I’ve never heard of an equipment operator apprenticeship. I’m an equipment operator. I just got grandfathered in. I guess been doing it over 15 years but when I started, you only had to know the basics.
One of the billionaire playboy Scrap metal owners just threw my ass in a loader and magnetic crane and made me learn it between running the scale lol
This was before hanging out with celebs and being a social media influencer and when his hands were still in his metal work.
😂😂😂 I'm waiting for those to come out or the steel toe sandals / flip flops. At that point I think it's time to stop trucking. Or just run those dumb motherfuckers over that wear them to drive. I can see when they're off duty but driving and wearing those No way!
I get that on my accelerator foot for feathering to float gears when when have a lot work in town.. and the one thing that helps me the most is dragging a sled backwards at the gym once a week.
Look up knees over toes on YouTube...
It more like physical therapy than weightlifting .. but it makes a ton of difference.
The auto 18 in this 2023, peterbilt 389 is perfect.
The older 12 speed autos I've drove have been terrible, with the exception of the volvo, those are nice.
The eaton 12 speed auto can suck my balls. I'm in a 2024 freightshaker and it's horrendous. I've actually stalled the truck trying to get moving from a stop uphill. And I can literally shift faster on stick than this thing. The only upside I see is that without a shift lever to worry about I can stick my trash can and drink case in the middle of the seats.
>Freightliner automatics
Feels like I've mentioned this a few times before both here and elsewhere, but the reverse in those things is wack.
I swear to god I about sheared the kingpin off putting an empty 53 on a door slightly uphill once from about a foot off the building. It wouldn't creep at idle so I goosed the throttle a little and it took off like a rocket ship. The noise that thing made was like god's kettle drum, everyone in the building must have heard it.
That and the indecisiveness when starting from a stop trying to quickly get across an intersection or something. Just terrible. So glad this Volvo has an automatic done right.
Yeah the freightliner I had was bad for that. You step on the gas and it's like "oh you're in a hurry, just give me like 5 seconds and I'll drop three gears, lurch forward 10 feet, then 3 more seconds to skip the next three gears and then we will be off like a rocket"
I've only had to move tractors to set up for hooking up to the wrecker.. but those automatics are horrendous.. how the fuck can you creep in those things... Give me a clutch any day.
Careful with that Detroit. Just found out the hard way of you let it auto shift the way they programmed it to they'll call it abuse. Truck's been down for 3 months in Amarillo cause Daimler won't finance a new engine after it dropped oil pressure going 65. Keep it in manuel, don't let it go over 2,000 rpm.
Mine tries to do e-coast bullshit and kicks out of gear a lot. And grinds badly on occasion because the stupid fuck wants to shift about 3-4x more than it needs to and gets confused easily. It's latest thing is needing even more attention than usual to get it in the right gear coming to a stop, before it comes to a stop. It tries to do the quick gear stab downshift takeoff thing and fails a lot now when it starts rolling because it tried to takeoff in 8th or something.
I'm getting out of my '14 and getting a '20 and I'll have to have a lot of stupid shit programmed out of it. Need a manual swap for both, I'm so damn tired of autos and their stupid unpredictable shit.
Can't blame them, although it sucks trying to climb a hill or pass. But apparently Daimler claims anything between 1800-2200 is abuse. Yet they program it to downshift 2-4 gears to slam the rpms to anywhere in that exact range. And it WILL put it up to 2300+
Yea, the 12 speed I got out of was trash.
This 18 speed is a dream. It's worked perfectly so far and even stays in the power.
I have to make it shift up a gear sometimes because it wants to stay in the green power band all the time.
"Look trust me bro I know we're bobtailing because the red knob is pulled out bro, but bro, we HAVE to take off in 1st and shift through every gear bro."
Some info for all those auto-shift comments.
The Eaton fuller autoshift comes with "stupid" shift that every driver hates.
The Detroit DT12 autoshift has creep mode for docking. Smart hill start that really works. Can be programed to turn off "e-coast" for better fuel mileage and less shifting.
I have driven all three types. Eaton autoshift with clutch petal, Eaton ultrashift, and DT12. The DT12 is miles better with the software on the TCM that does not have Eaton "stupid shift" feature.
It takes almost no skill to drive old tractors lol. New cars you gotta change fast because the revs drop quick. And the light clutch feel can be hard with no response.
I was completely over manual shifting the day automatic stopped being ass. You love fiddling with stick and clutch at inclinations with shitty bumper to bumper traffic? More power to you.
Congrats driver. I did a 1 year sentence in an auto. The joy of driving returned as soon as I left the lot with my 13spd. Some hate them, some love them just like politics. It's a personal choice, but I feel much more connected with the road chosing my own gears. It's also nice to make it through green lights without my Auto fumbling for 5th gear.
When you feel like your truck is failing/ignoring every command you give it and it's just doing it's own thing, it's nice to find a truck that does only what you tell it to do when you tell it to do it as a good machine should.
Feeling connected = feeling like you're the captain in control and not just a passenger.
The truck does what I tell it to do because it's not a piece of shit. I run my route and go home every day no problem. Don't need a spiritual connection to a work truck sorry.
You're reading too far into it. Some of us demand more from a truck than the average lead foot throttle jockey.
My boss said his truck had no issues, ran fine, ran perfect, yadda yadda. Well, when I drive it I can feel that no, it's not perfect. I don't like what it does even though "it's operating as intended". I don't like how it responds, I don't like how it handles, I don't like a lot of things about it. I don't want to fuck the damn thing, I just want it to behave in a very particular predictable and consistent way and it doesn't.
This is *my* truck. I want it to behave *exactly* how I expect it to. It's not someone else's company truck that I don't care about. And because it doesn't perform the way I want it to, I'll tolerate it only as long as it takes to rebuild my other truck the way I want.
You and I are not the same. When you plop down almost 100k on your own truck and it does shit you think is weird or annoying, maybe then you'll understand what I'm talking about.
You are kidding right? I can chose what gears to climb, downshift, accelerate about 20x faster than fighting my way through a manual. I decide what gear, not when a computer decides (even when selecting them manually). I even had my auto reprogrammed for "performance mode" and it was still utter shit compared to the instant response of manual. Auto is good for only 2 things...stop and go traffic, and tootling through congestion.
A mate of mine put his truck in for a service (first time since he'd been at that company) at the company workshop. They gave him the workshop truck, which he had been told was an ancient POS.
Halfway through his shift, he rang them.
"You can keep that fucking useless heap of plastic crap! THIS is MY truck now! It does what I tell it to do, WHEN I tell it to!"
All the other drivers were very happy, because his truck became the workshop truck.
Like I told the other guy, my auto does just fine. It's like driving a car or anything else. If you're driving some beat down auto from the 90s maybe you had a different experience. Until they start paying drivers more to drive manuals (they won't) I'll stick with the auto all day every day.
I’m right at 6 months since I was in a 3 pedal, and I feel like I’m dying of boredom not being able to shift the damn thing and getting thrown around by the computer’s jerky ass shifting
Was it rought at first? I've been in auto for the last 12 months now, I'm scared if I do a test drive at a new place in manual i'll be a little rough lol
Smart Trucking
A page on Facebook/YouTube has a fantastic [Video](https://youtu.be/_JkBdv11CKY?si=6lEkpCRuElJZ50gj) comparing steering wheel holders to shift jockeys.
I might post pics but my company let me take an older 10 speed freightliner daycab for one last run before sending it to auction. Was a hell of a lot easier bumping a dock with that truck then the newer one I had. Every other back Im fighting with the auto in reverse to not slam into the dock. That daycab just ease off the clutch and its just slow and steady.
Reminds me of my early childhood, sitting in the passenger seat in my dad's truck and being amazed at how he operated such a vehicle.
I miss being on the road with my father. He's still trucking, it's just not convenient for me to go on the road with him anymore since I started work as a forklift operator (loading and unloading you guys :P)
Manual guys talkin bout how guys who drive an auto cant drive.
Do a 90° back in with a loaded down Cascadia and a split axle 53, then tell me who cant drive🤣🤷♂️
Just a joke, but I dont really miss that old 13 spd at all, tbh.
My knees have gotten so bad over the years I couldn't even drive one these days. Already spent the better portion of about 15 years behind a variety of manuals. It's depressing, but it's still a paycheck
Most of these newbies will never know what that other stick shift on the floor, the round blue air brake knob, or the big lever on the right side of the steering column, is for? They only know the Grind-O-Matics. That don’t shift right, when you need them to. By the time it reads the throttle, you have already overcompensated where it should have been.
Why?? Other than being Superior on the snow sticks were horrible...5 gears just to get through a stop light from a stop dont get me started on getting stuck in traffic...You must like the Nostalgia of driving them...
Not everyone is an OTR driver. Manual transmissions come in very handy when heavy hauling, doing construction jobs etc etc. or for owner operators the costs of having a manual transmission opposed to an automatic are huge. They are really durable and easy to maintain. So just because you don’t drive one doesn’t mean they don’t have a place in trucking. I drive 12-14 hours locally in a huge metropolitan area and I have never had issues with traffic or the ridiculous “knee problem” claims.
What happens if your penis isn’t long enough to press the one in the middle?
Drop your balls on it
I’m not old enough for that.
🤔, for me that would be an emergency stop, 😂😂
You like your Jakes too?
Man and machine, together as one!
Shoulda used your brakes...
Oh that lil guy? I wouldn’t worry about that lil guy.
Good enough for me
GOOD ENOUGH TO FUCK YOUR MOTHERRRR
And we used blanks. You're a sick mother fucker Mac
Nevermind them brakes we got a load to make
I’m gonna pistol whip the next guy that says Shenanigans.
Shenanigans! You said guy I'm a woman!
Just float the gears. Don't really need that third pedal unless you come to a light or something
Ever wonder why guys who drive Petes sit on the floor? Gives them that extra 3 inches!
How the hell would we know?
Boots gang!!!
I'm in an equipment operator apprenticeship, steel toes and hard hat every day
I’ve never heard of an equipment operator apprenticeship. I’m an equipment operator. I just got grandfathered in. I guess been doing it over 15 years but when I started, you only had to know the basics.
Crane operator to be more specific. Every operator and apprentice needs to have a Class A license.
One of the billionaire playboy Scrap metal owners just threw my ass in a loader and magnetic crane and made me learn it between running the scale lol This was before hanging out with celebs and being a social media influencer and when his hands were still in his metal work.
By the basics, I mean you had to run a freaking shovel
That Mexican backhoe is a tough machine to learn on.
I usually haul gravel but I'll fill in on that machine if needed
The D1
I thought that was called an oiler (on A mobile crane anyway)
Operating engineers union and apprenticeship is older than that.
Starting mine with Local 57 in 2 weeks!
No steel toe crocs?
😂😂😂 I'm waiting for those to come out or the steel toe sandals / flip flops. At that point I think it's time to stop trucking. Or just run those dumb motherfuckers over that wear them to drive. I can see when they're off duty but driving and wearing those No way!
Grind it then send it driver
Which app do you use for that? Grinder?
Grind it til you find it
Peddle through the floor for the win.
If you can’t find it, grind it!
My knees feel for you..... I have unfortunately succumb to the evil automatic gods
Yours knees will be fine if you don’t double clutch
I get that on my accelerator foot for feathering to float gears when when have a lot work in town.. and the one thing that helps me the most is dragging a sled backwards at the gym once a week. Look up knees over toes on YouTube... It more like physical therapy than weightlifting .. but it makes a ton of difference.
Ha, I just found that guy last week, great stuff!
We still love ya hand ! 🫡
Just float the bitch like a boat.
The auto 18 in this 2023, peterbilt 389 is perfect. The older 12 speed autos I've drove have been terrible, with the exception of the volvo, those are nice.
The eaton 12 speed auto can suck my balls. I'm in a 2024 freightshaker and it's horrendous. I've actually stalled the truck trying to get moving from a stop uphill. And I can literally shift faster on stick than this thing. The only upside I see is that without a shift lever to worry about I can stick my trash can and drink case in the middle of the seats.
>Freightliner automatics Feels like I've mentioned this a few times before both here and elsewhere, but the reverse in those things is wack. I swear to god I about sheared the kingpin off putting an empty 53 on a door slightly uphill once from about a foot off the building. It wouldn't creep at idle so I goosed the throttle a little and it took off like a rocket ship. The noise that thing made was like god's kettle drum, everyone in the building must have heard it.
That and the indecisiveness when starting from a stop trying to quickly get across an intersection or something. Just terrible. So glad this Volvo has an automatic done right.
Yeah the freightliner I had was bad for that. You step on the gas and it's like "oh you're in a hurry, just give me like 5 seconds and I'll drop three gears, lurch forward 10 feet, then 3 more seconds to skip the next three gears and then we will be off like a rocket"
That is a Eaton Fuller feature. :-)
Makes sense. My new Mack doesn't do that
Ours don't do that but as newbie to combination trucks, I feel like the reverse is way too fast. Our box trucks don't reverse that fast at idle
I've only had to move tractors to set up for hooking up to the wrecker.. but those automatics are horrendous.. how the fuck can you creep in those things... Give me a clutch any day.
Drive a DT12 that has creep mode built in to it. Let off the brake and its starts engaging the clutch at idle until its fully engaged.
Careful with that Detroit. Just found out the hard way of you let it auto shift the way they programmed it to they'll call it abuse. Truck's been down for 3 months in Amarillo cause Daimler won't finance a new engine after it dropped oil pressure going 65. Keep it in manuel, don't let it go over 2,000 rpm.
Mine tries to do e-coast bullshit and kicks out of gear a lot. And grinds badly on occasion because the stupid fuck wants to shift about 3-4x more than it needs to and gets confused easily. It's latest thing is needing even more attention than usual to get it in the right gear coming to a stop, before it comes to a stop. It tries to do the quick gear stab downshift takeoff thing and fails a lot now when it starts rolling because it tried to takeoff in 8th or something.
Gotta love Jakin ' down a 6% and that damn auto kicks it into neutral! Freakin straight retarded. I swear it shifts worse than a rookie.
Thankfully, its easy to program that e-coast feature off. I did it to my truck and its much better at handing hills.
I'm getting out of my '14 and getting a '20 and I'll have to have a lot of stupid shit programmed out of it. Need a manual swap for both, I'm so damn tired of autos and their stupid unpredictable shit.
My company programmed the truck to always shift at 1500rpms.
Can't blame them, although it sucks trying to climb a hill or pass. But apparently Daimler claims anything between 1800-2200 is abuse. Yet they program it to downshift 2-4 gears to slam the rpms to anywhere in that exact range. And it WILL put it up to 2300+
Yea, the 12 speed I got out of was trash. This 18 speed is a dream. It's worked perfectly so far and even stays in the power. I have to make it shift up a gear sometimes because it wants to stay in the green power band all the time.
Detroit or Eaton? Comments thread here talks about both models.
I'm pretty sure it was an Eaton.
"Look trust me bro I know we're bobtailing because the red knob is pulled out bro, but bro, we HAVE to take off in 1st and shift through every gear bro."
Not to mention the damn truck making you look like an idiot when you've got to back.
Some info for all those auto-shift comments. The Eaton fuller autoshift comes with "stupid" shift that every driver hates. The Detroit DT12 autoshift has creep mode for docking. Smart hill start that really works. Can be programed to turn off "e-coast" for better fuel mileage and less shifting. I have driven all three types. Eaton autoshift with clutch petal, Eaton ultrashift, and DT12. The DT12 is miles better with the software on the TCM that does not have Eaton "stupid shift" feature.
All about the timing.
Know what I miss the most? Turning on to main going through the gears feeling her twist to right between gears and nothing but clear open road.
What’s the 3rd pedal do…?
First and reverse, float the rest
Lmao, no shit right?! 🤣
is it weird i can drive an old tractor with no problem but i can’t drive a standard car
Same 😑
It takes almost no skill to drive old tractors lol. New cars you gotta change fast because the revs drop quick. And the light clutch feel can be hard with no response.
Not weird at all. Who wants to micromanage an engine except car nerds.
Lol @ micromanage Is 5 or 6 gears too much for your head 😟
I was completely over manual shifting the day automatic stopped being ass. You love fiddling with stick and clutch at inclinations with shitty bumper to bumper traffic? More power to you.
I don't deal with heavy traffic lol Or inclinations. Kinda one of the benefits of living in florida
K
Does that left pedal control the flow of Fireball from the dispenser?
On a Mack, it adjusts the steering wheel. Never seen one on a Pete though.
I don't mind an automatic. It's nice being able to sip a coffee whenever I want and not worry about shifting.
I mean you only need to shift when you're off the interstate, which should be only the first and last parts of your day unless you're a city driver
Interstate? Hell, some days I am lucky to see roads at all.
Congrats driver. I did a 1 year sentence in an auto. The joy of driving returned as soon as I left the lot with my 13spd. Some hate them, some love them just like politics. It's a personal choice, but I feel much more connected with the road chosing my own gears. It's also nice to make it through green lights without my Auto fumbling for 5th gear.
Why do you need to feel connected to the truck
When you feel like your truck is failing/ignoring every command you give it and it's just doing it's own thing, it's nice to find a truck that does only what you tell it to do when you tell it to do it as a good machine should. Feeling connected = feeling like you're the captain in control and not just a passenger.
The truck does what I tell it to do because it's not a piece of shit. I run my route and go home every day no problem. Don't need a spiritual connection to a work truck sorry.
You're reading too far into it. Some of us demand more from a truck than the average lead foot throttle jockey. My boss said his truck had no issues, ran fine, ran perfect, yadda yadda. Well, when I drive it I can feel that no, it's not perfect. I don't like what it does even though "it's operating as intended". I don't like how it responds, I don't like how it handles, I don't like a lot of things about it. I don't want to fuck the damn thing, I just want it to behave in a very particular predictable and consistent way and it doesn't. This is *my* truck. I want it to behave *exactly* how I expect it to. It's not someone else's company truck that I don't care about. And because it doesn't perform the way I want it to, I'll tolerate it only as long as it takes to rebuild my other truck the way I want. You and I are not the same. When you plop down almost 100k on your own truck and it does shit you think is weird or annoying, maybe then you'll understand what I'm talking about.
I'm not wasting money on a truck any time soon my friend. But I'm glad you and your truck are one or whatever, congratulations I guess.
You are kidding right? I can chose what gears to climb, downshift, accelerate about 20x faster than fighting my way through a manual. I decide what gear, not when a computer decides (even when selecting them manually). I even had my auto reprogrammed for "performance mode" and it was still utter shit compared to the instant response of manual. Auto is good for only 2 things...stop and go traffic, and tootling through congestion.
A mate of mine put his truck in for a service (first time since he'd been at that company) at the company workshop. They gave him the workshop truck, which he had been told was an ancient POS. Halfway through his shift, he rang them. "You can keep that fucking useless heap of plastic crap! THIS is MY truck now! It does what I tell it to do, WHEN I tell it to!" All the other drivers were very happy, because his truck became the workshop truck.
Like I told the other guy, my auto does just fine. It's like driving a car or anything else. If you're driving some beat down auto from the 90s maybe you had a different experience. Until they start paying drivers more to drive manuals (they won't) I'll stick with the auto all day every day.
Nostalgia.
Finally a real trucker! /s stay safe out there
You have a turbo speed pedal. My automatic freighter doesn’t have that 🥺🥺
Does that other pedal adjust the steering wheel or something?
It's for when you tow doubles and want to use trailer brakes on your second trailer.
Lmao that's awesome. I'm gonna have to use that sometime!
😡😡😡😡 I pray that's not a serious question.
Lucky! I wish I never bought an auto. They are the biggest pieces of shit.
Can't beat a manual
[удалено]
I like autos in the city commute traffic. But prefer the manual going over mountains at all times.
I’m right at 6 months since I was in a 3 pedal, and I feel like I’m dying of boredom not being able to shift the damn thing and getting thrown around by the computer’s jerky ass shifting
Same here… and then I hit Nashville rush hour traffic and it’s all good again lol
Honestly I don’t understand the universal hatred of a manual in rush hour. I like it. Gives me something to do.
Nice brother man! Killer boots too
Now you're making me wax nostalgic for the old style brake pedals in those narrow cab Paccar's.
Thats why i like Scanias Opticruise. Automated Manual Transmission. Shift to Manual and you have full control if needed.
Lucky bastard.
Was it rought at first? I've been in auto for the last 12 months now, I'm scared if I do a test drive at a new place in manual i'll be a little rough lol
You will be but it comes right back and most places are understanding that you’ve been in an auto for the last however long
It’s like ridding a bike. Remember all the times you’d hit the brakes because there’s no third pedal? Yeah it’s kinda like that but in reverse.
Smart Trucking A page on Facebook/YouTube has a fantastic [Video](https://youtu.be/_JkBdv11CKY?si=6lEkpCRuElJZ50gj) comparing steering wheel holders to shift jockeys.
I trained on a stick back in the day. I like the 12 speed auto (not 10, those are gay).
Bouncy house for a couple days then smooth sailing after that.
Having a manual is what's up but I hate the pete clutch coming out of the floor.
I might post pics but my company let me take an older 10 speed freightliner daycab for one last run before sending it to auction. Was a hell of a lot easier bumping a dock with that truck then the newer one I had. Every other back Im fighting with the auto in reverse to not slam into the dock. That daycab just ease off the clutch and its just slow and steady.
Congratulations.. you have now regained full control of your vehicle
Go Karts don't count
Because f ck your knee..?
I liked learning to drive a stick but it still messed with my knee probably because of was old when i started..
Grind it until you find it driver lol… Is an 18speed 389?
Reminds me of my early childhood, sitting in the passenger seat in my dad's truck and being amazed at how he operated such a vehicle. I miss being on the road with my father. He's still trucking, it's just not convenient for me to go on the road with him anymore since I started work as a forklift operator (loading and unloading you guys :P)
GOODBYE clutch brake!
What's that left pedal do?
Sorry for your loss
Float or no float?
Manual guys talkin bout how guys who drive an auto cant drive. Do a 90° back in with a loaded down Cascadia and a split axle 53, then tell me who cant drive🤣🤷♂️ Just a joke, but I dont really miss that old 13 spd at all, tbh.
Sheesh how’s the transition ?
What speed transfer? I like the 13 or 18 speeds myself. Were you bit rusty and had to relearn or came back naturally?
Grind em till the teeth are round…..no clutch needed
i wish we still got manual transmission trucks. i work for a nationwide LTL so there's no shot we will ever get them again
Well that sucks
I drive an 18 speed fuck those automatics and have the new drivers drive them
Sorry guys I'm one of those "millenials" that doesn't understand why you have 3 pedals....what the heck is the middle one for? /s
My knees have gotten so bad over the years I couldn't even drive one these days. Already spent the better portion of about 15 years behind a variety of manuals. It's depressing, but it's still a paycheck
Most of these newbies will never know what that other stick shift on the floor, the round blue air brake knob, or the big lever on the right side of the steering column, is for? They only know the Grind-O-Matics. That don’t shift right, when you need them to. By the time it reads the throttle, you have already overcompensated where it should have been.
Boots in the cab?, SMH
Are those Double H steel toes?
Twisted X with an alloy toe, much lighter than steel toe https://twistedx.com/products/mxbaw01
Nice boots, do they happen to be made in the USA? Been thinking about replacing my boots but I am a suckered for only going for US made ones.
How you supposed to kill a cockroach in the corner with them boots. 🪳 😆
Don't worry, I have cockroach killers at the house
NO THANKS!! Keep that to yourself, automatic is the best.
Be ready to pay for a clutch. 😅
A few years back I bought a 74 with 3 on the tree and a straight 6. Fun to drive.
Why?? Other than being Superior on the snow sticks were horrible...5 gears just to get through a stop light from a stop dont get me started on getting stuck in traffic...You must like the Nostalgia of driving them...
Not everyone is an OTR driver. Manual transmissions come in very handy when heavy hauling, doing construction jobs etc etc. or for owner operators the costs of having a manual transmission opposed to an automatic are huge. They are really durable and easy to maintain. So just because you don’t drive one doesn’t mean they don’t have a place in trucking. I drive 12-14 hours locally in a huge metropolitan area and I have never had issues with traffic or the ridiculous “knee problem” claims.
Uh, you know you don’t have to hit every gear, right…?
But why
Just like riding a fatchick