Maverick does still have a few manual transmissions in the fleet, but they plan to be 100% auto in the near future...or so I was told during orientation. I was also asked which I preferred while in orientation. They put me in an '07 Columbia with 4,085 miles and automatic.
The automatic is truly SWEET! The only thing I don't like about it is that it has to go through each and every gear with the same rpm when your empty just as though you were loaded. I would prefer to shift at a lower rpm and maybe skip shift when empty in order to get that fuel bonus
. The autos do have a manual mode on them and I'm working with that now. It seems to have it's quirks also, but I think I'll get the hang of it.
As a side note: You will have many people tell you that you need to learn to drive a manual transmission first. I do understand the point that they are making, but I have a very different point of view. During driver training the one thing that was very obvious is that nearly EVERY person in the class did fairly well handling the truck, while at the same time, nearly every one fought the manual transmission. The big thing I noticed from myself and everyone else is that so much attention was being forced to the shifting that the driving and lane control became a serious issue, nearly every time I saw a student driver out of his lane or curb a tire..or whatever...they were trying to find a gear. My point? It's not all that bad to learn how to control the truck and get confortable with the size and wieght of the vehicle first...then, if you you want to drive for someone that runs manauls..go for it. I think learning to shift a manual would be a breeze once your comfortable with being in a truck. I know that my first week out with the trainer, it seemd more like I was guding a battle ship down the highway than a truck. I told the trainer after a few days that at least the truck seemed to be shrinking!
Good Luck!
Arky
