Future of truckin’

I’ve been a commercial driver now for about 10 years. Drove many of different variety of tractors, auto/manual, small and big. But today was a different story. 

Boss threw keys to me to brand stinkin new Freightliner. Says something ain’t right with that thing. Take it out and let me know what you think. Oh and by the way it’s an auto/manual thingy. Wait what?? 

So I hop into said truck, and  no shifter or clutch. Whatever boss stupid it’s an auto. But I couldn’t find gear selector either...wtf

After few moments I finally see this

Lil ol floppy paddle thingy. It’s cute

All you have to do to put it in gear select auto/manual mode. And slide the tiny red button to whatever mode of destruction you chose.

Well here’s the kicker. There is a clutch, but not a floor mounted traditional pedal. You can put it into drive. But it drives like a standard. There is literally 1-2 second delay in shiftin as if you were manually shiftin. Unless your a badass who doesn’t need clutch to shift 

Now I don’t know if this is old tech new to me. Nor have I done any research. All I can Imagine is there’s bunch of hamsters down there and screaming heave and ho doing the clutch work. 

Sorry this stupid. But one of craziest feelings driving something. 

No. That doesn't seem right. And, Are you going to guarantee me that that thing stays in gear going down the Cumberland up to gross?

Probably similar to the SMG thansmission in my e46 M3. Its a manual with an auto clutch, you can shift yourself and there is a delay between gears. Or leave it on full auto. 

I like the hamster explanation .

What tripped me out was putting it in full auto and still having massive delay shifting. My normal truck is auto 6spd and drives like any morning auto 

Automated manual. 

Funniest part is didn’t matter what mode you had it in it drove the same. Scariest part is at one point I was on an incline and my rig rolled back until the  hamsters got there E36 M3 together.

forgot about this part, 

My dumb ass though this was a police radar since it started beeping when I rolled up on the popo. 

That was until when of those inconsiderate berkeley you  and your big truck you’re yielding to me guys cut me off and it sounded like there was incoming missle from a mig strait from mother Russia alarm.........

So apparently there’s a sensor on the front that constantly likes to beep when there’s a vehicle within 300ft...

does it have a torque converter ?

In reply to californiamilleghia :

They’re manuals with an automated clutch and shifter. The robot hamster description isn’t far off.  From what I understand the older ones were a bit fussy but my cousin has a 13 speed in his freightliner and loves it.  Saves his knee in heavy traffic and generally gets a couple tenths better fuel mileage. 

In reply to Subscriber-unavailabile :

His cruise control works with the collision radar too so if traffic slows or picks up so does he. 

In reply to Wally :

I didn’t get to test that. Traffic where I drive is wayy to crazy . And to be honest I don’t care much for technology. Especially when driving. Thankfully I won’t drive this truck again for long time

In reply to Subscriber-unavailabile :

He didn’t think he wanted it either but a friend talking into ordering some neat gadgets and he has really liked it.

In reply to Wally :

I’m sure it’s great. But I want to be engaged. Last thing I want when driving is a sensor telling me there’s a car in front of me and a truck that’ll clutch for me. 

At 3 am when you are struggling to stay awake and have another hour to go, do you really want to have absolutely nothing to do but hang onto the steering wheel?

Subscriber-unavailabile said:

What tripped me out was putting it in full auto and still having massive delay shifting. My normal truck is auto 6spd and drives like any morning auto 

Yep, same as my car. 

Also on the rollback on an incline part, if I hold one of the shifter paddles (-) on my car, it will brake hold it in place. I am sure the truck has something like that to help you pull out cleanly when loaded. 

They've been putting those nannies on rental fleets lately. Every july 4th when I drive fireworks shows to location, last couple years there's been the ZOMG SOMEONE CHANGED LANES IN FRONT OF YOU BEEEEEEEP!!!! BEEP FOR YOUR VERY LIFE things on the dash. 50 cents in a bet says it's wifi'd to home base. 

Subscriber-unavailabile said:

What tripped me out was putting it in full auto and still having massive delay shifting. My normal truck is auto 6spd and drives like any morning auto 

That sounds like the automated manual trans in the Smart, except the Smart has a very small delay during shifts, because the transmission is synchronized and could probably fit in a lunchbox.  The smoothest way to drive a Smart is to drive like you have a manual trans but with your left leg and right hand tied behind your back.

I'm not a member of the Smart community or anything, I just drove one and said "Huh, that's different", and looked into it online.  Turns out that it's very polarizing: some people definitely have an opinion and the rest don't care.

In reply to bearmtnmartin :

He’s more interested in the fuel he’s saving than a myth that having to work an extra pedal will keep him awake.  The first truck he owned on a good day got around 6 mpg, with the new trucks tech, aero, and some changes to his driving style he’s consistently hitting 8 mpg. That leaves a fair amount of money in his pocket. 

In reply to Wally :

6 to 8mpg is HUGE.  I've heard that the MANN trucks in Europe can see 13mpg, although to be fair I don't know if that is US gallons or the much larger Imperial gallons.

I don't see having to work a clutch keeping you awake.  The kind of road you fall asleep on, you have in high gear and leave it there until the fuel runs out.

Recently had a terrible accident locally where a semi came upon slowed/stopped traffic in an interstate construction zone and failed to slow down. He ran through half a dozen vehicles before coming to a stop. A young mother and her 18 month old twin girls were killed. Data from onboard the truck supposedly indicated that the truck driver didn't hit his brakes until after the impact. He said it was because he was reaching for something in the cab and didn't see the traffic. Have to wonder if things might've been different if the truck had been equipped with that type of proximity sensor and alerted the driver a couple of seconds earlier.

In reply to Knurled. :

There have been some really big advances made recently.  He’s already looking at ways to make the next one better.  He thinks with the better aero of American trucks, replacing the second drive axle with a lighter steerable lift like euro trucks, and better fairings that there are improvements to be had.  It’s funny watching a die hard big chrome fan convert to  chasing mileage.

I suspect the future of trucking involves self driving, electric rigs trundling along at 45 mph in perfect nose-to-tail convoys for their proscribed routes.  Only getting off the road to drop loads and recharge.   

bearmtnmartin said:

At 3 am when you are struggling to stay awake and have another hour to go, do you really want to have absolutely nothing to do but hang onto the steering wheel?

I don’t know, when I’m super drowsy and shouldn’t be driving it doesn’t make a difference if I’m in an auto or manual. Shifting has been an “automatic” function of my brain for 25 years, it doesn’t even really register, so it’s not going to make me more alert. 

Subscriber-unavailabile said:

In reply to Wally :

I didn’t get to test that. Traffic where I drive is wayy to crazy . And to be honest I don’t care much for technology. Especially when driving. Thankfully I won’t drive this truck again for long time

If everyone was perfect, I would agree with you. But as it is, I trust technology way more than most (100% including myself) people out on the road. Everyone does stupid and distracted stuff out there. Especially when some idiot cuts off a truck....  people don’t understand it takes so much more distance to stop a heavy truck!  Truckers aren’t immune either though. We all do dumb stuff. I like tech controlling more stuff, even though I know it’s not the popular opinion around here in the diy community. 

In reply to STM317 :

Maybe. But an alert driver wouldn’t allow himself to be in situation like that. Sadly these things happen though. When I was younger and full stupid working in the oilfield we drove many times when we shouldn’t. And there was accidents. Thankfully not fatal.

But I’m smarter now. If I catch myself too tired and lucid while driving I pull over. Amazing what 20-30 min power nap can do! Alas if there is something out of my reach I pull over. I can lose 5 mins out of my day versus causing destruction.