Automatics In Winter Question?

If Schneider puts you in an auto, they'll put you through a 4hr training. I recently went through it and was told to simply take your foot off the accelerator.

Old School is correct (surprise) that this is an "automated manual transmission" and Schneider refers to it that way.

Still getting used to it.

Good luck.

Old School is correct (surprise)

I'm just as surprised as you are that he's actually right for once. Hard to differentiate the old man's rants from his occasional truth.

You can also use the manual mode in an auto and keep it in whatever gear you want much like a manual...

Phil

Old School is correct (surprise)

I'm just as surprised as you are that he's actually right for once. Hard to differentiate the old man's rants from his occasional truth.

Okay my apologies. I was being sarcastic as Old School usually is correct. Hard for me to know how to post humor. I'm somewhat old school myself.

I did that 4 hourtraining...was about 2 with my OSR. I don't think what I am saying is being understood, but that's ok. You guys are absolutely right in what you are saying, but if your skidding you don't want power to your wheels at all. At least until they match each others speed. If you manually down shift that's fine, but your still allowing power to the drive tires ehich is not good when your sliding around on ice. Maybe the computer automatically senses it and cuts it. I don't know, but it would be scary to trust.

Oh and thanks my friends for the answers. I do appreciate it!

"Second chance" if you get any info on this scenario please let me know because i also switched to auto from a 10 speed freightliner and i am now in a t680 kw 2015 the shifting is still allittle weird because i still find my self reaching for the shifter lol

Unless you have the differential lock engaged, the drive wheels are going to spin independently by default. I believe most trucks have a traction control system which should automatically detect slipping wheels and cut power to them as necessary to maintain traction.

Of course, the best way to correct a skid or a jackknife is... don't get into one.

I'm not being sarcastic, what I'm saying is don't overdrive conditions and stop and wait if you need to.

I grew up in one of the heaviest snow regions in the country - Western New York. I can tell you that there is no such thing as "the thing to do" when you start sliding on snow or ice. The best reaction will vary wildly, especially in a big rig, depending upon so many factors - what the road looks like shortly ahead of you, what traffic you have around you, how heavy you are, the slope of the roadway itself, which wheels have lost traction, what the wind is doing - there are a million factors that go into making that decision and unfortunately a lot of thought and a lot of experience are required to ever become really good at it.

Someone who is really good on slick surfaces will use the gas pedal to get them out of trouble most of the time. But there are so many subtleties to it and so many exceptions that it would be impossible to go into a worthwhile tutorial on it. But the one thing I can say, and most people know this, is that hitting the brakes or turning the steering wheel hard is rarely going to help get you out of a skid. Doing either of those is almost always going to make it worse. And you absolutely, positively do not want to shift into neutral. There are times that coasting or kicking in the clutch may help for part of the skid, but at some point it's likely you're going to have to get back on the gas to gain control of the vehicle properly so you want to make sure you're in gear when that time comes.

Making quick, hard reactions to a minor skid causes a ton of wrecks out there, especially those single vehicle wrecks you see where someone skids off into the median or into the cornfields. Many times they start to lose traction and either jump off the gas quickly, hit the brakes, or overcorrect the steering. They "jump into action" which quickly makes things worse and there's no recovering at that point.

The toughest part about gaining control of a vehicle is not panicking in the first place. But how do ever become good at staying calm under extreme circumstances unless you practice those extreme circumstances regularly, ya know? So I used to use every opportunity to practice. I'd often find big empty parking lots at night covered in snow and I'd practice like it was my personal skidpad. I'd get going a little bit, slam on the brakes to get it to skid, then gain back control. Or I'd get going around a curve and pull the trailer brake to get the tandems to lock up and I'd figure out how to steer with it and get control back.

There were all sorts of maneuvers I would practice when I got the chance. Did that my whole career and I do it to this day in my 4-wheeler. Give me a big, open, snowy parking lot and it's going to be Dukes Of Hazzard up in here in about 10 seconds.......

I grew up in one of the heaviest snow regions in the country - Western New York. I can tell you that there is no such thing as "the thing to do" when you start sliding on snow or ice. The best reaction will vary wildly, especially in a big rig, depending upon so many factors - what the road looks like shortly ahead of you, what traffic you have around you, how heavy you are, the slope of the roadway itself, which wheels have lost traction, what the wind is doing - there are a million factors that go into making that decision and unfortunately a lot of thought and a lot of experience are required to ever become really good at it.

Someone who is really good on slick surfaces will use the gas pedal to get them out of trouble most of the time. But there are so many subtleties to it and so many exceptions that it would be impossible to go into a worthwhile tutorial on it. But the one thing I can say, and most people know this, is that hitting the brakes or turning the steering wheel hard is rarely going to help get you out of a skid. Doing either of those is almost always going to make it worse. And you absolutely, positively do not want to shift into neutral. There are times that coasting or kicking in the clutch may help for part of the skid, but at some point it's likely you're going to have to get back on the gas to gain control of the vehicle properly so you want to make sure you're in gear when that time comes.

Making quick, hard reactions to a minor skid causes a ton of wrecks out there, especially those single vehicle wrecks you see where someone skids off into the median or into the cornfields. Many times they start to lose traction and either jump off the gas quickly, hit the brakes, or overcorrect the steering. They "jump into action" which quickly makes things worse and there's no recovering at that point.

The toughest part about gaining control of a vehicle is not panicking in the first place. But how do ever become good at staying calm under extreme circumstances unless you practice those extreme circumstances regularly, ya know? So I used to use every opportunity to practice. I'd often find big empty parking lots at night covered in snow and I'd practice like it was my personal skidpad. I'd get going a little bit, slam on the brakes to get it to skid, then gain back control. Or I'd get going around a curve and pull the trailer brake to get the tandems to lock up and I'd figure out how to steer with it and get control back.

There were all sorts of maneuvers I would practice when I got the chance. Did that my whole career and I do it to this day in my 4-wheeler. Give me a big, open, snowy parking lot and it's going to be Dukes Of Hazzard up in here in about 10 seconds.......

My wife get mad at me all the time for that! It's a state of emergency there is no traffic, let's have some fun😁 Thanks Brett, use every opportunity I can to practice. I am good at staying calm sliding around in a car because have the time I am the one causing, however, not sure how I'd react in a 53 footer. I was told never to look in the mirrors and watch your trailer because it would cause you to oversteer. With winter coming, I just want to be as prepared as possible. I would like to come home to my family, and I don't want to be an orphan maker😰