Why Not Automatic?!

As the old saying goes... the devil you know is alwsys better than the devil you don't.

 

MY mistake KMac, sorry...I was referring to the 2nd paragraph, where you stated "Keep in mind, all you need to learn from him is how to pass your road test and get your CDL" ...completely ignored that part...but IMHO THAT is way off base..the OP should get the basics from the school/instructors, it is their job to provide those basics and if a student gets his/her feelings hurt in the process, or just can't seem to "get it" then they (the instructors) have the responsibility to correct them , granted sometimes SOME instructors don't use a lot of tact but if your that thin-skinned big deal...We aren't talking about picking oranges here. After 5 years of experience I'm sure you know that to be a fact. The responsibility we have as drivers each and every single time we get behind the wheel is ENORMOUS. The industry is evolving I'll give you that...but RIGHT NOW learning HOW to shift a manual is VERY important... that was and is my point. NOW... as far as a life-long learning process ,yep it is..... always has been... and always will be. You should've been a lawyer/politician instead of a truck driver, since your so good at taking what someone says out of context and twisting it around to try and maybe make them look silly ( nice try BTW). But anybody who has been a driver long enough knows exactly what my prior post intended...NOW.... you do also.....Enjoy your day!

 

no, no, please do, maybe you can tell us how you enjoy driving a spring ride with a solid seat, no A/C, limited heat and a coffin bunk also...if technology bothers you, how do you use a computer?

 

I drove a stick in school, first company I road tested with 3 months after I got out of school, I still couldn't drive a stick properly. THe safety guy spent 10 minutes helping me get it right before we left the yard, within 5 miles I knew what I was doing. I started the next day.

 

If you started in '97...taking 15 from 2012, do you remember those things ^^^^. You must have started on some really old equipment! That 114 post is an example to ALL new drivers of how NOT to do it.......

 

55(5+5) 10th gear
45(5+4) 9th gear
35(5+3) 8th gear
25(5+2) 7th gear
15(5+1) 6th gear

^^^^lot of this depends on the operating range of the engine, the size of the tires, the rear end gears... the type of transmission........Just saying....

 

Explain 8 speed

 

my father drove from '68 to '83, when we lived in Ohio he drove a straight truck delivering meat and later furniture. When we moved to Colorado he first drove a crane, then later hauled gas, the lumber and finally bulk/pnuematicr. I remember riding with him on both the lumber and pnuematic loads (two different companies). In '80, he worked for a lumber company, his assigned truck was a '70 White Frieghtliner cabover flatbed straight truck, spring ride, solid drivers seat (that they converted to airride which never worked right), it had a coffin sleeper with no HVAC controls, the A/C sort of worked when it wanted to and the heater worked perfect on defrost, not so much in heat mode. WHen he hauled bulk/pnuematic, he drove two different trucks, the first was a twin stick convential with no A/C, spring ride, it was built in the '60's. He then moved up to a '77 Int'l cabover, spring ride suspension, airride seats, coffin sleeper (the smallest sleeper possible on a cabover), marginal A/C, AM only radio, a heater than worked great but the defroster sucked. He used to run team from Denver to Rapid City to Gillette to Casper and back to Denver. If he did a short run on the weekends I was allowed to ride with him, that's how I got to know those things.

WHen I first started with my current company in '97, they were just coming out of some major financial problems caused by a stupid driver and a triple fatal wreck. My first truck was an '84 Int'l day cab, spring ride, no A/C, air ride seat, the bolts that held the cover around the shifter would back out twice a day and the cover would vibrate in circles until it found the opening and the would vibrate off altogether (one day it fell through the floor and was gone). The radio, when it wanted to work was awesome on AM, marginal on FM (usually you had to tap it a few times) the problem was a bad ground, the heater worked on some days the defroster did not. The clutch was so stiff when it was cold they would have to start the truck and let it idle for 30 to 40 minutes and develop enough heat and vibration to loosen it up. I drove that truck for 3 months till the rear drive self destructed taking off from a light and left a puddle of oil, grease and gears in an intersection.

 

Yep, you DID start off with old stuff...

 

The first truck I drove was an M818 Truck Tractor 5 ton... talk about a loud and uncomfotable beast... not a frill one, unless you consider a winch a frill LOL... It was Vietnam Era technology at its finest.