why you do not want a automatic.

I fought the whole "automatic in a big truck" thing for years. I always felt that the auto had no place in the big truck world and swore I would never drive one. Then, the truck I now own came up for sale. Less than 200k on a Cat reman with all new accessories to the tune of $32,000, a new clutch six months prior and the truck, itself, was in great shape. Then, I found out it was an auto, which, to me, at the time, was a deal breaker. That is, until a friend of mine had me drive his. I was hooked. Besides, I figured if this guy, who was running Chicago to LA when it was still Route 66 could get behind the idea, who was I to argue? I've owned the truck for a year and a half and, if the time ever comes to change the transmission, the only thing I will change will be from the 10 speed Ultra Shift to a 13 Speed Ultra Shift. I do miss shifting, sometimes, but I'm very happy with my setup.

Oh, and I run the Northwest. A lot.

 

I got off the road a decade ago, so I never drove an automatic. I'm just curious from those of you that do drive them, has jake brakes and regular brakes become so much better since then that you can actually stop quickly without needing to downshift? What about going down steep grades, can the jake and your regular brakes keep the truck held back so it doesn't speed down the grade? I'm just curious with the auto shift is the risk of brake fade higher now since the brakes are now your main way to slow the truck down?

 

They all have a manual mode so you can select lower gears for descending. Volvo VEB will automatically downshift to maintain set cruise speed while going downhill.

http://youtu.be/MttzNcTalN4?t=4m24s

I have no firsthand experience of them, just relaying what I have picked up along the way.

 

to me, the only vehicle you would want a manual in is a sports car. It's not fun shifting in a big truck.

 

Speak for yourself. I have a lot more fun shifting in a big truck than I do letting the auto do the work. Even when I used to go through chicago, dallas, and now dealing everyday with jax rush hour I'd still rather have a manual because in my opinion, it's part of the experience of being a truck driver

 

I've driven the Volvo I-shift and Mack M-drive, both have optional hill descent control. Set the speed you want to maintain going down a hill and the computer does the rest, 90% of the time, you find yourself giving it fuel because the computer will slow it so much you're almost to a stop. 60K going down Wolf Creek with it, set the hill descent at 35 mph, at 20 mph on a 6% downhill I had to give it fuel to avoid coming to a stop.

 

I might not mind it so much if we had the m - drive auto macks. These freightliner autos are just plain sluggish. Most won't let me start out in 3rd gear empty, they only allow you to start in 2nd until you drive it for a few minutes. It makes city driving a HUGE pain since you can't get up and go.

they skip gears way too often at the wrong time. Like mine will go from 2nd to 4th, to 6th then up from there. And it sits for about 2 seconds between shifts before going into gear. Most guys run these trucks in manual mode at 1800-2100 rpm range to keep it accelerating fast then wonder why these trucks always go into the shop

 

Mine starts in 3rd ,downshifts and rev matches to maintain a speed I select (cruise control).Reminds me of a gang of munchkins spinning wheels and pulling levers inside the trans-makes me giggle.

 

The only auto for me is Allison. Had one ultra shift and it was a complete pos. I'll run a manual before I ever drive another ultra crap

 

How can anyone like manual in stop and go traffic make 5 gear changes to to advance a little bit come on, and as a driver font you have to get to know every truck you get in to find the gears every time you get into a different truck?

by the way how long does it take to learn the gear locations on a new truck?

with an automatic you just press the accelerator and go

Please anyone tell me can I go into trucking with only knowing automatic