I meant to say, when pulling a long hill with a heavy load, I prefer a manual...
You can shift into granny 1st
I prefer to have enough power to stay out of granny on an hill.
I've never had an automatic strand me. They have always given enough warning of impending failure that they have been fixed first.
I have been stranded by failed manuals. I blew up a Muncie 4-speed years ago in a hot rod Firebird. I broke the counter shaft and would not move any more except in 4th.
I blew up a 5-speed something in an International truck bad enough that almost everything inside needed to be replaced. We bought a new transmission instead because it was slightly cheaper and saved the labor of reassembly.
I don't think you can take those two experiences of mine and extrapolate that manuals are less reliable, but I think many commercial truck operators have shifted in the automatic direction precisely because in fleet use the automatic is less likely to strand a truck.
Since its been fully 28 years since I worked as a truck mechanic I'm out of touch with the changes in that business and I'm sure others with more recent experience might have better information.
