A lot depends on what you’re doing.
A lot of work in traffic, or motorway work, an auto will be fine.
Lots of reversing on gradients, or quickly changing slopes on hills with some weight on, and you’ll need, at the least, a manual override.
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Autos are getting better, but they are designed for the most common use…
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Want an auto that covers everything? Look at the switchgear on a newer Range-Rover. More than just the Forward/Reverse switch on most trucks.
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Most of my mileage is done on m-way, but most of that is done in top gear. So, an auto makes no advantage. The awkward stuff needs me to override the auto box, so the auto is no real help again.
Heavy traffic is easier in auto. As said it makes it easier to update faceache or brew a tea.
Don’t know never driven an auto ,only used a digi card a couple of times ,not got air con or lecky windows ,I like to keep stuff simple ,the Eaton 4 over 4 works for me I even like the lipe rollway clutch 
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When it comes to trucks I prefer manual probably because that’s what I used for 99% of my time. I drove a couple of autos latterly and did not really like them but I believe some are better than others.
When it comes to driving a car give me an auto everytime now. DSG is brilliant. In my younger days I would never have made that choice!
I don’t know if it would be possible but if trucks had torque converter type autos like cars, buses etc they would be much better surely? I have had a few traditional auto cars over the years and they’re fine although I still prefer a manual.
I do ‘get’ autos but they’re just not for me.
nomiS36:
I don’t know if it would be possible but if trucks had torque converter type autos like cars, buses etc they would be much better surely? I have had a few traditional auto cars over the years and they’re fine although I still prefer a manual.
I do ‘get’ autos but they’re just not for me.
Better control, probably yes.
Fuel economy?
Auto for me…
In similar fashion to many others here, I’ve done my share of dicking around with Eaton twin splitters in heavy London traffic and I’m glad to see the back of the three pedal system. There was a time when I was proud to match cog to load to road and keep it smooth and tight. Nowadays I just let the thing do it all by itself and drop the wrong cog in halfway round a bend, make embarrassing departures into fast moving traffic on roundabouts and find neutral when I put in reverse.
I passed my class 1 in the same vehicle the OP did
Auto all the way
I have a weak left arm after a lifetime of falling off naughty horses and have driven some really old horseboxes in my time,splitters, no synchro, the lot
All for an easy life now thanks. Especially as I’m old and past it…
Manual for me and I can say that having put my own money where my mouth is. When I ordered my new one the the dealer wanted me to spec the Paccar (Daf) 12 speed auto but I resisted all persuasion and specced the proper old school and ultra reliable Fuller 18spd constant mesh.
I have never had an aversion to changing gear or using a clutch even though the Fuller requires double declutching or slipshifting as many of you undoubtedly know.
For me personally it is as much a part of the experience of driving as steering or braking and I have always enjoyed the whole experience of driving.
I never bought any of that lane assist, enhanced cruise or collision avoidance stuff either that they wanted to sell but I had heard from other people that it was really annoying and not so helpful.
I appreciate that many modern age drivers will consider me to be a dinosaur but I would rather put any extra specification into the cab/sleeper interior and exterior paint, etc.
^^ Got all the techno crap and it’s annoying as hell . Back on topic , hauling tanks I dreaded the day the company ordered autos over Fullers but I lucked out with a Volvo and their sublime I-Shift which can’t really be faulted , 3 yrs later through our winters and it’s not got me stranded yet plus it’s a delight it city traffic .
When my truck has been in for a service I’ve driven Kenworths 680s with the Eaton ultrashift set to economy mode which have been dreadful to the nth degree , so unless it’s an I-Shift give me a 13 speed Fuller , failing that retirement sounds quite appealing 
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Auto every time.
I was the first one at our mill to get an i-Shift, Volvo FM9 6x2 with a lifting mid-steer. Odd little thing but it worked quite well.
When I picked it up from our Presteigne mill and drove it back to Carmarthen, I thought it painfully slow off the mark yet when I got to base the overall journey time was only a couple of minutes more, which I’ve since put down to my lack of familiarity. Subsequent trips actually improved the time slightly over similar ones in a manual, and fuel consumption improved dramatically.
Of course, I had all the naysayers; “Best leave the towing eye screwed in, you’ll get stuck on EVERY farm”, etc. In actual fact I only got stuck once, and that would’ve defeated a double drive manual. Once you got used to flipping it into manual on difficult bits such as hairpin bends and farm tracks, the rest was a doddle.
The one thing I have noticed, particularly on my kind of work where you’re up and down the box all the time on back roads, is that my left hip no longer aches like hell after a day’s work.
Have to say, like others, that the i-Shift is in a class of its own; my current Actros wagon and drag sometimes feels like all the cogs are having a union meeting to decide which one goes first. Annoying, but you get used to it.