Having looked at a number of driving schools in the Bradford district, can anyone advise what the best gearbox might be more beneficial to learn with?
Some schools have four over four but one has a semi auto box on their wagon. I’m thinking if I went for the latter an hopefully passed, I could come unstuck when it comes to actually getting work which I’m sure would involve driving with four over four boxes.
IMO it doesn’t really matter what you pass your test on. After all, the chances of getting the same type of lorry to drive once youv’e passed are not a lot.
There’s even a consultation just finished which suggests letting people pass on a fully automatic and giving them a manual licence provided they hold a manual car licence. In the light of that, I really think you have little to worry about.
Any good employer should provide familiarisation training when you start work.
All the best, Pete 
Thanks for that information Pete. Very useful stuff to know.
Peter Smythe:
IMO it doesn’t really matter what you pass your test on. After all, the chances of getting the same type of lorry to drive once youv’e passed are not a lot.There’s even a consultation just finished which suggests letting people pass on a fully automatic and giving them a manual licence provided they hold a manual car licence. In the light of that, I really think you have little to worry about.
Any good employer should provide familiarisation training when you start work.
All the best, Pete
Sorry to hi-jack thread , but it baffles me that someone can pass cbt etc on a 50cc ped but has the licence etc to drive a 125cc with clutch/gears lol
I agree with Pete, but I generally do as he made such a good job of training me. 
I learned in a 4-over-4 Iveco but my first job was in an automatic MAN. It was a lot easier to figure-out how to turn the knob to ‘D’ to engage drive than it would have been if I had learned in an auto and then faced a manual box.
My next work was with a 4x4 ‘slapper’ box and then a straight 6-speed box.
I suggest you learn in whatever you feel is most likely to result in a pass - and then continue your learning in the real world.
Good luck with the training.
Alan
slapover 
they are horrible. A big sign in the cab reads IF YOU STOP IT KNOCK IT good times i learnt in one of these.
Thanks for all this information fellas, it really helps to get different opinions.
I’m leaning towards training in the semi auto, partly because i want to make the most of an opportunity to pass the test, but also the instructor i spoke with seemed a decent sort and was very informative, i asked plenty of questions and he spent time explaining the answers. I think i’ll organise a visit.
Cheers.
Dave-xanth:
Thanks for all this information fellas, it really helps to get different opinions.I’m leaning towards training in the semi auto, partly because i want to make the most of an opportunity to pass the test, but also the instructor i spoke with seemed a decent sort and was very informative, i asked plenty of questions and he spent time explaining the answers. I think i’ll organise a visit.
Cheers.
It’s not that hard to learn splitter (4 over 4) gearbox or slap gearbox. They may look and sound if they are mission impossible to learn, the way we teach is that you start of with 3 gears (3, 5 and 7) so that you get use to using the button or slapping the gear stick. So that your using less gears than your car, and as you get better and better then introduce other gears.
But you still got to remember that their are still a lot of firms using Cat C manuals out there but are slowly moving towards auto. Most firms do provide familiarisation but don’t train people on how to drive manual box.