I unloaded this am in Winchester, VA and was dispatched to our terminal (this is a normal thing on a Friday) and expected to be home by 1pm. When I dropped my trailer and parked the bobtail. Grabbed my paperwork to hand in. When I stepped into dispatch, I was told to choose a new truck (2 to choose from).

It took me all of 10 seconds to make my choice. I now drive a former USXpress Volvo 780 condo. Goodbye Volvo 660 mid-roof with the Super-10 and hellooooooo automatic :wink:

I had to make 2hr run in the new truck. I honestly forgot how great it is having an auto.

Now the fun part - getting all of my crap setup in the new truck :roll:

thought you guyz preferred manuals?

I much rather prefer auto's over a stick. However, I prefer an auto-shift (has the clutch pedal) over the full automatics.

It does come down to a personal preference between auto's & standards, though. I can drive a stick, just prefer not to.

I-C

Congratulations on your new truck!!!
:rock:

I used to drive for USX, so, ya, I pulled loads over hills in autos. The only thing you have to do different is when you top the hill (starting the descent) is put the transmission into manual mode to keep it in the proper gear. Climbing the hills is the same as a standard, except you don't even have to disengage the cruise control. As the truck slows, it'll down-shift and resume the cruise, all automatically. If you need to slow down quickly you can use the 'Low' mode. This changes the shift points to a higher range, and it will drop your speed very quick.

When I went into the shop to get the keys for it, they have another 780 in there with the transmission pulled on it. I started talking to the mechanic about it, asking what differences there are between a standard and an auto. The ONLY differences are about 4 pieces of equipment.

There is a plate that goes on the top of the tranny for the gear selecter. This plate is where the gearshift of a standard drops in. The auto's plate has 2 small electric motors. There is also a small air selector for the high-low range. Then there's the computer (size of a sheet of paper, about 1 1/2" thick). That's it. No other differences.

It's really funny now, thinking of all the talk I've heard from people, saying how much heavier the automatics are over a standard.

The transmission itself is a Eaton straight 10 transmission. He said he could pull any straight 10, put the auto's parts on it and voila, you have an auto.

Also, and yes, this is also from experience, the auto's generally get better fuel mileage. The truck I got out of was sitting on an average mpg of 5.7 (after 2 months) of driving. We haul fairly heavy loads of 40-45k. The truck I just got has an average of 6.7 over a 1 year period (shop gave me the info from the fuel report). So, for me, that means less time spent getting fuel. For the company, well, you know.

My dream truck is a Volvo 880 with the 625hp engine and an 18spd auto.

yesterday I drove one of the new mack granite dumptrucks with the automatic because the regular driver called in sick, what a sweet truck!! the job site has a hill where you have to stop and then take off again, its a real challenge with a stick, but with the auto, I just pushed the gas and away I went, only problem the boss has with them is they are getting 3 miles to the gallon, but I think thats due to the way the drivers floor it every time they take off.

Ok, I know some people are gonna gripe about this, but...

My freakin A/C doesn't work!!!!

Ya, I know, it's still mid-March, but...

Last week I ran the northern part of the country (WV, MD, PA, ME, NY) where the temps ranged from -10f to 40f. This week, I head to Tampa, FL and find out the hard way that the A/C needs recharged in the truck.

Ya, it was only in the mid-80's, but when you have to sit in a truckstop parking lot for almost 24hrs to build some time on your logbook, sitting among other trucks that won't shut down and the sun out in all it's glory, it's just plain out miserable.

I called our shop - they won't authorize to have it recharged while on the road... At least I'm in PA now and heading for CT, then back home.