[One]

Originally Posted by snatale42

Maybe I'm splitting hairs, but Autoshifts aren't Automatics and still have clutches. Probably not what the intent was.

That is correct, but I think the auto shift transmissions are a thing of the past now. They were junk to start with since they did not shift at the right points and did not skip gears. The new automatics have automatic clutches and from my experience from Macks' M-shift and volvos I shift (same transmission) they can/will start in 3rd and skip gears all day long. Great trans, but i think the programming could be adjusted a bit. I kept running into the problem that I would crest a mountain, let off the pedal , start down a grade and the darn thing would downshift, then refuse to up shift even when going into overrev territory. Mind you, the grades were safely passable in the higher gear just using the engine brake. definitely programmed for rookies.

But back to the OP question... Most medium and larger outfits now have automatics. At this point you have to actually look for a carrier the still has manuals. I miss a 13 speed, you seem to shift less than with a 10.

[Copperhead]

Originally Posted by fz1rider

Automatic transmissions get you killed. To elaborate:the transmission is a key component in the safe descent off any mountain. Allowing a computer to hold a gear or not allowing you to downshift because of speed/RPM is just a bad idea. There have been a marked increase in runaway trucks since the inception of the autoshift. It may not nessecarily be directly related to a malfunction of the autoshift but most likely a misunderstood transmission whose complex nature require MANUAL intervention to help in a safe descent off a mountain. Stop trying to fix what's not broken and shift manually! No amount of training for the autoshift can substitute for downshifting a stick into 8th without thought or concern. As a driver we do little enough as it is behind the wheel.

How many times have you run the Brooks Range in Alaska or Thompson pass down in to Valdez on the coast? I have done that with automatics in class 8's. You can use manual mode in any HD automatic or auto shift and have it hold the gear on a decent. You obviously have zero experience with automatics and auto shifts. I was operating trucks in Alaska at the end of the 80's with Allison automatics in them. Of course, the auto shifts came along much later. But they do work and work well. The only reason I don't use them is that the Allison TC-10 is too heavy and the auto shifts are not cost effective when I am writing the check for a truck.

Auto shifts a thing of the past? Volvo, for one, somewhere around 40% of their truck sales have auto shifts in them, specifically the iShift. Freightliner and WS, the percentage of auto shifts, specifically the DT12, has been on a steady increase as well. Somehow I get the feeling that auto shifts are not going away any time soon. The only "automatic" is the Allisons. All the others are auto shift manual transmissions.

[Seadragon]

Freymiller