Not sure how to operate them …
Am i right in thinking that you leave it in park, start engine, put it into drive… then release handbrake as you rev up to move off
when stopping you come to a halt at say traffic lights … handbrake on, leave in drive
when parking up its as above but put into park before turning engine off.
Am i wrong?
Basically correct.
Most of them will also have a hill start button that, if facing uphill, gives you a few seconds to get going before the vehicle starts rolling backwards. However they reset when you stop the engine so remember to put it back on.
But I would not use the handbrake every time I stopped in traffic. Just use the footbrake. Nothing to stop you using the handbrake if you are going to be stationary for more than a few seconds.
You could always read the vehicle manual as well!!
great thanks hector 
Not sure if it will help, but…
I drove a Scania 94D 230 for my C training + test.
Best way I could describe it was a semi-auto with a clutch.
So, you could pop it into ‘Drive’ and just leave it to change for you, or into an ‘automanual’ 
mode where you could nudge the stick left or right to up or down-shift as you wanted (yeah F1 style 
).
In fact Terry, my trainer, on the way back from the test centre, tried that mode out and preferred it to leaving it in auto as he had normally done until that point.
As regards the clutch, well you only use it to start and stop.
Sounds weird and much more complicated than it is when you try to explain it to someone, but you soon get the hang in practice.
So, setting-off procedure would be:
Depress clutch and select ‘D’ on the stick (1 notch down).
MIrror/Indicator/Shoulder checks etc.
Add revs and find biting point with clutch.
Release park brake.
Pull away whilst letting the clutch up.
Forget about clutch again until you come across a junction/roundabout/somewhere where you need to crawl/stop.
Agree with Hector re. application of parking brake.
As for leaving in ‘D’, you can, but as with the brake, if you have just stopped at some lights/heavy traffic and know you are waiting for a minute or 2, then pop it out into Neutral and release the clutch.
Jon
OldHector:
Basically correct.
Most of them will also have a hill start button that, if facing uphill, gives you a few seconds to get going before the vehicle starts rolling backwards. However they reset when you stop the engine so remember to put it back on.
But I would not use the handbrake every time I stopped in traffic. Just use the footbrake. Nothing to stop you using the handbrake if you are going to be stationary for more than a few seconds.
You could always read the vehicle manual as well!!
But bear in mind that on some (e.g. our Dafs) the “hill start assist” is cancelled as soon as you apply the Park brake - i.e. it only works if you stop and hold it on the footbrake.
I haven’t found a truck with a park position yet. Although common in cars trucks only have drive neutral and reverse. Some will have a crawl mode for drive and reverse too which limits power to give you more control when reversing. Also, some have more than one reverse gear but that’s normally selected by pulling up or down on one of the levers on the steering column.
Some of the newer wagons have this gearbox in them;
K - Select this gear if you want to ‘Kick’ back a little,chill out,take yer time (also known as the agency gear).
N - Select this gear for Neutral. Obvious.
O - Select this gear in Summer. Its the ‘Ogling’ pretty girls gear. Slows the vehicle to walking pace once size 12 or less is detected.
B - Select this gear on Fridays. Its the ‘Bat out of hell’ gear. Automatically accelerates as hard as possible when the lights start changing to red.
Learn how to drive it manually too,before the winter…the automatics have a tendency to drop 3 gears just as your halfway up a steep icy hill which leaves you sliding backwards
ckm1981:
Learn how to drive it manually too,before the winter…the automatics have a tendency to drop 3 gears just as your halfway up a steep icy hill which leaves you sliding backwards
A lot of the newer automatics will no longer let you drive them manually anymore.
m1cks:
ckm1981:
Learn how to drive it manually too,before the winter…the automatics have a tendency to drop 3 gears just as your halfway up a steep icy hill which leaves you sliding backwardsA lot of the newer automatics will no longer let you drive them manually anymore.
That’ll be fun in the winter when running fully loaded
Newest we have is 11 plate Volvos.
eagerbeaver:
Some of the newer wagons have this gearbox in them;K - Select this gear if you want to ‘Kick’ back a little,chill out,take yer time (also known as the agency gear).
N - Select this gear for Neutral. Obvious.
O - Select this gear in Summer. Its the ‘Ogling’ pretty girls gear. Slows the vehicle to walking pace once size 12 or less is detected.
B - Select this gear on Fridays. Its the ‘Bat out of hell’ gear. Automatically accelerates as hard as possible when the lights start changing to red.
Nice E’Beave 
Got the patent in I hope…
Not keen on patent mate. A bit shiny for me. I prefer white slingbacks with matching handbag.
OldHector:
Basically correct.
Most of them will also have a hill start button that, if facing uphill, gives you a few seconds to get going before the vehicle starts rolling backwards. However they reset when you stop the engine so remember to put it back on.
But I would not use the handbrake every time I stopped in traffic. Just use the footbrake. Nothing to stop you using the handbrake if you are going to be stationary for more than a few seconds.
You could always read the vehicle manual as well!!
forgot to ask… is the hill start button marked “hill start button”? dont want ot press the tailgate release lol
coaster:
OldHector:
Basically correct.
Most of them will also have a hill start button that, if facing uphill, gives you a few seconds to get going before the vehicle starts rolling backwards. However they reset when you stop the engine so remember to put it back on.
But I would not use the handbrake every time I stopped in traffic. Just use the footbrake. Nothing to stop you using the handbrake if you are going to be stationary for more than a few seconds.
You could always read the vehicle manual as well!!forgot to ask… is the hill start button marked “hill start button”? dont want ot press the tailgate release lol
It’ll be a picture of a wagon on a hill.
ckm1981:
coaster:
OldHector:
Basically correct.
Most of them will also have a hill start button that, if facing uphill, gives you a few seconds to get going before the vehicle starts rolling backwards. However they reset when you stop the engine so remember to put it back on.
But I would not use the handbrake every time I stopped in traffic. Just use the footbrake. Nothing to stop you using the handbrake if you are going to be stationary for more than a few seconds.
You could always read the vehicle manual as well!!forgot to ask… is the hill start button marked “hill start button”? dont want ot press the tailgate release lol
It’ll be a picture of a wagon on a hill.
thanks mate
… or as otherwise specified in the handbook
In short:
DAF & MAN automatics will have the following:
Dm (Drive - Manouvering, will only move at crawl pace, on a DAF it will be a picture of a turtle)
D (Drive normally)
N (Neutral)
R (Reverse normally)
Rm (Reverse - Manouvering, will only move at a crawl pace, on a DAF it will be a picture of a turtle)
Iveco automatics will have the following big buttons on the dash:
D
N
R
Scania FULL and SEMI autos will have the following on the stalk:
R
N
D
H (Don’t worry about this, it’s just hill mode)
If it is a FULL auto there will be NO clutch. If it is a semi there will be a clutch and you engage D (or R) and use the clutch to start and stop only.
Volvo will only have iShift, quite simply a little gear knob with D, N, R, M (Manual) and little buttons on the side for your thumb to change up and down manually if you wish.
Manual, start the engine (Won’t start in gear), stick it in D and forget about it. Switch to N before stopping engine.
stagedriver:
Scania FULL and SEMI autos will have the following on the stalk:R
N
D
H (Don’t worry about this, it’s just hill mode)
Slight correction - H is for hold. It will hold the gears longer and is effectively the same as a sports mode like you’ll find on a older automatic car.
Also, make sure you put in neutral before switching off. If you lose air pressure and and it’s in gear, it will not go into manual and won’t let you start it to build up air because it thinks you’re in gear!
According to the handbook H is for Hill mode - it changes at a higher revs and changes faster, for going up hills.
The newer versions of Opticruise have P for performance and E for economy.
Our Scania’s have the DM D N R RM sequence, you can also select gears manually by pushing or pulling gear stalk, don’t normally have to though as they are pretty good at selecting the right gear.
Also they have three auto modes, they have a general auto mode A, AP which provides extra power for climbing hills, but uses more fuel and then there is AE for eco gear selection.
The semi autos we have work as someone already mentioned, but I have found them awful, when coming upto roundabouts it will select a gear that leaves you stranded as you go to pull off, you have to be quick to select the right gear manually.