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SwampRatt said:
Manual Transmissions Rapidly Becoming a Thing of the Past

https://www.ttnews.com/articles/manual-transmissions-rapidly-becoming-thing-past

“In the next three to five years, pretty much everything is going to be automatic,” said Gary Pressley, president of Heavy Metal Truck Training in Eagan.

Sadly true, as we've predicted for quite some time...

"Over-the-road carriers face a long-running nationwide shortage of truck drivers, and the shift to automated transmissions is accelerating thanks to the ease of training new drivers to use them.

Most new drivers didn’t grow up driving a stick shift.

“Being able to get a driver and get them into a truck and trained and up and running as fast as possible becomes very valuable to a lot of companies,” said Wesley Slavin, on-highway marketing manager for Peterbilt, which now produces nearly 90% of its trucks with an automated transmission."
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A lot of the people coming through driving schools can’t coordinate themselves to drive a manual transmission in a class 8 truck. I believe a lot of companies put automatics in because of people tearing up the clutch in a tractor with like a 10 speed.
 
BIG R GUY said:
A lot of the people coming through driving schools can’t coordinate themselves to drive a manual transmission in a class 8 truck. I believe a lot of companies put automatics in because of people tearing up the clutch in a tractor with like a 10 speed.
Click to expand...
We were told at equipment review it was all about fuel mileage. Auto's get .7 mpg better. About $50 million per year in savings.
 
BIG R GUY said:
I don’t doubt the fuel savings, but also have been told by maintenance people they are more expensive to repair than a manual also...
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The auto-shifts aren’t automatics per say because there’s no torque converter, they’re essentially the exact same transmissions as a straight drive, they just use a big actuator that engages the clutch (the same way we would have depressed the clutch pedal) and smaller actuators change the gears (just as we would have with the shifter) and everything is controlled by an ECM using sensors and sending units. Repair cost have actually come down because the sensors, the sending units and the actuators aren’t that costly and with the ECM’s controlling everything, abuse has been decreased while longevity has increased.

Mfg’s and companies first tried to combat fuel savings by limiting the RPM’s per gear while using a standard transmission but we as drivers just couldn’t conform to those limits so we found ways to override those limitations. Now the Mfg’s and companies have taking control out of our hands and given it to the ECM’s with the auto-shifts...and auto-shifts allows for any idiot to get behind the wheel!!
 
Big Dave said:
Pffft. These auto shifts are making ME look like an idiot!! (Waving) Hi. Just a minute while my trans shifts into reverse and I’ll be outta your way. Haha....sorry...........
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What transmission does Coop Dispatch run in their autonomous coops?
 
Redracer3136 said:
The auto-shifts aren’t automatics per say because there’s no torque converter, they’re essentially the exact same transmissions as a straight drive, they just use a big actuator that engages the clutch (the same way we would have depressed the clutch pedal) and smaller actuators change the gears (just as we would have with the shifter) and everything is controlled by an ECM using sensors and sending units. Repair cost have actually come down because the sensors, the sending units and the actuators aren’t that costly and with the ECM’s controlling everything, abuse has been decreased while longevity has increased.

Mfg’s and companies first tried to combat fuel savings by limiting the RPM’s per gear while using a standard transmission but we as drivers just couldn’t conform to those limits so we found ways to override those limitations. Now the Mfg’s and companies have taking control out of our hands and given it to the ECM’s with the auto-shifts...and auto-shifts allows for any idiot to get behind the wheel!!
Click to expand...
True story.:1036316054:

Relatively inexpensive to convert back to manual, but of course it will never happen.
 
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silent trucker said:
We were told at equipment review it was all about fuel mileage. Auto's get .7 mpg better. About $50 million per year in savings.
Click to expand...
Yep. A little known fact, FedEx buys more fuel than ANY other company. So, any consistent savings translates into a very big number.

Another little known fact, cruise control usage has been determined to cut fuel consumption by around .5 MPG. AND we're told you get a little more speed (1 MPH) than with the foot flat on the floor. Obviously we're talking newer trucks here.
 
SwampRatt said:
Yep. A little known fact, FedEx buys more fuel than ANY other company. So, any consistent savings translates into a very big number.

Another little known fact, cruise control usage has been determined to cut fuel consumption by around .5 MPG. AND we're told you get a little more speed (1 MPH) than with the foot flat on the floor. Obviously we're talking newer trucks here.
Click to expand...

Is it confirmed that cruise gives an extra mph? I've felt that in my newer Volvo, if I set the cruise and lock it in manual it seems to go go faster... Maybe my theory is actually true? Nice.
 
SwampRatt said:
Yep. A little known fact, FedEx buys more fuel than ANY other company. So, any consistent savings translates into a very big number.

Another little known fact, cruise control usage has been determined to cut fuel consumption by around .5 MPG. AND we're told you get a little more speed (1 MPH) than with the foot flat on the floor. Obviously we're talking newer trucks here.
Click to expand...
Yeah but the company waste more money than they save on fuel consumption....sad but true.

According to my GPS, my truck is 1 mph slower with the cruise on than it is flat footed...guess it depends on the truck.

I heard XPO has turned their trucks up to 70 with the cruise on but if they run the wipers for more than 10 secs they slow down to 62...haven't confirmed but I’ve had quite a few blow my decals off when they flew by!!


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Redracer3136 said:
Yeah but the company waste more money than they save on fuel consumption....sad but true.

According to my GPS, my truck is 1 mph slower with the cruise on than it is flat footed...guess it depends on the truck.

I heard XPO has turned their trucks up to 70 with the cruise on but if they run the wipers for more than 10 secs they slow down to 62...haven't confirmed but I’ve had quite a few blow my decals off when they flew by!!
Click to expand...

I saw the memo... That's definitely the case...
 
BIG R GUY said:
A lot of the people coming through driving schools can’t coordinate themselves to drive a manual transmission in a class 8 truck. I believe a lot of companies put automatics in because of people tearing up the clutch in a tractor with like a 10 speed.
Click to expand...
We had a several guys apply here and it said on their CDL auto only, weren't to happy when they didn't get hired since you would need at least 15 years to get an auto at my company.I don't want one, being #4 on the board guys ask why I don't take one of the "19 VAH's coming in now ? I said I keep my "15 Frtliner because it has D-13 425 hp power vs D-11 385 hp may not run faster but pulls better all around AND PLUS I GET TO SHIFT GEARS
 
00mustang said:
We had a several guys apply here and it said on their CDL auto only, weren't to happy when they didn't get hired since you would need at least 15 years to get an auto at my company.I don't want one, being #4 on the board guys ask why I don't take one of the "19 VAH's coming in now ? I said I keep my "15 Frtliner because it has D-13 425 hp power vs D-11 385 hp may not run faster but pulls better all around AND PLUS I GET TO SHIFT GEARS
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I don't know about clutches, but the rookies are horrible on clutch brakes!
 
truckingBORED said:
I don't know about clutches, but the rookies are horrible on clutch brakes!
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The state of Illinois went to them in their Dump trucks years ago. Friend of mine,who works there said if they would hire people who knew how to move a truck,hauling 10 ton of gravel,or salt,instead of hiring people who knew someone,but knew nothing about driving a manuel tranny, they wouldn’t have had to replace so many clutches.
 
00mustang said:
We had a several guys apply here and it said on their CDL auto only, weren't to happy when they didn't get hired since you would need at least 15 years to get an auto at my company.I don't want one, being #4 on the board guys ask why I don't take one of the "19 VAH's coming in now ? I said I keep my "15 Frtliner because it has D-13 425 hp power vs D-11 385 hp may not run faster but pulls better all around AND PLUS I GET TO SHIFT GEARS
Click to expand...
Is that a restriction put on a cdl where you are? Never heard of that one...
 
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