Hello. I passed hgc in an automatic would an employer frown at this and think oh god he has to be trained up before he can go out on the road?? Any thoughts please.
No, most wagons are autos these days anyway, and your license doesn’t say what you passed in, unless you only have an auto car license.
neilp1982:
No, most wagons are autos these days anyway, and your license doesn’t say what you passed in, unless you only have an auto car license.
I passed car in manual and passed class 2 in auto. Just thought companies might turn noses up…thanks for your comment.
Your problems will only come if you get a manual on an assessment and can’t manage it, might be an idea to do some research into the likely gearboxes you might encounter at local companies, think there’s some articles in the stickies here about gearbox types to start you off, Youtube might be useful if you avoid the show off american stuff.
If you get given a manual lorry once accepted do the same as we did years ago, find a gear to get you out the yard and out of earshot, then have a play round till you suss it out, none of us were born knowing 40 different types of lorry gearbox.
Thanks for that. Superb info,yes just pull away and sort pout the gears on the estate or nearby.excellent. Thank you.
Neil, since passing both class 2 and 1, all but 1 of the trucks I have driven have been manual.
djp:
Hello. I passed hgc in an automatic would an employer frown at this and think oh god he has to be trained up before he can go out on the road?? Any thoughts please.
If you don’t tell them ,they won’t know that you passed in an auto.However employers don’t mind investing in someone who in honest but needs some training for kick off.
good luck mate
Thank you
Like others have said, do some research on the stickies as the have alot of info on the gearboxes. I had that Truckers Handbook by a lady called Lisa-Marie Melbourne (I think) which had the common types of gearbox (including the Eaton Twin Split - thankfully never came across one of those?!). If you come across anything too obscure just collar another driver - don’t have to tell him you passed on auto, just say you are not familiar with this particular box 
What people encounter seems to vary a lot - some say they very rarely see a manual box, some say they never see autos. Me - I passed both on manual but I have only driven 1 manual since I passed!
Manuals aren’t hard to learn, one thing you need to remember using a 4 over 4 is do not rush it otherwise it will throw a hissy fit and refuse to give you any gear. Knock or slap overs are believe it or not the easier box to get on with as they can take some rough housing,