Automatic/manuals. Us Xpress

I'm considering joining us xpress in a couple months with a friend doing team driving. We are worried about getting put into a automatic. We don't plan on making a career out of us xpress but just a learning experience to get started off. We don't want to get screwed by only driving a automatic transmission when we know that when we get another job a year down the road and all they offer is manual trans that they would turn us down due to lack of experience with a manual transmission. We are going to a good school that trains us with different types of transmissions but don't want to get screwed in the long run. Should we avoid us xpress?

Since you are new to driving, I would avoid getting stuck in an auto truck. The reason being, is the more experience you get with a standard, the better you will be when you change companies...and they WILL road test you. So go with a company that has standard...

Yeah, I'm going to slightly disagree with Starcar here. She's obviously correct that the more experience you get with a standard the better you'll get. But if starting with a company that has automatics meant you wouldn't get a job driving standard transmissions in the future it would mean that every driver out of school that starts with US Xpress either retires from there or from the industry altogether. Of course that isn't the case.

As long as you learn to shift at school you'll be fine going to a company with automatics. You'll remember how to shift when you need to again. If you went to school and learned on an automatic and never learned to shift, that would be different. But once you learn to shift you'll get the hang of it quickly enough when you need to.

Ok sounds good thanks for the replies.

My apologies for commenting on an old thread..

I drove one of US Xpress' new 2015 Freightliners with the "Automatic" transmission. I have to admit, it was very nice especially when I was in the Los Angeles area traffic. There was no shortage of power and shifted very nice. This could also be placed in "manual" as well when driving steep grades or mountains.

I agree with Brett. You'll be fine getting in one after driving school as long as you know how to shift and/or have the concept down.

My apologies for commenting on an old thread..

I drove one of US Xpress' new 2015 Freightliners with the "Automatic" transmission. I have to admit, it was very nice especially when I was in the Los Angeles area traffic. There was no shortage of power and shifted very nice. This could also be placed in "manual" as well when driving steep grades or mountains.

I agree with Brett. You'll be fine getting in one after driving school as long as you know how to shift and/or have the concept down.

Just spent 200 hours on a 2015 Peterbuilt with auto at usxpress and as a new driver it actually made driving easier initially becuase I could forget about shifting mostly and concentrate on driving. The newer technology is pretty good, and usxpress as a company is moving toward all autos from what others are saying. I did have to road test on a 10 speed after those 200 hours of auto work and it was felt like school again. But the truth is having honed my ability to drive the rig over 18,000 miles put me in such a comfortable position overall, that for the first time I was free to focus a great deal on shifting the manual. I feel that in about 10 to 20 hours, I would be very comfortable with a manual going forward.

My guess is you will see the manual go the way of the automatic as it did in automobiles but how would I really know.

David

I am starting with US Xpress next week, and I for one, am looking forward to not only the added floor space, but also the ease of shifting of an auto shift transmission. If you learn how to control the transmission and not let it control you, you will have a very smooth ride. I have watched my ex codriver drive one of these trucks and she had no clue and only drove it in auto mode. That's ok for grandmas and little girls, but as a trucker, you must know how to control your truck or you WILL get in trouble out there. Remember, there's no difference whether you shift with a switch or a stick, you're still in control.