Are you telling me you didn’t do a risk assessment first, and that you took it out with no preliminary training? 
Wtf is H&S coming to man.?..the job’s rubber ducked.
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Eh? Whadysay?
We still had those for some of our fleet about 3 years ago. That’s what I started on. Kinda wierd but ok. The reason I got told was apparently they are a bit better in rough farm conditions.
I got in an Iveco 3 tonne van the other day which had been abandoned in my way in the yard. It had an automated ‘box, which I was unable to get in gear because I didn’t know that you had to press the brake pedal to select drive.
Thing is these days they make things so complicated when there’s no need.
Like Renault you have select drive then twist it back for reverse. I never knew that felt like at idiot when I had to ask someone where’s reverse
Think yourself lucky, I had a day in one last year and only realised that I had no idea where reverse was after I’d picked a gap in the traffic and slewed across the road in preparation of a reverse into a tight farm gate!
obviously the worlds supply of traffic then arrived as I’m sat there across two lanes revving in vain!
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Not gearbox related But drivers should be given some sort of training familiarisation on trucks. As in what all gadgets buttons do etc not just a driving assesment.
Esp if your company buys new ones. As where worked few years ago we got some new ones. With adaptive cruise control radar sensor braking thing.
Never had one but heard about eco roll on some trucks etc.
Nobody ever shown me what it all does how it works etc.
Been a case of pressing buttons see what happens or watch you tube videos
How does the song go, “everyone’s gotta learn sometime”. Personally, I would have just persisted getting experience of that type of box. I have about 30 years ago driven something Foden related around the yard as a shunter. Double Clutching etc. If you have no experience, go to a local driving school as ask them to give you an hour on a truck with those boxes.
Is that on a steering-wheel side-stalk control or via a DAF ‘wheel of fortune’ dial? I’ve never had the dubious pleasure of driving a Renault wagon.
It’s a stalk on steering wheel. Turn the end to select forward then turn back to reverse.
We’ve got a a 74 reg volvo . Had go in it other day and that’s the same set up
There’s no shame in having to ask, everybody has got to learn, better to ask and learn than to c ock the job up.
Example being…ME. I asked and asked and asked about the Foden 12 speed box…and I never did master it. But that was long long ago. It’s easy when you know how
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My beloved 12 speed really haunts you doesn’t it? I can feel the anguish with every word you write. 
I can only repeat, Swinscoe in the snow, empty artic, wheels spinning to a halt. Carefully chose different gears one at a time ‘till I felt one that seemed to know what it was doing, let in the clutch gently and…away we went. 
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I felt ‘inadequate’ (thick) 
I was being told, and shown. And I still couldn’t get it right. It haunts me to this day. 
I was only a yoof at the time,just getting started so you can imagine how I felt.
I did get better with gearboxes as the years went on.
Favourite ??..9 speed Fuller
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That’s like the Scania.
I drove a 2015 plate Volvo unit once our firm had acquired and that had a really cool grip-shift gear you’d use for gears with you left hand, and an electric parking brake (which i wasn’t that keen on), so maybe that’s only the premium units?