“Why are so many lorries automatics, when more cars are manual?”
I would think its because as trucks have lots of gears,its to make sure you are driving in the right gear,to save fuel etc.
Trucks aren’t really automatics, they have computer controlled manual gearboxes with dry clutches which tend to give better fuel consumption for the average driver.
Cars have traditional automatic gearboxes, which have torque converters, or wet clutches, and these give worse fuel returns than manual gearboxes, as well as costing more.
Yet in America, it seems to be reversed, Trucks still have Constant Mesh boxes!
Was it not a fleet requirement to start with? Too many different driving styles by many different drivers putting excessive wear on clutches.
dew:
Yet in America, it seems to be reversed, Trucks still have Constant Mesh boxes!
They may not thank you for saying it, but car and truck technology in the USA is significantly behind that in Europe and Japan, chiefly because many Americans still favour an inferior domestically-produced product over a superior imported product for patriotic reasons.
MAN:
MAN says the poor quality of UK truck drivers has inspired it to offer a version of its TipMatic transmission without any manual override.“The new Fleet software was initially developed for the UK market,” a spokesman says. "UK customers told us that the quality of their drivers was not so good.
Seems we are tarred with the same brush
How are the younger less experienced drivers going to learn a manual gearbox ?
DAFMAD:
"UK customers told us that the quality of their drivers was not so good.
It was fine before they started employing Poles and Lithuanians. 
Harry Monk:
dew:
Yet in America, it seems to be reversed, Trucks still have Constant Mesh boxes!They may not thank you for saying it, but car and truck technology in the USA is significantly behind that in Europe and Japan, chiefly because many Americans still favour an inferior domestically-produced product over a superior imported product for patriotic reasons.
Or maybe it’s actually,so far,been a case of vice versa at least where the good old fashioned Fuller box v most of the synchro euro and scandinavian jobs and/or any computerised automated box are concerned. 
But there’s probably a lot more demand for cars these days with slushboxes compared to the amounts with manuals in them than the OP realises.Which probably says more about modern driving standards or preferences than anything about the so called superiority of auto boxes.No surprise that one of the best changes that could be made to an auto car is to convert it to manual and the best manual box,in a car or a truck,is the constant mesh type.Just so long as the driver knows how to use it. 
As soon as I saw this:
They may not thank you for saying it, but car and truck technology in the USA is significantly behind that in Europe and Japan
I knew it wouldn’t be long before I read this:
Carryfast
!
Gary
My car and truck are auto, as were most of the coaches and busses I used to drive.
Damned handy when I came off my bike on a left hander doing my left leg in big time back in 2006, could still get to work and drive the self load freight to their destinations - all be it with some twitching 
Or maybe operators are tired of replacing clutches.
mike68:
Or maybe operators are tired of replacing clutches.
Perfectly good point. My experience is a clutch lasts around a third longer in the autos than a manual. Plus of course in a lot of cases there is a fuel saving to be had.
I had a Mitsubishi car with an automated manual gearbox. Everything worked by actuators on the clutch and gear selectors. My local mechanic said it was one of the best he’d driven. To be honest it was crap and used to hunt around for gears all the time. The rest of the car was great, I’d have another tomorrow but only with a manual.
I’ve not done much hgv driving as I only do it part time, all have had manual gearboxes. I’m usually driving a different truck each time I work and I suppose it takes a little time to get used to each one and possibly some extra wear occurs then that wouldn’t occur if it was an auto box.
Harry Monk:
Trucks aren’t really automatics, they have computer controlled manual gearboxes with dry clutches which tend to give better fuel consumption for the average driver. Alfa Romeo 156 Selespeed is exactly this !! great box shame it kept breaking.Cars have traditional automatic gearboxes, which have torque converters, or wet clutches, and these give worse fuel returns than manual gearboxes, as well as costing more.
If fuel was cheaper would will still have all these auto boxes on the go?
MAN driver experience or what ever you call it teach you to drive auto box in manual mode for better fuel defines the point of a auto box really lol needless to say i had left the company i worked for at time they was putting drivers through it
Tell Mrs Muckaway not to worry her pretty little head about it, you’re hungry and thirsty, she has more important things to do!
the maoster:
Tell Mrs Muckaway not to worry her pretty little head about it, you’re hungry and thirsty, she has more important things to do!
She certainly has, we’re on holiday and Mini Muckaway’s asleep…
…And, the parks’ bar opens in an hour.