I drove a fh auto for the first time today and although I wasn’t fully freighted I had a real problem crawling up hill in traffic. Twice I got to the speed where the box wants to change up but the gear change was so slow I’d almost stopped before the next gear was selected. Any advice?
you could try putting it in the manual mode so you can control the gearing better mr b.
I have drove a few autos and I can not tell you but if you look round on the dash or round the gear selctor you should have a manual mode or be able to hold it in the gear you won’t. On the Stralis you press the D button and press it again for manual or hold it in to selct 1 st
its slightly interesting driving autos when your either going down hill, or slightly over speeding, and the truck seems to put itself in neutral, then as its slows back down, drops back into top gear. Tis a little un-nerving the 1st time it does it and your not expecting it to happen 
Did you use the kick-down? It works same as it does on an auto car, press pedal hard to floor and it drops a gear.
Alternatively select “Power” mode by pressing the button on top of the selector housing. This effectively does the same as kickdown. It reverts back to “Economy” mode when you either press the button again or hit the limiter.
Peirre, that’s because you have the retarder/exhaust brake control set to “A+” position, assuming you’re talking Volvo i-shift. Set it to “1” and you don’t get this; it is a bit unnerving I agree but you do get used to it.
I don’t wish to be rude, BTW, but the best advice I’d give any driver before using an auto for the first time is, RTFM! 
Learned this the hard way with one of the early Merc EPS boxes, which some will remember had a disconcerting tendency to go into neutral on the overrun and then refuse to go back into gear at all. Definitely a brown trouser moment! 
gnasty gnome:
Did you use the kick-down? It works same as it does on an auto car, press pedal hard to floor and it drops a gear.Alternatively select “Power” mode by pressing the button on top of the selector housing. This effectively does the same as kickdown.
I don’t wish to be rude, BTW, but the best advice I’d give any driver before using an auto for the first time is, RTFM!
I didn’t know about. Power mode next time I’ll try it. What’s RTFM mean■■?
Mr B:
What’s RTFM mean■■?
Read the F****** manual
gnasty gnome:
Peirre, that’s because you have the retarder/exhaust brake control set to “A+” position, assuming you’re talking Volvo i-shift. Set it to “1” and you don’t get this; it is a bit unnerving I agree but you do get used to it.
As a scum off the drivers boot agency driver, and as rare as hens teeth, its not often I get to drive the volvos as theyre the domain of the trampers. But I am familiar with the volvos. The 1st time it happened I spent the time “RTFM”, however Im happy enough to leave everything as found, & leaving it in "A+" mode. I suspect some of the trampers dont know how to switch modes on the volvo Lol
Read the F****** manual
good advice. Normally I would read the manual cover to cover before a driving truck but in this case it was abandoned yesterday and I was sent to collect it today…
Ok, I’m lying I never look at instruction books I play until I understand.
My advice is get manual too, a manual gearbox 
Besides a lot of companies take the truck manual out, so no chance of looking at it.
On the Volvo just shift the gear lever backwards into M (manual) mode. and the the use the button on the right of the lever to shift up or down or use the power button on the box behind the lever as this holds it in a lower gear for longer or changes down earlier.
Personally if I was in heavy traffic up the hill then I’d consider manual control, but if I wanted a bit more speed up a hill, (maybe to overtake) I’d use the power button.
Most of the time I just leave it in Auto, never really found the gear change to be slow, but then crawling up a hill you’ve not really got the momentum.
DAFMAD:
My advice is get manual too, a manual gearboxBesides a lot of companies take the truck manual out, so no chance of looking at it.
I confess I used to feel the same way about autos; three months on this i-shift has more or less converted me. The beauty of it is that you still have the manual option; as for the lack of a clutch, my left hip’s not complaining at all, used to get a bad ache there after a busy day on the manual truck. No pain at all now, so I guess it must be the constant gear-changing that was aggravating it; plus the later Volvo FM’s have much better seats.
I’d owned a few automatic cars, so pretty much knew what to expect; however if a driver hasn’t then I strongly suggest he either asks the gaffer for a proper manual or simply asks another driver for advice. It never ceases to amaze me that people just jump into vehicles and drive away without taking a couple of minutes to find out what does what on the dashboard; yes I know the basics are the same everywhere but that would not be a defence if you had a prang and were found to have operated the vehicle incorrectly through lack of knowledge.