[quote=Electrician4you;50198432]
Quote:
Originally Posted by CSD610
Yeah ok in a perfect world. But here on Earth the point is to move as much cargo from A to B to C possibly to D. So if it means getting 10 drivers and having them learn how to shift, split gears double clutch and maneuver a 50 foot long vehicle it’s far cheaper overall to drive and teach automatics. The learning curve is a lot less pronounced.
The possible cuts in repairs alone make autos worth it. Stripped gears burned clutches. Shifting a vehicle isn’t hard. Shifting a vehicle that has 60,000 pounds of cargo without jerking it around and damaging it and going through say LA rush hour traffic is a different story.
Hey my uncle is a trucker. He drives manuals. Before he retired his truck was a 13 gear Pete. He scoffs at automatics. Dude was so hard core his regular truck was bought with a ZF6. He has driven pretty much anything from the 30s up to the 00s when he retired. He said he never cared for automatics but he said a lot of trucks are now automatics.
|
Some drivers feel that automatic transmissions allow inadequate drivers to get their commercial drivers licenses and pass company driving tests when they are not good enough drivers to navigate the freeways safely.Semi trucks with automatic transmissions generally have more electrical problems than those with manual transmissions. They are also known to wear out trucks at a much faster rate than good drivers who drive manual transmissions. Another issue is that fewer semi truck mechanics are familiar with automatic transmissions than manuals, so it may take longer to have the transmission repaired.
Safety
One of the issues that drivers have noted when driving trucks with automatic transmissions is that they don’t handle well in winter weather conditions, particularly ice. The trucks can be changed to manual mode for winter driving, but the driver must know how to shift the truck properly to drive the truck in manual mode.
Some automatic transmissions have had issues shifting when they are not supposed to.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
