paulsharvey
Elite Member
Two things on transmissions; 1) the number of gear is 100% correct; my 2005 Chevy 2500hd, 6.0 Auto, 4 speed, really needed an extra gear, at 75mph I think I was turning 2400 rpm cruising. If it was a 5 or 6 speed, it probably would have really increased fuel economy.
2) OTR trucks, I think the owner operators vs the mid-large trucking companies you see a big difference; owner operators seem to care more about power, speed, and do seem to prefer manuals; but companies realize that getting there 2% slower, but saving 5% on fuel is a huge win. The drivers dont always like things like autos, super singles, governors, but in the end, even if it's a 1% savings on fuel, over a couple hundred (or even a couple dozen) trucks, that's Huge. Let's say you have a fleet burning 10,000 gal per day. 1% fuel savings is $350/day. We upscale that to say, 25,000 gal per day, we have an additional $850/day. Industry seems to report around 3-4% more efficient with manuals; add about 0.5-1% for super singles; probably 5% by governoring at 65;
It's not about your grumpy 40 year experience driver that might be able to beat the economy of a auto in his manual; it's about the 80-90% of the other drivers, that the automatic does beat the manuals for.
2) OTR trucks, I think the owner operators vs the mid-large trucking companies you see a big difference; owner operators seem to care more about power, speed, and do seem to prefer manuals; but companies realize that getting there 2% slower, but saving 5% on fuel is a huge win. The drivers dont always like things like autos, super singles, governors, but in the end, even if it's a 1% savings on fuel, over a couple hundred (or even a couple dozen) trucks, that's Huge. Let's say you have a fleet burning 10,000 gal per day. 1% fuel savings is $350/day. We upscale that to say, 25,000 gal per day, we have an additional $850/day. Industry seems to report around 3-4% more efficient with manuals; add about 0.5-1% for super singles; probably 5% by governoring at 65;
It's not about your grumpy 40 year experience driver that might be able to beat the economy of a auto in his manual; it's about the 80-90% of the other drivers, that the automatic does beat the manuals for.