Automatic Transmission Question

Yes swift is converting there whole fleet all what 26,000 trucks alot of the companies are changing the fleets over

More like 17500. It's still a lot of trucks. Also herd they are dropping Volvos from the fleet.

Boy, I know for sure I'm to old, their taking all the fun and SKILL out of driving. Pretty soon there'll be grannies out there driving, I started in the mid 80's. They gave me a 63 narrow nose Pete with a cummins 350, 5x3 twin sticks, center point steering and hydrolic scales. It still had an old 75 gallon water tank behind the cab used for watering the brakes. You can't get a Ford pickup truck with a manual anymore.

I know auto's can be pretty beefy cause they work very well in something like a Cat 528 tired skidder, I personaly would'nt want one in my bigrig. I pride my self on being able to correctly shift a manual and I worked very hard at that mostly for respect and to show a potential employer I knew what I was doing. It's a trucker thing, that's what seperates us from them and the single most diffacult thing to master. But once you do, it's a huge sense of accomplishment and pride.

Boy, I know for sure I'm to old, their taking all the fun and SKILL out of driving. Pretty soon there'll be grannies out there driving, I started in the mid 80's. They gave me a 63 narrow nose Pete with a cummins 350, 5x3 twin sticks, center point steering and hydrolic scales. It still had an old 75 gallon water tank behind the cab used for watering the brakes. You can't get a Ford pickup truck with a manual anymore.

I know auto's can be pretty beefy cause they work very well in something like a Cat 528 tired skidder, I personaly would'nt want one in my bigrig. I pride my self on being able to correctly shift a manual and I worked very hard at that mostly for respect and to show a potential employer I knew what I was doing. It's a trucker thing, that's what seperates us from them and the single most diffacult thing to master. But once you do, it's a huge sense of accomplishment and pride.

i can shift a truck just fine, infact i wanted one of the 2 new 8 speeds they had at the terminal but was told they are for mentors only.

I've been driving an automatic for about 4 years now. The biggest problem is not having a clutch. You have to get the rpm's up to about 8-900 just to get moving. That becomes a problem when backing into a tight spot. Truck will surge in movement and will not creep. Some newer trucks are being equipped with slower engagement settings, but are not guaranteed. Hope that helps.

I've been driving an automatic for about 4 years now. The biggest problem is not having a clutch. You have to get the rpm's up to about 8-900 just to get moving. That becomes a problem when backing into a tight spot. Truck will surge in movement and will not creep. Some newer trucks are being equipped with slower engagement settings, but are not guaranteed. Hope that helps.

i am able to creep mine in reverse... hell the first trailer i back under i went so slow i herd the 5th wheel lock without bumping the trailer.

i am really wanting to see how it worked with a 45000+ pound load

Boy, I know for sure I'm to old, their taking all the fun and SKILL out of driving. Pretty soon there'll be grannies out there driving, I started in the mid 80's. They gave me a 63 narrow nose Pete with a cummins 350, 5x3 twin sticks, center point steering and hydrolic scales. It still had an old 75 gallon water tank behind the cab used for watering the brakes. You can't get a Ford pickup truck with a manual anymore.

I know auto's can be pretty beefy cause they work very well in something like a Cat 528 tired skidder, I personaly would'nt want one in my bigrig. I pride my self on being able to correctly shift a manual and I worked very hard at that mostly for respect and to show a potential employer I knew what I was doing. It's a trucker thing, that's what seperates us from them and the single most diffacult thing to master. But once you do, it's a huge sense of accomplishment and pride.

Yeah, I wanted a manual when I started, but, no dice. It's all good though. I really like what I'm in and having some driver in a longnose who shifts his own gears' respect does not get me where I want to be in life. I take pride in my accomplishments and will continue to do so no matter what I apply my skill to, so should every other driver in any rig. But hey, whatever works for ya.

My Truck has the creep mode too and it works just fine. I know the older autos left a bad taste in many drivers' mouths, but, the newer ones seem to be getting it right,

Does swift have APU's and or inverters in their tractors now?

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

APU's:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

Does swift have APU's and or inverters in their tractors now?

Some of their newer trucks that I've seen have APU's. How many of them though I'm not sure but it seems like they're trying to switch over as they replenish their fleet with newer vehicles as many companies are doing. The only comment I've heard is that due to cost, many are going with Carrier over Thermo King due to cost but it seems that the Carrier model isn't as reliable.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

APU's:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

Does swift have APU's and or inverters in their tractors now?

nope, last i herd they were working on getting refer mechanics in every terminal shop and as refer guys also can work on APUs they will start getting apus at that point.

Terminal:

A facility where trucking companies operate out of, or their "home base" if you will. A lot of major companies have multiple terminals around the country which usually consist of the main office building, a drop lot for trailers, and sometimes a repair shop and wash facilities.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

APUs:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

APU's:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

i can shift a truck just fine, infact i wanted one of the 2 new 8 speeds they had at the terminal but was told they are for mentors only.

I've never heard of an 8 speed, must be brandnew, eh? I'm not saying your wrong, I'm always behind the curve when it comes to new equipment. That's why I'm shocked and very sad to read all these threads about whole companies switching their fleets to automatics.