Manual or Automatic Transmissions, Which is best?

[AdamAnt]

I am seeing that some large company use only automatic transmissions in there trucks. For any of you that have driven both, which do you prefer?

 

[vaportrail]

I NEVER DROVE A MANUAL NEVER LEARNED I DRIVE A AUTO AND LOVE IT MANUAL SEEMS DANGEROUS TO MUCH DISTRACTION U GOT TO FOCUS ON WHATS GOING ON IN THE ROAD NOT SHIFTING THE GEARS

HOW ABOUT YOU TURN OFF THAT CAPSLOCK. ITS ABOVE THE SHIFT KEY ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE OF YOUR QWERTY KEYBOARD

 

[Blood]

...YOUR QWERTY KEYBOARD

How about you watch that dirty language!?

 

[Flemming Andersen]

I am seeing that some large company use only automatic transmissions in there trucks. For any of you that have driven both, which do you prefer?

Hi Adam, I've driven manual's for 18 years until I got the truck I drive now, wich I've driven for 4 years now.. and my conclusion is, never a manual shift again, if I can help it ! I drive mostly in the Arctic areas of Scandinavia, on narrow winding mountain roads, covered in snow and ice for something in between 6 to 8 months a year.. There's none of the little tricks you can do with a manual shift, that you can't do with the automatics !
The automatic shift has it's little flaws, but when you learn how the shift reacts in certain situations, you just override it manually, but still without having to "sit" on a clutch, it's solely a matter of better comfort

 

[vaportrail]

Hi Adam, I've driven manual's for 18 years until I got the truck I drive now, wich I've driven for 4 years now.. and my conclusion is, never a manual shift again, if I can help it ! I drive mostly in the Arctic areas of Scandinavia, on narrow winding mountain roads, covered in snow and ice for something in between 6 to 8 months a year.. There's none of the little tricks you can do with a manual shift, that you can't do with the automatics !
The automatic shift has it's little flaws, but when you learn how the shift reacts in certain situations, you just override it manually, but still without having to "sit" on a clutch, it's solely a matter of better comfort

yep the company I work for is about 50/50 the newer ones are darn near flawless. I was really impressed with them

 

[Duck]

Hi Adam, I've driven manual's for 18 years until I got the truck I drive now, wich I've driven for 4 years now.. and my conclusion is, never a manual shift again, if I can help it ! I drive mostly in the Arctic areas of Scandinavia, on narrow winding mountain roads, covered in snow and ice for something in between 6 to 8 months a year.. There's none of the little tricks you can do with a manual shift, that you can't do with the automatics !
The automatic shift has it's little flaws, but when you learn how the shift reacts in certain situations, you just override it manually, but still without having to "sit" on a clutch, it's solely a matter of better comfort

Were the manuals you drove fully synchronized? Meaning you don't gotta match RPMs, just step on the clutch & shift to the next gear and let go of the clutch? Like in a manual car or pickup?

I'd take an automatic over all that clutching too.

 

[Rigjockey]

We're the manuals you drove fully synchronized? Meaning you don't gotta match RPMs, just step on the clutch & shift to the next gear and let go of the clutch? Like in a manual car or pickup?

I'd take an automatic over all that clutching too.

Were!

 

[Duck]

Were!

 

[Injun]

 

[Flemming Andersen]

Were the manuals you drove fully synchronized? Meaning you don't gotta match RPMs, just step on the clutch & shift to the next gear and let go of the clutch? Like in a manual car or pickup?

I'd take an automatic over all that clutching too.

Yes, all my trucks has been with fully synchronized gearboxes, I've only driven a fuller gearbox once, in an old German built MAN truck, a trip from Denmark to southern Italy, it was ok until it "jumped" out of gear, halfway up the Brennerpass in Austria....

 

[Mammoth Transport]

I NEVER DROVE A MANUAL NEVER LEARNED I DRIVE A AUTO AND LOVE IT MANUAL SEEMS DANGEROUS TO MUCH DISTRACTION U GOT TO FOCUS ON WHATS GOING ON IN THE ROAD NOT SHIFTING THE GEARS

How do you go down a windy mountain road and maintain speed at the same time. It must be really hard for you to read and understand what you are reading at the same time. Can you steer straight while checking your mirrors? I can drink coffee while shifting and going around a corner up hill. I suppose an auto-shift would be easier for those people who prefer to use an app on their smart phone rather than clap with their hands as God intended. I've had the autoshift get stuck out of gear 3 times in my life. my arm has never missed.

 

[PapaDough]

.......I can drink coffee while shifting and going around a corner up hill......

And I can do all of that plus take a bite of my donut while executing a sell order on the stock exchange one minute before the markets close with my smart phone in one hand and my donut and coffee in the other....with an automatic transmission in my truck, anything's possible.

Yeah, right.

LOL

 

[krelithous]

I am seeing that some large company use only automatic transmissions in there trucks. For any of you that have driven both, which do you prefer?

i think the automatic is taking away the true driving experience. automatics allow anybody to drive a truck and could make the roads even more dangerous than they are now. i prefer the manual 10 speed.

and by allowing anyone to drive a truck would keep wages low as it would allow any company to throw an unskilled driver in the truck and tell them to enjoy there vacation

 

[PapaDough]

and by allowing anyone to drive a truck would keep wages low as it would allow any company to throw an unskilled driver in the truck and tell them to enjoy there vacation

Pretty soon, technology may eliminate the need for even an unskilled driver.......

 

[krelithous]

Pretty soon, technology may eliminate the need for even an unskilled driver.......

yup. but i am wondering how there gonna write the rules and regs as well as the insurance polices.. and there will be more job losses once this tech comes out and is PROVEN with these self driving trucks

 

[Hunter]

Regarding Allison's on the road... I had Allison transmissions in all the fire trucks I drove. 48-66-72k trucks and tankers. We had... poorly baffled tanks, 2000-3500 gallons of water plus totally unbaffled 100-200 gallon foam tanks. Surge was a constant reality and something you had to know about, although not at the scale of a 8-9 thousand gallon tanker trailer. One major thing that bears mentioning is that an emergency response doesn't have the economy considerations that operating OTR does... Lives need saving, get there safely but quickly. Damn the fuel, basically.

They ran very nicely, basically sat at torque peak or below it depending on throttle position. Steady acceleration actually seemed to help rather well with mitigation of surge from my own perspective of Engine/Tanker driving. Economy I can't speak to, as when I was driving it was heavy stop then full throttle start on the way there with huge acceleration changes and then arrive and be spinning at 1500-2000 rpm for anywhere from an hour to 12 hours straight depending on the scene. We never had any issues with the transmissions themselves. They just worked, and worked well. Throw in Engine and Transmission PTO's and we could power all of our equipment, from 25kw generators to rescue hydraulics to auxiliary pumps for pump-and-roll operations, if the pump itself wasn't powered by an Engine PTO, and due to the transmission being interfaced via torque converter vs clutch, you could vary RPM for PTO output power yet maintain no speed, or as slow or fast as you needed to accomplish a task. Utility in a Commercial application would be a hydraulic pump for operation of a RGN or winches and the like if you have a trailer like that, or self-loading trucks.

I have an Allison 1000 in my pickup. While it's a totally different monkey, I also love that transmission as well. It works totally as advertised with zero issues over it's current time in the family.

Having said that, and in that environment of both regular and emergency response driving? I LOVED having an Allison automatic with an integrated, good exhaust brake. Get going easily, get stopped easily, and I could more fully concentrate on road conditions and other emergency response considerations, rather than having to be concerned with what gear I was in/needed/etc. I still could (and did in some areas) manually shift or lock it into a gear/gear range, due to terrain conditions and considerations. We had a few old pieces of apparatus with sticks, and those were a handful to try to do an emergency response with, to the point that they were generally restricted to code yellow (drive and arrive, no lights/siren) responses unless specifically by apparatus number authorized/requested to respond code red (lights/siren).

I don't envy, but do respect whole-heartedly, Firefighters who had to drive sticks back in the day to get to a scene, especially in a city. I also would think that Barnum and Bailey would hire them in a heartbeat because they would HAVE to be able to juggle extremely well!

I would want some more empirical evidence regarding maintenance costs, reliability, and overall utility of automatic s in OTR Trucks before I would personally make an end determination. I am honestly thinking about one if/when I get my own truck, but at that point there will also be significantly more years OTR under my belt as well as under the belts of modern Truck automatics to both build the information to make a decision, as well as hopefully prove/improve the concerns that you experienced pro's have voiced regarding them.

my opinion is different,
the Allison autos in the newer western stars are complete junk, very slow to react on shifting.
I'm not a fan of the western stars w/ Allison autos (neither are many others, they hate them too) slow reaction for shifting, gutless turds, not easy to control shifting when needed & you need to reach for everything (switchs) nothing is close, engine brakes suck - yes they work but still kind of slow to react an weak at times like going down hills loaded.
but they have a good turning radius

the Volvos autos will out preform WS all day long.
the Volvos autos are quicker to react for shifting & easier to take control of manually, engine brakes are far better than WS

I'd have say about about 75% of the people I know would gladly take a Volvo auto anyday over a western star w/Allison auto.

 

[Hunter]

Pretty soon, technology may eliminate the need for even an unskilled driver.......

for some reason I don't see that happening within the next 20 yrs.
they'll still need a driver at the controls if needed, & I don't think many companies or the gov't would allow a commercial vehicle to be driving w/o human supervision or control of it, personal vehicles would be first for several years before the ok on commercial.

 

[Duck]

for some reason I don't see that happening within the next 20 yrs.
they'll still need a driver at the controls if needed, & I don't think many companies or the gov't would allow a commercial vehicle to be driving w/o human supervision or control of it, personal vehicles would be first for several years before the ok on commercial.

Airline pilots do most of their landings by hand even though the planes can land themselves. It keeps their skills sharp.

I don't see truck drivers driving manually enough to stay sharp should they suddenly have to go from playing video games to driving on ice.

Most won't be paying attention enough to catch an electronic lane centering or stopped traffic ahead sensor failure in time to take over & prevent an accident.

Especially if the "some numbnuts flies in from the left and cuts you off & slams on the brakes because his exit is coming up in 50 feet" sensor fails.

There will be high profile fatality accidents even with drivers in them. The driver's would have to be paying attention just as constantly as we do now, so what's the point in having it capable of driving itself?

 

[PapaDough]

my opinion is different,
.......the Volvos autos will out preform WS all day long.
the Volvos autos are quicker to react for shifting & easier to take control of manually, engine brakes are far better than WS

I'd have say about about 75% of the people I know would gladly take a Volvo auto anyday over a western star w/Allison auto.

Of all the trucks I've driven, the Volvos drive the best and are designed with the driver's instincts in place. And their transmissions are second to none. They shift smoothly and backing up in reverse is much easier than any other truck. Beyond that, the ride stability gives you the confidence you feel behind the wheel of your own car.

If you've never driven a Volvo semi-truck, you don't know what you're missing. Then again, ignorance is bliss for some.

 

[Injun]

I have driven Volvo class 8s. It was quieter, but it was cramped and the dash seemed to be riding on a different road than the rest of the truck.

I'll keep my S***Spreader. At least it's predictable when I'm bumping down the road.

 

[InTooDeep]

OK what is a shit spreader. I always thought that was a trailer with the belt that spreaded the shit out the back
By the way I've been at your terminal twice in the last week, a nice place sort of [emoji12]