Is the manual transmission going extinct in trucking?

All the news that's fit to shift.
Post Reply
User avatar
Standardshifter
Site Admin
Posts: 872
Joined: Tue Jan 07, 2003 11:23 am
Cars: 2005 Legacy GT, Buell
Location: Boston, MA
Contact:

Is the manual transmission going extinct in trucking?

Post by Standardshifter »

“Manual transmissions currently continue to make up approximately 50% of the total North America Class 8 market,” he said. “While that number will decline over time due to fleets transitioning to automation to enable a larger driver pool population, it is not expected that automated transmissions will fully displace manual transmissions in the foreseeable future.”

https://www.trucker.com/equipment/artic ... n-trucking

When the generation of truckers that were exposed to manuals in cars retire, how quickly do you think automatics will takeover the trucking world?
-Standardshifter
Shifting the Standard of Automotive Websites
Rope-Pusher
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 11642
Joined: Mon Mar 16, 2009 3:44 pm
Cars: '08 Jeep Liberty
Location: Greater Detroit Area

Re: Is the manual transmission going extinct in trucking?

Post by Rope-Pusher »

Sure, some guy will apply for the truck driving job and seem like a good person to hire, but then he'll find out he has to know how to shift the transmission and he'll withdraw his job application. Don't worry, because soon afterward some other trucker will come along who knows how to shift and they will take the job.
'08 Jeep Liberty 6-Speed MT - "Last of the Mohicans"
User avatar
ClutchFork
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 1950
Joined: Wed Mar 06, 2013 2:55 pm
Cars: 2008 Fusion 2.3L manual
Location: Detroit MI

Re: Is the manual transmission going extinct in trucking?

Post by ClutchFork »

Rope-Pusher wrote: Fri Apr 23, 2021 10:15 pm Sure, some guy will apply for the truck driving job and seem like a good person to hire, but then he'll find out he has to know how to shift the transmission and he'll withdraw his job application. Don't worry, because soon afterward some other trucker will come along who knows how to shift and they will take the job.
My son was going to apply for a job for an auto parts store where the job announcement said you must know how to drive a manual. It was a delivery job. It was about 45 minutes away though and he ended up finding a job much closer to home. But it did sound like the ideal job for a gear head. Also would make a great retirement job. Maybe I should see if they need a driver again. Then I could retire and work a fun job.
Stick shiftin since '77
theholycow wrote:Why in the world would you even want to be as smooth as an automatic? Might as well just drive an automatic...
Post Reply