Comments By Iron Emu

Semper fi brother. 0311. 1/2 Charlie Co. You are correct, it doesn't make you less of a driver, and I didn't intend for it to mean that way. Everyone has their preferences, and judging from experience you would know better than me as far as longevity of advantages vs disadvantage. Most of the industry is switching over, and while at this moment I can't see those advantages of it, they have to be there. Well written.

I've been trucking for 11 years and have driven both. I was one of those truckers that used to think that if you didn't drive a manual you werent a real trucker. I was wrong! Our company went to an all auto fleet over the last 4 years and when I started with them we were about 1/2 and 1/2. One thing is driving in a city is SOOO much easier. Less fatique, less grinding, and getting all worked up dealing with drivers cutting in front of you as you inch up in tight traffic. With auto's you don't deal with that. After being on an Auto for these past years I can say I prefer the Auto. I mean at the end of each day I am not as tired and my leg doesn't hurt at all. That being said, an auto is a pain to back up, until you get used to how your specific truck operates. It took me about 3 months to get used to the lag time that was needed for the gearbox to auto adjust into reverse. Once you get used to it, it is not an issue unless your in a hurry and you try to rush the electronic shifter into gear. Now, on the open road it doesnt really matter.

Some people will tell you that Auto's suck on hills or downgrades. They don't!! You have to get used to your truck and KNOW your truck. Auto's do perform differently then manuals going on a downgrade because the auto's adjust themselves differently. The trick I use is a the "jake", use it when your RPM's get to that sweet spot before the auto gear box ups you to another gear. It works for me all the time and I deal with hills all the time in the Blueridge mountains since I haul mainly building materials.

Driving an Auto doesnt make you less of a man or a driver. Many of the big box companies are going all auto's and several are already there. A few companies like TMC and McElroy who swore up and down that they would NEVER go to auto's are getting them now. The main reason from what I have seen is they last longer and fuel economy goes way up. I mean I average 8.6 MPG last quarter, and I have had months where my Average was as high as 9.1. (Granted that depends on environment and weather, which do play a huge part in fuel economy). One of the biggest expenses that companies pay out is fuel.

Brett, you are 100% correct, I should have forewarned that. Don't take unnecessary risks, don't get other people hurt. Definitely. From my brief existence I've realized often when someone takes a risk like that, they aren't the ones that usually pay for it. Can't tell the number of times I've seen a drunk driver that walked away from a crash fine but killed innocent people. The company I work for was very clear that if I tried flatbed but with my trainer I didn't feel safe with what I was doing, as far as securement goes, I could switch over to van division. Another note is if you are securing a load but you can't figure out if you did it right, call someone from your securement team, take a picture, send it to them. If you can't get ahold of them for whatever reason, which hasn't happened to me yet but just in case, most of the time their are other guys securing loads around you. They will help. Securing a tarp in a snowstorm, I've had help from drivers from other companies as long as I helped them back. I know not everyone is like this, but their is a certain comraderi of the road that reminds me alot of my time in the service. Their are bad apples, but most of just want to do the job, do it safely, and efficiently. Sometimes that means helping the green people, signalling to them it's okay to change lanes, or that their is another vehicle on the shoulder by hitting the marker interrupt a couple times before you change lanes.

Terri D, my general philosophy in life is to take the straightest path to what you want. I know it isn't always the fastest, but often times the challenges make you stronger. I was nervous about driving a semi period, even more so about flatbed with how much more responsibility goes in with load securement, but it is the path I decided would be the most rewarding simply from proving to myself I could achieve it, I've got a long way to go before I will consider myself very good at what I do, but I know I can do the job. I used the philosophy on most things in my life, admittedly with mixed results in some instances, as this is not true for relationships. Lol. Either way. Just my opinion.

Sorry it has taken so long to respond, running alot. The international automated is difficult in reverse, drove one a couple times, it does have the rev and then launch backwards. I know that I will adapt to it, it's just irritating. CWC is correct that you will almost always favor what you learned on.

I had tried selecting a gear I wanted, but after a few seconds it just did whatever it wanted. On a downhill that meant almost always going into "ecocruise" which is a complete idiom. It is common knowledge in the auto/diesel world where I started, that modern petrol and diesel vehicles use less fuel if you leave them in gear while going downhill, in fact some use none, as opposed to going to neutral where the engine has to keep itself going instead of letting kinetic energy from the wheels do the work.

This may have been beat to death in other posts but I did not see any, just wanted to give my honest opinion after having driven one for awhile. Driving a 2016 Freightliner Cascadia with the highly touted, and supposedly best, first transmission to be build from the ground up to be automated. In Summary, I do not like it. I would borderline to say they are dangerous.

Pros: A perfect shift every time, easier on the leg (I never considered this an issue but I've talked to some older guys that mentioned this), the Jake is my new best friend. That's about all I got to be honest.

Cons: It is buggy at low speeds (jumps around in the gearing ALOT), can't lock it in a gear for climbing or downhill (This may not be true and if I am wrong, please correct me and tell me how. Please.), the massive lag between hitting the throttle and the transmission trying to remember that it is a transmission (This is the most dangerous thing to me as the delay varies alot and if you are trying to get moving, for some reason that's a necessity, I've just sat there for as long 3 or 4 seconds while it tries to decide what it wants to do.), the fuel economy I'm experiencing is less than .2 difference in favor of the auto while having way more headaches.

I'm not enjoying this change, and it is almost enough to make me consider jumping companies if I could find one who would guarantee me a good old cog box. I probably wouldn't cause I have a degree of loyalty to a company that has treated me well in every other department, but still.

I've seen a couple female flatbedders out there, not a ton, but enough to make me believe not only is it possible for you to do it, but you should if you have the itch. TMC is a good company, probably the nicest company trucks on the road honestly. I've got a friend of mine that went with them and the only issues he has are they won't allow a pet, and they are extremely thorough in the cleanliness of their trucks. I'm talking you have to get it washed every single week. The founder is prior service Marine Corps First Sergeant if I remember right and my friend and I are prior service Marine Corps as well. It wouldn't bother me about the cleanliness thing but it has the potential to cut into your overall profit without good planning. That being said, something I've learned in my short 27 years on this planet, if you have an itch to try something and you doubt yourself, you will always be left wondering what if? I think you should go for it. Side note: My company, in the last two weeks, I've only had one pretarped load. None of them were very tall, but the tarps are quite heavy, and is probably the most physically exhausting part of the entire process. Not trying to deter you, just my experience. Go for it!

If you have no OTR experience, don't take this job. Hone your backing skills OTR then try yard jockey. Sometime more money is not better.

I have to agree with this. Very new myself, running flatbed right now, and backing is still a challenge. Not only that, but to me, OTR is the best place to learn to get in and out of a multitude of different obstacles. It builds confidence in yourself and your ability, just don't get ****y, that's when the truck will bite back.