Well finally completed my training and passed my cat C Friday morning, went for my first job interview Monday with a large national haulage firm, interview went ok, job sounded pretty good, so you can imagine my horror when climbing into the cab to find out the trucks were not automatic, but manuals…
Still went out for a drive and the assessor was quite happy with my driving and said all I need is some practice with the splitter box…so waiting to hear back about the job, but I’m not so confident now…
cydrosmil:
Well finally completed my training and passed my cat C Friday morning, went for my first job interview Monday with a large national haulage firm, interview went ok, job sounded pretty good, pay wasn’t the bestso you can imagine my horror when climbing into the cab to find out the trucks were not automatic, but manuals…
Still went out for a drive and the assessor was quite happy with my driving and said all I need is some practice with the splitter box…so waiting to hear back about the job, but I’m not so confident now…
What if you trained in a manual straight 6 then got faced with a range change or splitter … you will always come across this issue not matter what you train in which means you have to ASK HOW IT WORKS
Oh the first world problems of actually having to change gear [emoji849]
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I can change gears but using a splitter box for the first time does take some getting used too…My point is you pay alot of cash to get your license, I was informed that the training vechiles are all auto’s now as thats the way the business is going…then on my first job interview and assessment to be faced with a splitter box was not great…
cydrosmil:
I can change gears but using a splitter box for the first time does take some getting used too…My point is you pay alot of cash to get your license, I was informed that the training vechiles are all auto’s now as thats the way the business is going…then on my first job interview and assessment to be faced with a splitter box was not great…
I sympathise as I did my first attempt at C+E in a truck with a splitter box. I had a job a couple of months later with an 18T fitted with a splitter box (probably rare on an 18T) and came round to really liking it. Trouble with gears is that it’s a rod linkage and tends to wear. Most operators have autos as a result.
You seem to have been unlucky with this firm.
Jezzzzzz
When I started 36 yrs ago already had car for a few years then into a splitter for hgv straight into class 1
I passed then my first proppertruck was a twin splitter with a range changer
well A few years after that semi auto and auto bodies arrived shock horror .
No one told you anything but I used the hole in the middle of me face and ASKED funny thing that ask and get told nothing new I bet there’s 100s out there that ain’t driven a manual boxj ust get on with it 
nick2008:
Jezzzzzz
When I started 36 yrs ago already had car for a few years then into a splitter for hgv straight into class 1
I passed then my first proppertruck was a twin splitter with a range changer
well A few years after that semi auto and auto bodies arrived shock horror .
No one told you anything but I used the hole in the middle of me face and ASKED funny thing that ask and get told nothing new I bet there’s 100s out there that ain’t driven a manual boxj ust get on with it
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+1
snowflake alert!!!
i passed in a basic ford d series with a window in the back of the cab and a 20 foot trailer.
hopped into a j4 with a 5 speed box and a 40 footer the same day.
after a while on that i went for a job and got assessed on a bleedin erf wagon and drag with a twin splitter.
have you driven a wagon and drag before?..nope…have you driven a twin splitter before?..nope…lets go out in this one then…
i didnt kill anyone or anything except my sense of competence as i missed everything except crawler,and i coasted to a halt in a screeching and grinding neutral a couple of times,but the still gave me the job which became a somewhat steep learning curve.
find a gear…shudder the thing out of the gates and down the road a bit in the same gear,then spend a couple of hours in a sweating ■■■ cheek clenching flat out panic trying to get my deliveries done before going home wrecked with the prospect of doing it again the next day. 
Doesn’t matter what you passed the test on, once you get out there you’ll find a whole different scenario.
I too trained on a manual, back in the olden days, but me first artic once i got me lorry licence was a mickey mouse Foden with a 4 speed constant mesh shifter to me left and unequal 3 range air shift splitter to the top right of the lump of cast iron they amusingly called a dashboard, talk about baptism of fire 
, no training (no bloody assessments in those days either) there’s the lorry here’s the keys cheerio, so you played a tune on the box and taught yourself.
Even that didn’t prepare me for the column change MAN, only column change box i’d used before was on my dads Hillman Minx, and that long before i could legally drive.
Whatever they have just get in and drive the bloody thing, right frame of mind and attitude is what makes lorry drivers.
Range changers . You will always start off in low chose your gear based on gradient.
Memorise how you get into high and once rolling get into high first.
When you come to a stop remember to put it into low and select pulling away gear.
There’s loads of different ways of shifting between low and high, knobs on the stick or slap across.
Learning in an automatic is great for passing your test in and getting to grips with the other aspects of driving but really it’s a little tedious day to day, a manual box at least keeps you engaged with what you’re doing, and you decide when and how fast to switch gear depending on what’s happening.
Sadly the rise of auto boxes and adaptive cruise control and lane departure systems is all just another step closer to self driving autonomous vehicles.
Not forgetting the seatbelt is there to stop you going through the windscreen as you pass parked trucks and cars when the auto breaks come on
cydrosmil:
Well finally completed my training and passed my cat C Friday morning, went for my first job interview Monday with a large national haulage firm, interview went ok, job sounded pretty good, so you can imagine my horror when climbing into the cab to find out the trucks were not automatic, but manuals…
Still went out for a drive and the assessor was quite happy with my driving and said all I need is some practice with the splitter box…so waiting to hear back about the job, but I’m not so confident now…
Mate, on my first job I was told ‘our trucks are automatic and I know the one you’re having will be too’… Climbed in the cab just like you and what’s in there? a 4 over 4 gear stick. After a quick youtube on some tips I was away, took me a few islands or so to get used to it but it was quite fun in the end.
A basic tip for you
Remember switch pointing down as ‘lower numbers’ (1 2 3 4) and pointing up is higher (5 6 7 8 )
Usually unless fully loaded and on a hill, you’ll start;
2nd
4th
Flick
5th
6th
7th
8th
When you’re used to it you could go 4th into 6th etc.
1st gear is basically a crawler gear.
Don’t let it hold you back you’ll get it no problem.
Worth mentioning that the range change will only operate as you go through neutral. So pre-select the range change so it and you are ready for it. You can do what you like with the range change switch going down the road but remember nothing happens till you reach neutral.
Hope this helps, Pete 
cydrosmil:
Still went out for a drive and the assessor was quite happy with my driving and said all I need is some practice with the splitter box…so waiting to hear back about the job, but I’m not so confident now…
Can’t see the problem, you said the assessor was happy enough with your driving, were they aware you are a new driver with no experience of manuals?
I bet within a day or 2 of driving it you’ll have got the hang of it, by the end of the week it’ll be second nature.
As many of the other old buggers have said, we learnt on trucks which were very different to what we,started on, in my case it was a Ford Cargo with a straight 6 gearbox pulling a 30ft flatbed trailer, first truck I drove after passing was a Volvo F12 16 speed box with range change and splitter pulling a 45ft tilt at full weight.
Almost whatever you drive during training, it will differ from from what you start work on, even auto’s have their differences, always the fun game doing nights on agency, working out where the switches are when you get a different make of truck.
It wouldn’t be practical for trainers to teach each student on all the different gear boxes. Whatever someone learns on they’ll encounter something else, cant win.
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Passed me class 2 in the army on an AEC 10 tonne flatbed. No spltter on that IIRC.
On to removals on various different wagons with Aspinall Removals in Morecambe, no splitters on them, either.
Went to work at Tilcon Concrete Delivery driving a Foden. ■■■■■■ splitter on THAT one!
Take it around the quarry, they said, it’ll get easier, they said.
Yeah, fair enough, I’d kinda grasped it after an hour or so. Never thought about it again. Those were the days