US trucks

[Borys]

Ahoj!
Are US trucks mostly fitted with manual or automatic gearboxes?
Borys

[Sachmle]

Used to be mostly manual, but now it's more automatic. At least if you're referring to pickup trucks and not semi trucks.

[Walter]

Considering the current nature of the Americans, I'd say 'automatic'. Manual is just too difficult for them to understand and you need to move too much to shift gears *runs away* :D

[Sachmle]

Considering the current nature of the Americans, I'd say 'automatic'. Manual is just too difficult for them to understand and you need to move too much to shift gears *runs away* :D

Why run away? You're probably right.

[Borys]

Ahoj!
I was thinking of the larger stuff.
Like:
http://moto.allegro.pl/item954872857_scania_114l_340_km_hds_leasing_automat_okazja.html
or
http://moto.allegro.pl/item941923167_daf_xf_105_510_km_euro_5_rok_2008_rewelacyjny_stan.html

Borys

[Valles]

I don't know firsthand, but my instinct is that CDL, Commercial Driver's License, machines are all manual. The... tempo of acceleration that you hear/see from them has pauses in it, the same as I get when I shift, where an automatic would be smoother.

[Tanthalas]

I grew up around Loging, and OTR trucks.  I would say the Vast Majority are Manual, things like this
http://www.roadranger.com/Roadranger/productssolutions/transmissions/low-inertiasuper18/index.htm
But that could just be my experiance growing up in the Intermountian west.

Also the Transmisions in Pickups depends largley on their intended use, for example most of the pickups I drove growing up were and still are Manuals (my first car was a 62 Chevy pickup which I rebuilt from the ground up)

[Carthaginian]

About 90% of trucks- I mean, trucks over 2 1/2 tons- are fitted with manual gearboxes, Borys. Some of the smaller ones do take advantage of the more robust automatic transmissions, though... hell, even the US military's new 2 1/2 ton truck has an automatic gearbox!

[Guinness]

And interstingly the Allison slushboxes gou see a lit in that application has a long history of development... In large RVs!

[Borys]

Ahoj!
Thank you for all the answers. So, the way I understand things, even though the passenger car world in the US is almost entirely automatic, the "working car" is manual?
And do these trucks also come with the kinky 12-16 gear boxes like the ones in Europe?
Borys

[Sachmle]

While I drove this it had a manual 10 speed transmission. They are starting to go to automatic however because it improves fuel economy. Only a true manual master can get the perfect shift points to out perform an automatic in that regard, usually they are either over or under revved prior to shifting, or there is to much drop off on the shift which lowers fuel economy.

[Tanthalas]

While I drove this it had a manual 10 speed transmission. They are starting to go to automatic however because it improves fuel economy. Only a true manual master can get the perfect shift points to out perform an automatic in that regard, usually they are either over or under revved prior to shifting, or there is to much drop off on the shift which lowers fuel economy.

*cough BULLSHIT cough* sorry but I have to disagree, anyone semi compatent can get better mileage with a manual vs an automatic.  Manuals are Tougher and Simpler (fewer parts).  the reasoning behind the shift to thw slushbox in the new 2.5 tons is the same as the reason for the shift to the 9mm...   Just like the 9mm was a Concesion to smaller people, the automatic is a concesion to  people that for the most pert never learnd to drive pre enlistment (seriously I was shocked in bootcamp when I learnd that alot of the guys had never driven)

[maddox]

The modern automatics can outperform any normal driver, als long the automatic driver isn't going for quartermiles.

I myself feel that the difference in fuel consumption between automatics and manuals is more pure numbercrunching and tests on testtracks. During daily life I doubt the difference in consumption is big enough to be messured.

The main reason most Europeans drive manual is the pricetag on the automatic.

[Valles]

Personally, I find the appeal to be the greater control the manual offers over the car's behavior. No constant worrying about when the idiot robot will decide to downshift two gears at highway speeds or some such that I've seen in automatics.

...the fact that I end up stomping on the brake trying to hit the clutch would, after all, be a transitory muscle-memory issue.

[Kaiser Kirk]

I vastly prefer manual except in cities.

Unfortunately our work pickups are automatics, my personal pickup is an auto..only manual I get to drive is my little MR2, which is fun on the local twisty highways. I much prefer picking my shift points.

I will say though that driving around Ireland and shifting with my left hand was a bit odd. Still I got the knack pretty fast.

Log trucks in my area are of course manual.