Machines | HOW TO shift automatic transmission in Semi Truck, Peterbilt, Freightliner, Kenworth, Volvo

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1. I’m new to trucking (haven’t got my CDL yet), still taking driving lessons with a 10-speed stick shift truck and I find it very challenging to shift the gear and make sure I’m in the right road speed engine RPM and all this. My equation, will it be better for me to switch to automatic to make it easier for me to pass the road test and worry about manual shifting later? Please advise.
2. Been driving 30 years the only thing i dont like about the automatic is in the snow when your stopped in snow its easy to get stuck its hard to rock back and forth to get unstuck. I work a lot of of city pickup and delivery i like the automatic cruising down the open road its easy. i used to have a truck back 25 plus years ago with no jake brake fully loaded going down Donner no problem. Now the old truck drivers will tell you without a jake apply a lite even steady pressure on the brakes going down the mountain. But do they make over the road trucks without jakes anymore. Oh yea i have driven an 18 speed before but its been awhile..
3. Smooth just great !
4. All the equipment in this truck will be instantly familiar to any European driver who has worked in a Mercedes truck. The design of the steering wheel and the gear lever are identical as are the switches.
   With regard to use of the auto function the first thing every driver should do before they drive anywhere is Please - RTFM! There is a publication in the literature pack that comes with any new vehicle - trucks included - called the Driver Handbook. Naturally being professional drivers we all think we know everything, right? What, even the newest scientific developments that are just coming to the market in the US? You are still catching up with Europe.
   One small correction to this video - and don't get me wrong this is a good explanation as far as it goes - these are not automatic gearboxes. They are properly called 'automated manuals' and are identical to the boxes you heroes have ben shifting with a stick all these years. The only difference is that the control system has been changed. You no longer have control of the clutch. (It's still there - ask a mechanic!) You do have control of everything else though if you so choose. You can take this truck and select Manual mode and drive just the same as you used to. You select D, let it choose the starting gear, or override the choice if you are convinced you know best, and apply throttle to move off. In that Manual mode you then pull the lever towards you - just like the paddle shift in a race car - and change up one or more gears at a time.
   The more relaxd way though is to use Auto Economy and let the truck worry about the gears to choose and when to shift. As you drive the secret is throttle finesse. The truck will learn your preference for when you want to change up by your lifting the throttle just a tiny amount at the point where you want the next gear. It's really spooky at first but within a day or 2 it is second nature.
   As for going downhill you use the exhaust brake and the service brake and the gearbox computer will select the appropriate gear and so keep the engine RPM up high enough to maintain control. If you want more engine braking then if you push the lever away from you even without selecting Manual mode the gearbox will react and change down. Normally at the point where the box goes into Manual mode you will see small arrows on your dash display beside the M to indicate how many gears you can select below the one currently selected.
   I've been driving since 1978 in the UK and I wouldn't think of choosing a manual gearbox for any reason.
   In Europe these automated manuals are already being replaced on lighter trucks by proper automatics which have no clutch and much fewer gears. They are using torque converters for propulsion and electrical regenerative braking systems which have been fitted to European coaches for years.
   Incidentally as far as scientific progress is concerned trucks are leading the way in terms of engine development but the cutting edge of gearbox technology is in agricultural tractors which commonly have about 6 clutches and up to 50 different gears.
   Anybody who tells you these vehicles are dangerous or that you have no control is a dinosaur.
   Stay safe brothers...
5. I love the automatic transmission and all that which I'm thinking to get one but umm how do you go downhill with it like...just manually shift to a lower gear and jake brake? Like you would usually do in a manual? Does it holds the gear down or does it goes up? That's my main concern to be honest haha anyhow if anyone can answer that, I'll really appreciate it. Stay safe and drive safe 👋
6. how they work?? put it in D and mash the gas
7. 13spd is just fine,17yrs of shiftin i dont belive i need to change definitely not durin winter time,I'll deal with traffic & if n when i get disabled n need auto then I'll decide to quit cause if i dont feel comfy then i feel its a good decision to not have other drivers n harms way lol
8. Companies are programming these trucks to stay in economy mode and it really makes them unsafe. By unsafe I mean they go into neutral or idle as I'm driving at highway speeds, and when I need to accelerate the tractor keeps short shifting leaving me in a precarious situation😖
9. what is it with all the Billy big riggers thinking they are God's gift to trucking and making videos?!?
10. OK real question..... why are you driving and video taping WTF Dude.
11. and he's showing all this while driving.....how safe that must be...bet his company is proud
12. Love this truck man!!
13. Great video, I agree with you on the man card thing. Just swallow your pride old folks
14. So how does this work with a fully loaded trailer and going down the hill.
15. Were you ever a VJ on MTV?
16. Kick ass truck
17. my truck doesnt even have an option to manually shift. I just have a set shift pattern. im in a volvo but I like it.
18. So are you a drive away driver...delivering new trucks or you just got a new truck where you work?
19. cottonwood h 3000 E..
    cool
20. I been driving manuals for 20 years, my new job and truck is a Volvo automatic. it nice plenty of torque and it progressive shifts even with a load. it senses how much power to put down. the mileage was better than my manual shift Volvo at my other job. the jake takes getting used its progressive and has cruise bake it'll hod speed down a hill. READ MANUAL BEFORE GOING DOWN A GRADE.after I read it I understood it.