It's Official... I'm Now A Knuckle Dragger!!!

You will never experience half of what we have, or seen the things we've seen, or done the things we've done( most of which ARE illegal now)

That's exactly what I was thinking as I was reading your comment - they won't be doing the stuff we did because it's highly illegal now! LoL! Actually a lot of what we did was illegal back then too but if you were savvy you knew how to get away with it.

Trucking used to be like the "Wild West" compared to what it is today. Today I think the job is every bit as difficult as it has ever been. Today's drivers have some advantages which make it easier on them but a lot of disadvantages that make it more difficult at the same time. So I'm not in the camp that says "Today's drivers are just steering wheel holders". I respect today's drivers just the same. I don't think it's the drivers that have changed nearly as much as the regulations and enforcement in the industry itself has changed. Even if I was out there today I'd probably be stuck on electronic logs going 62 MPH just like everyone else. But I'd still be me. I just wouldn't be able to lie and cheat as much as I used to.

Hey that's a sweet rig Flatwater! 18 speed automatic???? Am I reading that correctly?

Sorry, Brett. I weren't ignoring you. Just forgot to reply! ;-)

Yup, it's an Eaton UltraShift PLUS 18 speed. It's nothing like the old Allison type autos where you you had to wind the wizz out of them before they would go. This is just like a car. Stick 'er in "D" and go! And shifts oh-so-smooth... It also has a manual mode which allows you to select and hold a gear and also shift however you like. Great for lurking around the yard and also for railroad crossings.

"Hello, my name is Dan and I drive a sissy-stick..." I've gotten over the automatic stigma, too. This truck is definitely smarter than me and all this new technology can certainly increase MPG and efficiency.

That is sweet!!!

I really am shocked that most of the rigs in the country aren't running automatics at this point. Years and years ago they seemed like they were well on the way to making that happen. Then the technologies seemed to stop evolving and suddenly the larger fleets started getting rid of them altogether. It's a rare example of an obviously helpful technological innovation that simply failed for whatever reason.

When that kind of stuff happens I always suspect it was one or more of the big players blocking the technology from taking hold so that their current technology doesn't become obsolete. Because there's no reason they can't build a perfect automatic for a big rig. Someone somewhere is keeping it from happening. That's the only explanation I can think of that makes any logical sense.