Let's discuss automatics.......
 

...............trucks

Anyone who drives them, give me the pros and cons.

So far one pro I see is city delivers(which we do all day).

I've been in an autoshift for the past 3 years, except for a few months. Both of the auto's I've been in are older trucks (a 2002 Volvo and a 2005 Freightliner). They're MUCH easier to drive - they take away the constant need to pay attention to the RPM's/gear. It makes it a lot better in the hills and backroads, which we drive quite a bit.

On the interstate, I'll get up to top speed, set the cruise and let the truck do it's thing. When I come to a pull, the truck downshifts itself as needed with the cruise control maintaining the power. Once I top the hill, I'll let it start upshifting on it's own. If it's a steep downgrade, I'll kick it into manual mode in 9th gear and kick off the cruise. Hit the bottom of the grade, switch back to auto and hit Resume.

The trucks also get a bit better fuel mileage. The Volvo averaged 6.5mpg, and that's with pulling 45k loads on a daily basis across Maryland and West Virginia.

I've had a total of 3 problems with the autoshift in a total of 6 years. The first time the clutch went out. The second was the X-Y shifter (that's the part that actually changes the gears). The last was the output shaft speed sensor - with that out, the computer has no idea what the truck is doing. Other than that, not a single hiccup.

In traffic, they're great. I prefer the auto's with the clutch pedal as they give more control in the winter. If you start sliding, you can hit the clutch to let it freewheel. The clutchless don't have this luxury.

Before anyone starts bashing me, yes - I can drive a stick. I can jump in a truck with a straight 10, super 10, 13, 15 or 18 speed and be going down the road in minutes. I just prefer the auto's - work smarter, not harder.

I've actually driven one. We have one. It's a day cab Pro Star. I didn't like it myself. I didn't know what to do when I came up to a stop light. I was reaching for the stick. :hellno:
I have to say that it was kinda neat. Never had to take it off cruise. It did all the shifting by itself.
Do yall remember Jethro in the Beverly Hillbillies movie when he drove Mr Drysdale's Rolls Royce? That was me in that automatic Pro Star. :D

I haven't driven anything newer than an '05 autoshift, but from what I've heard, some of the new ones don't have "set" shift points. The computer will adjust the shift points according to the grade, the weight of the load and just how hard you're hitting the throttle. The will even skip gears when running empty or botail.

Almost all of our trucks are autoshifts, except the quad axles. This is the first auto I have ever had in 17 years of driving and I love it. I had one x-y shifter problem and that was fixed quickly under warranty.

Bunch of friggin' WUSSES! :lol2:

EVERY post on this thread included at least ONE "drawback" to the autoshift, but said.... I can "overlook it" or "get around it." :roll:

How about driving a REAL truck with a transmission that requires YOU to do the work and "be responsibile?"

"I" don't have to make excuses for my truck! I am in control of the shifting. If there is a problem.... it is with ME!

I've driven a couple of autoshifts. The first one left me stranded in an intersection with traffic bearing down on me, while I WAITED for it to figure out what gear it should be in, and to MOVE! "I" could have done so in HALF the time! :hellno:

I dug an Averitt driver out of a snowbank today. HE had "autoshift" and said it was CRAP! He spoke with a "wistfull" voice about the OLD days when he was a REAL "truck driver!"

I have absolutely NO IDEA what an "autoshift" would have allowed me to do last night when I had to BURN my way up a hill, at times relaxing to a higher gear and lower torque.... and then, when needed, downshifting and burning rubber into the pavement to gain traction. All I know is that I didn't spend the night stuck in a snowbank for lack of OPPORTUNITY!

Autoshifts have a manual mode that you can use for situations like that. I've had to burn my way up hills exactly the way you described.

I don't like automatics.

They're against my religion.

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If you drive in heavy stop and go traffic on a regular basis an auto shift can be nice. I don't like the way they shift on mountains. I put about 77,000 on a new Volvo that had an auto shift some years ago. I felt that it waited too long to down shift going up mountains and you had to manually down shift going down steep grades or you would be in trouble. If the transmission fails it is much more expensive to repair than a manual.

The Columbia I'm in now could definitely benefit by having the shift points changed just a tad. Even if they changed the lower-end of the RPM range by 50 RPM, it would make a huge difference. But, my shop doesn't have the required software to adjust the transmission computer. The shop foreman said the software alone was over $5,000 just to get into it. They can also purchase additional shift profiles, but they, too, are extremely expensive.

When I feel that the truck should shift (but isn't on it's own), I flip to manual mode and do it myself. In manual mode, the RPM range opens up quite a bit. In full auto, it downshifts @ 1200RPM. In manual mode, I can downshift all the way up to 1600RPM. The only time it won't downshift in manual mode is if the RPM would be over 2000RPM in the gear you're trying to go to.

Also, even if the autoshift is in manual or low mode, if the RPM's get so high that it could cause engine problems, they WILL upshift on their own to save the engine/transmission.

Mechanically, an autoshift transmission is the same as a manual. The only difference added to an autoshift (with a clutch pedal) is the X-Y shifter is added to the top of the transmission in place of the manual shift lever and the computer is added. Other than that, they're mechanically identical.

They are against mine to but I don't have much of a choice. The lease is up and that is what we are getting(short version, we are getting them from a customer that went belly-up, less then 60k on the OD).

The only other options I have are:
1)Take a sleeper route if we get another one.
2)Take the new tandem axle '10 and new 38' trailer everyday(doesn't fit into a lot of my stops though)

Guess we will see how good they are in a few months.

the company I used to work for has some automatic dump trucks.. REAL automatics, no clutch, I loved them, I could haul local all day and wasnt 1/2 as tired as when driving a 9 or 10 speed

See, that's the thing, with a manual, you can change the shift points anytime you want by shifting it different, no need for $5000.00 software and computers. With a manual, you create the "shift profile" to your own liking, and, it's infinitely variable within the limits of RPM and road speed.

Wouldn't that be just great on a long downhill if you just happened to let the RPM get a bit too high and the trans starts automatically upshifting leaving you to rely on the service brakes to control the truck.

Lots of expensive sh*t added, for little or no benefit, and possibly detriment.

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If you're at or over 2,000RPM, you're already out of control. The engine brake (if the truck has one) has a range in which it's beneficial, and over 2k is out of it's range. Also, the engine itself isn't designed for those speeds. What would happen if you let the rpm's get out of control and throw a rod through the block or bend a valve? It'll kill the engine completely and you'll not only have to rely on the trucks brakes (only) and the air supply that's available before it's drained.

Most class 8 truck engines "govern out" at 2100 RPM, and it probably wouldn't come apart unless it was pushed over 2500 RPM. I certainly wouldn't suggest overspeeding an engine, but the point I'm trying to make is that the computer is too "dumb" to realize that it could be causing a dangerous situation by upshifting in that scenario.

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I drove an autoshift freightliner for a few weeks one time.

I did like the "set it forget it" mentality. and no stick in the way to go to the sleeper. lol, but it was slow as heck... it took a lot of time between shifts, that i know i could outdo with a manual, say hipothetcally in a drag race... lol

also i had one instance, where i was unloading on a sloped dock ramp, and once empty for the life of the truck i couldn't get it out of there, b/c of some snow/ice underneath... no rocking in 3rd available in the auto, even in manual mode it didn't work... had to be pulled out with a chain and a backhoe (luckily they had one on the yard...

conclusion: i'll stick to my 13 sp.

I did like the lazy factor in traffic though, not having to worry about shifting in nyc was nice...

They burn a good amount more fuel over a stick. Im talking full autos. I drove one for 1 day. It was alright but i like the stick overall.

I personally think the take the fun out of driving a truck... i mean yeah you do get to relax more and they work GREAT as hell in Traffic but i'll pass and keep shift gears.. If it works for you keep on trucking my friend (AUTOMATICALLY)

I had 2 new Kenworth T-2000's in a row with auto. It took a little getting used to as at first i automatically tried to put my left foot through the floor and grabbed empty air with my right hand when I was slowing down. When I got used to them I loved them. I was much less fatigued at the end of the day especially when driving in traffic. The mileage was spectacular. I got 7.2 - 7.4 in the summer and 6.4 - 6.8 in the winter hauling 40,000lbs+ of paper through Canada. I ran winter across the top of the great lakes and never had a problem in the snow and ice of the Sault with it. If I was an o/o i would strongly consider them from the mileage standpoint alone and to heck with people that didnt think I was a 'real truck driver"

someone was telling me about a full auto its a pita to back up. especially if you have to back up a slight grade. never drove one but thats what the person said to me.

Yeah, it's weird. You let off the brake, you have to smash down on the foot-feed to make it go. I had a little trouble myself, when I backed into a door. I was either backing up too fast, or not moving. :p :roll3: :lol:

I don't like the full auto's whatsoever. The centrifigal clutch works fine with a loaded truck, but empty is horrible. Bobtail is even worse. I thought I was going to rip the 5th wheel off the trailer or kingpin off the trailer when I was hooking up. Sat there revving to get the clutch to engage, and when it did, it was all in at full speed.

Plus, with having a pedal, if you break free on slick roads, you can still hit it to let the truck freewheel to regain traction.

I didn't have any problem with the Mack, the only thing is, you better remember to put in neutral before you start dumping!!

A "full auto" such as an Allison has a torque converter and is easy to control when backing up or inching forward, just like a car automatic.

The "full auto" you're referring to is actually a manual trans that has computer controlled shifting, and a conventional clutch that is also computer controlled depending on throttle position. It's basically an "autoshift" without the clutch pedal.

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They are different in that you can't idle back, you have to work the fuel. I thought it was a little harder to back an auto because of this.

drove 3autos and didn't care for any of them, the first one had the clutch and that one was realy tricky if you had to stop on an incline, getting started foward again was a PITA, the last 2 didn't have a clutch so it was as simple as just giving it plenty of foot before you let off the brake but I never felt like I had as much control over them as I did my 9 or 10 speed manuals.