Auto or Manual? My vote goes for Manual.
Neither. AMT. 
Auto for me.
Anyone who has had to pay for the repairs to an auto box will, like me vote for manual every time! 
55 plate volvo went down with gearbox problems (idle shift) on wednesday. they havent got the part in the country and are having quality assurance problems with the supplier.
truck is still in the garage and not looking like seeing daylight for a while.
i’d go with manual as autos or semi autos take to long to kick in leaving you cutting up unmarked police cars 
jon
Auto, cos I run at 44 tonnes and have to drive through towns and country roads all day.
Also the manual artics in my firm are 8 speed 
That’s when autos really come into their own. Fully freighted on the type of steep hill on a windy road that you look at and wonder whether you’ll run out of steam or miss a gear as you head up from a standing start. It’s all nearly as stressful as that long sentence was to read.
With an AMT like the Eurotronic you just whack it in auto and let the wagon do the stressing. Marvellous. Our night men tipping Scarboroughs will take a Stralis over Merc or a Volvo every time simply because they’ll accelerate up Birk Brow (north of Guisborough) at 44t. Which as anyone who knows that road will tell you, is no mean feat.
An AMT (Automated Manual Transmission) is so called because you have a clutch bite just like a manual, except it’s on the throttle pedal. You can also leave it in semi mode (as most of our drivers do and have full control of the gears. Once you’ve got the hang of that combined right-pedal you end up with the best of both worlds.
Hills can be interesting, mine you really need to put it into manual as it changs down as soon as it looses grip and on hills like cawkwell you dont stop for anything.
Also it can be a pain with tanks, because as you start in second the weight shifts and it thinks it can jump to sixth.
Going up Honiton hill in the wet can be hilarious in the Merc, if your heavy, you take the left off the roundabout at the bottom and begin to climb. The rear will break loose, it always does, and the truck decides to change up a few cogs as the rears are spinning, then it bogs down because of the gradient and furiously changes down, then spins the rears and changes up etc etc etc, you end up kangarooing until you have to stop and select MANUAL!
i guess the thing is just because it’s an auto doesnt mean you can forget about how to drive.
Most of the time an auto will work fine, but ocasionaly you have to help it out. You still need to think about whether youre about to get into a tricky gear change situation, but that’s where skill comes into it, same as it would for a manual.
The plus side to an auto is the lack of clutch pumping, reduced clutch wear, improved engine life etc.
Like any auto (i say this never having driven a ‘fully’ auto truck) such as a car if you back off the gas slightly just as it changes gear the shift will be smoother, most folk just keep it nailed and you get a jolt as it shifts up. Just the same as you get if you were to change a manual without taking the gas off.
People at work moan about the Teligent box in our actros, personally i found it works fine most of the time, shifting up on motorways etc. But if you’re pulling out in traffic and need to get a move on them manual selection is best, even if it’s not best on the mechanicals. Same with a slippery road surface, the box doesnt know what the road surface is like ie. snowing, so you go manual. Use the same degree of thought but apply it to the type of box and it all works fine.
dennisw1:
The plus side to an auto is the lack of clutch pumping, reduced clutch wear, improved engine life etc
Don’t forget lack of knee wear, big plus point.
Tramper:
Anyone who has had to pay for the repairs to an auto box will, like me vote for manual every time!
What went wrong and how much did it cost to put right?
Auto for me every time i dont know if i could drive a manual wasgon its been so long since i did.
Manual for me, my truck will tell me when it wants me to shift gear, most of the time it would be allright, but sometimes i ignore it cos i know better, though if it were an auto it woukd have shifted wrongly in my opinion, and my opinion is what i’m paid for.
Coffeeholic:
Auto for me.
That were crafty, he’s been an changed it. 
Depends what you’re doing really…
For the job I do now, an auto is great as I spend most of my time in London.
However - on my previous regular run, I used to be roaming around Lincolnshire, collecting produce at about 40 tonnes and I would have preferred a manual for that. The I-Shift 'box wasn’t necessary and on the few occasions I did use a manual to do it, I always got better fuel economy…
DAFMAD:
Coffeeholic:
Auto for me.
Yep, I was joking the first time. If it was manual for me I wouldn’t have specced my last two trucks with auto boxes.
guess the thing is just because it’s an auto doesnt mean you can forget about how to drive.
Too true. If Autos were that easy to use then why do so many people who are not used to them have problems? It’s not deskilling, it just a different skill.
Can see the point with the tanks - it’s a long while since I pulled one, but if I put one behind the Stralis it’d be confused within seconds, I suspect!
Personally i think it depends on the truck and the 'box. At the moment i have got a TGA with manual and have no problem at all with it. Have driven autos in the past and i have found them to be as good as they are bad. This is why i have not voted.