As a former Driveaway driver [hauled new trucks as opposed to trailers] I can tell you the automatics are not fun to drive. The transmissions that the Volvos had were clutch less and not user friendly. They only can go backwards or forwards and would "freeze up" quite often and not go in either direction.
I hauled at least 20-25 loads of automatic Volvos to Canada while doing driveaway. I asked the dealerships why they get so many automatics because we weren't delivering much in the U.S. with the exception of U.S. Express and Interstate. He proceeded to explain to me that most of the Owner Ops in Canada were Pakistani and Indian and they didn't like to shift. They are definitely not as nice to drive as the manuals.
So I disagree with the last post. 20-25 different trucks has given me the experience to tell you that clutch less automatics were not my "cup of tea". I've understood that the automatics with clutches are easier to drive. Perhaps that's true but I'd still take a manual transmission over an automatic any day!
I also didn't like the Super 10s. Believe it or not I'm female and most people assume that we'd prefer the Automatics and Super 10s. NOT!!!!
