Why Not Automatic?!

Hello Wargames you and I have about the same time in the rocking chair, and the same number of accidents, incidents and violations. My account name is my CB handle, I run mostly mountain runs, this will be my first season with the autoshift I will let you know how it works out.

 

Mountain Hummingbird, Great to see your stats, I love it. Let me know how you like it driving the Auto. We both adapted our own techniques of driving, We definitely can relate and have fun talking about all these years. Maintaining our records behind the wheel was Not Easy. I see you said you run almost all mountain driving, Snow, Ice, Downgrades, Takes a LOT OF SKILL, and that you have. You have accomplished everything you set out to do in Trucking. I personally would like to congratulate you on a Fantastic Job In Trucking. No Accidents, No Incidents, No Tickets, I just love to see this. Extremely hard to accomplish, but not impossible.

 

You better stick with the automatics in the company you are with, with that kind of record dont know many other companies that would touch you. Must be that rocky mountain high ole Johnny sang about.

 

Do you know what make of auto shift is it you are getting?

 

RTLO-20918A-AS3 already have bought the truck 6 months ago

 

I admit I prefer automatics both semi like autoshift or true autos like Alison autos. I can shift fine, I don't even grind gears and I don't think about it, but when I am in that dc rush hour traffic, I would sell my soul for an automatic. Then again, on my route, I do very little mountain driving now, but it isn't hard to set the gears on an autoshift and drive on a mountain.

However, I have never driven an Alison automatic on a mountain, but they are not terribly common in articulated trucks anyways.

 

i tell ya....started pulling belly dump a week ago monday....and granted i only use the clutch to stop and start....and to engage my differential before i dump....but after 28 loads one day last week, 20 yest and 22 today....i am about wishing for an automatic...LOL..

 

Why do we keep calling auto shifts automatics? How about the glory days of trucking when we had 2 transmissions and 2 gear shifts and we still managed to drive safely. Wargames you should know what I'm talking about.

 

lol, yeah, I guess my 1.6 million miles exp. doesn't count for much does it. Apparently, your not much of a judge of a drivers ability either. In 15 yrs, I've been randomly and without my knowledge reviewed by our insurance carrier (Great West) 6 times, 4 of 6 times I received a perfect score 100/100 the other two were 75/100 and 95/100 respectively. All were based on at least a 30 minute random review of my driving. In case your not aware, some insurance companies have people who's sole job is to follow the trucks of companies they insure and do reviews on the drivers. But, since you asked, as of last week, I have a CSA score of 15, and 10 of those points are for a traffic stop that is more than a year old and it's currently being contested because the officer may have falsified the report. Our copy of the inspection only shows I was stopped for speeding, yet the CSA report shows a total of 5 violations/warnings on that same stop, which is odd since there were no citations issued, only a verbal warning. My last 5 roadside inspections have all resulted in a CVSA sticker, which considering I pull crappy intermodal equipment must mean I'm doing something right. To show even more your lack of evaluation ability, for 2 yrs, we've been doing a run for a major garage door company every two weeks, hauling their trailer to their dealers in SW and W. Colorado, then I have to drag the doors/track/hardware/etc. to the back of the trailer for them to unload, typically 5 to 9 stops per trip. For the last 20 months I've been the only driver doing this run, last Friday, they renewed the contract with us for another year, along with the renewed contract, there was praise for me as the driver. Zero damage claims, a 99% on time or better delivery record (they set the delivery times, and I am expected to be there at those times, unless the weather prevents it, I'm always on time or early for my appointments) and excellent customer service skills. Oh 5 months ago I went with my wife to a jobs fair, end result, job offers from FEDEX Freight, SAIA, RL Carriers, Mile Hi Frozen Foods, Shamrock Foods, RAC Transport and Groendyke Transport. All for mtn driving, guess I must be doing something right.



BTW, I hope you don't run Pete's or KW's. PACCAR Technical services, the engineering/road test arm of PACCAR, has two T660's, both equipped with MX powerplants, one with an autoshift and one with a push button auto that are road test mules, one pulls a flatbed with concrete blocks the other a dry van with concrete blocks. They run a continual round trip Denver to Vegas or Devner to St. Louis and back. Monday night I talked to one of the test crews in Grand Junction, Co., the truck they run, a blue T660 with a 48' flatbed, 450 hp MX engine backed by a 10spd autoshift, now has 1.6 million miles, with zero transmission related issues.