in traffic, the auto up shifts, up shifts, up shifts...down, down, up, down. You can put it in manual mode, but it's a PITA if speed is up and down.

When getting up to speed normally, step on the throttle a little more to build speed, and it up shifts and struggles to accelerate rather than building power in the current gear then shifting.

 

The new auto shifts don't shift up and down all day in traffic. I'm driving the Detroit transmission and it's very good. It only keeps grabbing gears if you keep pushing the pedal to the floor wanting to go faster in traffic. It doesn't just shift randomly for no reason.

When your in the lower gears it can apply the engine brake between gears. So it shifts very quickly and so when it goes in gear it can pull in that gear and not shift again because the grear might be to low now. They can sense the load and with GPS info they change the shift point on big hills.

It can downshift at high engine RPMs and give you amazing engine braking power. I can go down hills without even touching the brakes when in the past I would need the brakes