Again it is what people want, there prefirence.

I've driven lots of stuff, love manuals, however in my situation I won't tow much more than 10,000 lbs, the wife has to be able to drive, With the kids (future) and all that. I don't make a ton of money so the truck has to cover a lot of ground. My woman is short, skinny and light, I'm sure she wouldn't be able to push the pedal down, to say she's weak no, but practical. I'm sure I'd see my truck on the side of the road if she had to shift a 6 speed to go get grocerys

You can get both to handle the power, yes autos are more money. However dragsters use clutches, but they slip or lock, most big tractors use air clutches. Some Catipiller D-12's use auto clutches. There's a lot of different things out there. I like my auto cause it tows well, it's practical for me, and has never given me an issue. I did want a 6 speed though but again, the wife, this and that, the auto was more practical.

Plus that high idle feature sure is a nice one on the autos

 

My wife is 5'7" and weighs 98 om a good day. She loves the 6 speed. On the other hand, if your wife does not like manual trannys, clutches, then keeping the wife happy is job one.
The other vehicles are not really in the same leaugue as our trucks. You could throw in Locomotives, they are diesel too.
Over the road diesel rigs have used clutches for almost 100 years, I am guessing.
But who cares?
At the end of the day, keep the wife happy, no matter how miserable it makes you.

 

Here's a little more fuel on the fire. Some versions of the Unimog 406, the ones for heavy towing in railroad yards and airports, used a manual tranny with a torque converter on it.

 

There are two criteria here. One is personal preference, which is worth whatever. I don't know if it's still current but something like over 80% of Dodge 3/4 and 1 ton trucks sold are diesel, and over 50% of those are with a stick.

The other criteria is performance - is there a real performance difference between manual and auto trucks ? I tried to define a scenario where I think there would be, which is starting a max rated load on a steep grade at altitude. A friend who preferred an auto said that he'd probably get a stick next time, as there have been too many times trying to get the truck moving with a load, waiting for the auto to engage.

Personal perference may ignore any perfromance differences, but get them out on the table to be ignored first.