right wise people i did my cat c test in a automatic man yes i can see that looks wrong 
anyway the training centre said its fine as im allowed to drive manual trucks etc what im wondering is with big companies like norberts co-op etc etc do they have manul lorries or is it mainly autos now like i was told i am planning on having a few hours driving a manual just to get a feel for it so to speak any advice or comments is appriciated
You’ll get mixed opinions but I have heard from drivers that most wagons especially new ones are autos these days but you do still get manuals about.
I’ve done both class 1 and 2 in autos I think it’s the way forward. Ive driven a manual for an hour or so and picked it up quite quickly.
There’s a lot more to it than the gear box at the end of the day.
Manuals aren’t hard. You’ve done the hard part.
You’re very unlikely to come across a difficult (constant mesh/twin splitter type) gearbox these days, if and when you get issued with a manual find a gear that will get you out the gate, stay in that gear till you get out of earshot and then do what we ALL did, just get used to it.
I passed in an auto and have since only driven manuals! (A huge sample size of 2 trucks).
One was a 7.5 tonne MAN with a straight 5. The other was/is (I’m there again later today) a 18t Renault with a whopping … Straight 6. Actually the renault took a while. There’s no numbers on the stick (they’re printed behind the handbrake weirdly enough), and I’ve gone from top of 4th to 3rd twice (it didn’t like it).
My advice? If you’re having gear trouble: Neutral. Clutch up. Clutch down. Change to gear. It’s called double de-clutching and it usually helps (in the renault it’s the only way to reach reverse).
Hope this helps!
Biggest mistake allowing the HGV test to be passed in an auto with manual entitlement talk about make it easier for people to pass but then its probably the same pencil pushing moron that advised that diesel cars are cleaner than petrols, now we got him advising the truck industry that autos are safer more economical etc etc…
Still prefer a manual box any day of the week, autos are notorious for hesitating, you want a gear and you got this auto thinking it knows best…Im the driver
Swampey2418:
Biggest mistake allowing the HGV test to be passed in an auto with manual entitlement talk about make it easier for people to pass but then its probably the same pencil pushing moron that advised that diesel cars are cleaner than petrols, now we got him advising the truck industry that autos are safer more economical etc etc…Still prefer a manual box any day of the week, autos are notorious for hesitating, you want a gear and you got this auto thinking it knows best…Im the driver
Thank the pencil pushing moron for me, I don’t think I’d had of passed first time in a manual. But it’s not hard to figure it out when you get in the thing. But yeah autos are laggy as all holy hell.
There is a guide on here to some types of gearboxes
Read up there quite clear.
Most trucks these days are autos
Most my family drive hgvs only 1 use a manual rest drive autos.
Seems the norm.
However some dont agree with it Which is fair enough
I was looking at a 2007 hot of one of my trucks
7 years ago it was an Auto who would want a manual
Auto or Eaton Twin splittter the only two choices
I passed c and c+e in autos and all above 7.5t are auto at the firm I work for .
Yeh well - Auto Vs Manuals
Sorts the men out from the boys… wheel attendances from the real drivers…