Auto or Manual?

[Random_Facts]

Oh that figures i am having Poll Questions issues lol.

Auto verse Manual. I know US-xpress has the auto but are they really that automatic like, full automantic? no clutch in site lol. Just curious.

Pros: No clutching in and out every time you stop that would be sweet, no need to grind its already shifting for ya.

Cons: mountain driving anyone with Automantic going through like Colorado or something. Is that a nightmare with an auto whats your thoughts just curious?

[Rokk]

Oh that figures i am having Poll Questions issues lol.

Auto verse Manual. I know US-xpress has the auto but are they really that automatic like, full automantic? no clutch in site lol. Just curious.

Pros: No clutching in and out every time you stop that would be sweet, no need to grind its already shifting for ya.

Cons: mountain driving anyone with Automantic going through like Colorado or something. Is that a nightmare with an auto whats your thoughts just curious?

Auto Shift Trannies in trucks = Still got a clutch

Ultra Shift Trannies in trucks = No Clutch

Winter and mountain driving...
I spent a winter season here in the NW states 2 years ago driving one of each. I must say i liked them for their traction control and reliability during the weather that year. Do not forget, with either of these trannies one has the option of going manual with the press of a button. wich is nice for grades (downhill) Pulling was effortless, and many times at gross out performed a truck manual shifting (stick)

Also many of these trucks with these trannies also incorporate technologies along with them such as Eaton Vorad Anti Collision wich is truly awesome to utilize while being used with the automatic trannies in conjunction.

It was fun testing these features out. but i am glad i have my trusty stick , mainly because i am a control freak by nature (drives my wife nuts)

Wish you had a both option on your poll.

[Random_Facts]

"Wish you had a both option on your poll."

lol, Yes first time trying out the polls took me a few trys a lot of re-typing just trying to sumit it and make it work lol. But yes Good thing to know in the future =D.

[Rokk]

took me a few tries as well :P

[redsunrise]

Manual......if I'm driving a tractor trailer (oh, wait I don't have anything else) it best have a clutch and gears.

Wouldn't want a auto in the rockies, besides why did I learn manual if I'm never going to use it? DUH!!

[hardsoup]

Manual all the way. I dont like the lack of control with the automatic. you shift up when it wants to. I also like to keep the RPMs up when going down hill and the automatics we have wont let me do that.

[Fozzy]

Why do you want the rpms up when going up a grade? Are you drivng an old 6V92?

[yoopr]

Manual all the way. I dont like the lack of control with the automatic. you shift up when it wants to. I also like to keep the RPMs up when going down hill and the automatics we have wont let me do that.

Same here-I want to control what the transmissions doing-Not it telling me

[Yanke_driver]

Frankly, I don't mind either way. I've been in an Meritor Ultra shift for most of my training and I can tell you it is sweet!! 1 less thing to worry about when your going through a town or city. I learnt on a 13 speed Eaton and have driven a tractor with a Eaton super 10 as well. I'm going to clear up a misconception about auto/ultra shifts, they are not true automatic transmissions. You still have the ability to drive the tractor as a manual if you like. They have a selector button on them to switch from manual or "hold" to auto shift capabilities. When in the manual/"hold" position, you can upshift and downshift using the push button or paddle controls depending on the make of transmission. The auto/ultra shifts work completely fine through the rockies, as long as you select the gear you want before starting down the grade, put into the "hold" position and away you go. Even if you have the truck in the "auto" position when you start down, put the Jake on and the truck will only downshift and continue slowing. I've heard from a few of the drivers at my company that swore they'd never drive an auto/ultra shift transmission,...until they actually got into one and drove it, now they never want to go back to a manual transmission. I'm pretty sure over the next 5 years you will see the majority of fleets out there using the auto/ultra shift transmissions in thier trucks. I was listening to the midnight trucking show on Sirius 147 the other night and they were even saying that auto shifts are becomming so popular that Arvin-Meritor is discontinuing thier line of manual transmissions and are going to produce auto/ultra shifts only starting in 2007-2008.

[PhuzzyGnu]

Honestly, if I were to able to spec and buy a truck to take the O/O route with my company I would prefer an automatic.

I used to be a manual snob - "REAL truckdrivers drive manual" - but I'll tell ya, after driving both an Auto**** and and Ultrashift, I would take the Ultrashift 13 speed over a manual these days. Really, once you're up to speed with a good motor, how often do you shift on the Ineterstate? And since I round-trip out and back to Houston on a daily basis, the Ultrashift wins hands down- especially on 59 or I-10 at rush hours.

Sure, money no object I would love a big long-nose Pete with a 625 Cat and an 18 speed, but in the real world a Freightliner Columbia with the Mercedes MBE4000 and the Eaton Ultrashift 13 speed LEP could put an extra $12,000 or so in my pocket via the fuel savings.

-p.

[Mackman]

Allison does make a full auto tranny only 2 pedals on the floor and D -N -R. I think there junk to much to buy and maintenance is alot more money. They eat alot more fuel. And i like the control the tranny all so.

[Yanke_driver]

Allison does make a full auto tranny only 2 pedals on the floor and D -N -R. I think there junk to much to buy and maintenance is alot more money. They eat alot more fuel. And i like the control the tranny all so.

That is exactly what the transmission in my truck is like Mack, only mine's a Meritor. But it is still an auto shift...meaning there are still 12 gears and a clutch in it, the tranny's ECU just does all the shifting for me. There is no way that they can eat alot more fuel, they are actually more economical than a manual transmission, as they never over rev and consistently shift through the gears at the peak rpm to power ratio.

[Mackman]

I know they eat fuel i drivin both. Am talking in a tri axle dump. Up and Down hills all day long where i live. I found i was allways on the floor with them. I dunno maybe its me. When i do drive my 10speed i dont really over rev. so maybe i get better mpg then another driver would driving a stick.

[Yanke_driver]

I could see a tri-axle dump being a different story over a 53 ft van.

[wot i life]

MANUAL no question about it... :wink:

[redsfan]

The last truck I drove with Maverick was a Columbia with SmartShift and I absolutely loved it. This was fully automatic, no clutch. I've been back to shifting gears in a manual 13 speed for a while now and I really miss the automatic.

You do thave the option of putting it in Manual or Automatic. I generally used Manual when pulling hills because it would tend to shift from 9th to 10th too early and fall on it's nose if I left it in automatic. I also preferred Manual in stop and go traffic because the transmission would seem to get confused and be constantly jumping from 2nd to 3rd back to 2nd, etc...

As for generally everday driving, I would use Auto and let the truck do all the work. It always seemed to have plenty of power and if it were a situation where I needed more control I could just switch it to Manual. Despite the myths, the driver can still have all of the control in the world without the clutch, and truthfully the driver was probably more in control this way.

They do get far better fuel mileage than the sticks, in fact that is the number one reason why companies are going to them. Not that most drivers do not know how to shift at all, but a lot don't know how to shift properly and this wastes a lot of fuel. I could consistently get 7 mpg or better and if I slowed down a little more, there's no telling what kind of mileage I would get.

I know a guy at Arnold Trans and they are going to them. He said that when they tell the hard-core manual guys that they are putting them in an automatic they cry and whine, but he makes an offer to them. If they drive the auto for a month and they still want a manual, he will personally promise to put them back in one. He said that he has yet to ever have a driver come back to him and take him up on this offer.

[Sizzle]

I hauled Volvos for 19 months out of the 28 months I've driven semis. The automatics or auto shifts whatever the hell they call them are a PAIN IN THE ASS.

Every one assumes females [I'm female] want to drive them. B.S. They never wanted to go into forward or reverse. In the winter time they were a bear, due to the fact that the transmission fluid gets thicker. They didn't want to go forward or reverse and that's the only time you had to chose a direction.

I hauled most of the new Volvos to Canada and asked a Canadian Dealer one day why so many went to Canada. He explained that most of the Owner Ops up there are Pakistani or Indian and don't want to shift. The only companies that I heard were getting them in the U.S. were Interstate and U.S. Express.

I'm telling you the automatics were terrible. There is one transmission that utilizing a box next to the driver's seat that you can touch the right gear. However, I don't think U.S. Express utilizes that trany so I don't think I'd recommend them.

I have an application for them sitting next to me and desperately want a job with a Volvo. Don't think I'll go there. The autos are NOT FUN. They take a while to shift between gears. Any one who thinks all women want them it's simply not true. You can have the auto shifts/automatics and Super 10's. EECCKK!!!

They don't do well in the mountains, I don't think I live in the Rocky Mountains and remember taking several up to British Columbia. Really don't recommend them....

[Malaki86]

Autos do get better mileage than a stick...

I used to drive a 2003 Volvo 780 autoshift when I was at USXpress. The average hauls were in the neighborhood of 35-40,000lbs. Also, I mainly ran east of the Mississippi. I averaged 7.2mpg overall after 6 months.

Right now I'm in a 2007 International Mid-roof. It's a straight-10 Eaton. My average hauls are in the range of 20-30,000lbs. I generally run the south/south east. My average fuel mileage is 6.2mpg.

This international is MUCH lighter than the Volvo, the loads are much lighter, the roads are much more 'level', and the driving is open road, set the cruise and go.

As far as driving the auto's in the mountains, they do just fine. I had more power climbing the hills with the Volvo than with this International. For going down the hills, no problem, put it in manual mode and drop a gear or 2.

For driving in snow/ice - same thing - go to manual and maintain a steady speed, same as with a manual tranny.

I had no problems with the truck shifting when it was cold, mainly because they don't have 'transmission fluid' like a car does. They have gear oil, same as a manual tranny.

In fact, the auto's that USXpress runs is a Super-10 transmission with a shift-kit - nothing more. The trucks with the UltraShift (no clutch pedal) - the clutch is a centrifigul clutch - the same that would be on a go-kart (only a lot bigger).

They do help out as far as less things to worry about. You're not constantly moving your arm, causing less stress from repetitive motion in your elbow and shoulder.

Also, if you have to slow down REALLY fast, hit the 'L' button on the shift pad. That changes the shift points on the engine, and it will bring you to a crawl extremely fast. I could almost guarantee that there's not a person alive that can downshift a truck as fast as the Low mode can when under heavy braking.

Do I support the auto's? You bet. Do I think that everyone driving a truck should know how to drive a stick? You bet.

Added:

Oh - I forgot this part:
You hear people all the time stating 'you're not a truck driver if you're not shifting the gears' basically. Well, in that statement, you're flat-out wrong. The reasons?

1 - Is that automatic transmission going to blind-side back into a dark alley at night in the rain without a driver? No

2 - Is that automatic transmission going to manage to avoid an accident in rush-hour traffic during an ice storm or is the driver? The driver is.

3 - My 16 year old daughter can drive a stick-shift car. Does that mean I'd put her into an 80,000lb 18-wheeler since she can shift? HELL NO!!!

When they started putting power steering in trucks, how many drivers complained about that?

When they started putting air conditioners in trucks, how many drivers complained about that?

How about FM radio's? How about XM radio's? How about CB radio's?

This isn't 1963 anymore folks. There's better technology out there. Learn to live with it, because I can guarantee those auto's aren't going to be just a 'fad', but more of the 'norm' in years to come..

[Bucks Owin]

Good post Malaki86!

Heck, a lot of expert newbies can't figure out how to "properly" shift the Super-10 and bitch about THAT tranny. (Just listen to a few leave a truckstop etc..) It's probably why US Xpress went to the Auto-shift...

I cut my teeth on a 13 speed and thought that was "best" at the time and didn't like the Super-10 until an old hand taught me the "trick" of shifting one. Once I was used to the S-10 I really liked it...

Autoshift? Guess I'll find out but I appreciate the opinions voiced here about them....
They sound OK....

Dennis

Oh. My vote? Undecided....

[Sizzle]

Malaki86 certainly knows more about the transmissions than I do. I give you that much. However, after driving only one auto you've come to these conclusions?!?

I have driven approximately 20-25 automatics to Canada. All different models of Volvos. They were all clutch less and would not go in either direction. Hence, I would concur with you that you far outweigh my knowledge of the transmissions. However, every single driveaway driver [hauled new trucks as opposed to hauling trailers] were totally disappointed in the automatics.

I had a guy follow me to Toronto and he was ecstatic about having an Auto. I told him, "let me know when you get there what you think." He couldn't get the darn thing into gear at Customs. As the traffic was backing up behind him he became more and more frustrated. I had to get out of my truck and help him. If they are such great transmissions why does every driveaway driver hate them?

We definitely know what we're talking about since that's all we did was haul trucks!!! Perhaps some brands are better for automatics than others or perhaps the new "improvements" to them are not improvements. You stated that you drove a much older model....

We weren't delivering many automatics state side except U.S. Express and Interstate. Most of the automatics went to Canada. The dealerships explained that was because most of the owner ops up there didn't want to shift.

There is a transmission that was put in them with a box next to the driver's seat you could select the gear. These Fontaine models worked very well. However, the automatics with a little "stick" next to the seat wouldn't allow us to go either forwards or backwards.