Glad to see this thread. I too hate auto-boxes with a vengeance! It’s taken all the skill and fun out of driving a lorry. I don’t even like automatic cars. I once drove a modern artic over the fabulous High Atlas Mountains to the Saharan town of Ouarzazate in southern Morocco. It was a tough and wild mountain drive up steep, narrow and unfenced hairpin bends, lasting for several hours. The views were breath-taking. The only problem for me was that the tractive unit had an automatic gearbox that thought it could do the job better than me, and to be fair, maybe it could; but it left me feeling frustrated and de-skilled. In a sense it dumbed-down the driving experience. I would have given my eye-teeth for a 9-speed Fuller ‘box with a clutch-brake and a Jake-brake during that gruelling slog across the mountains of North Africa. With it I would probably have used just a little more fuel than the automatic, but I would have felt much safer, far more relaxed and I would certainly have arrived at my destination feeling more like a professional driver. Mercifully, most of my trips to North Africa and the Middle East were in a unit with a manual constant-mesh ‘box (Twin-splitter). Robert
I hope I never go back to a manual. A few days in London is exhausting!
I don’t understand the phrase ‘I like to be in control/I need to be in control’. You ARE in control - it’s a machine,you drive it!
I’m in and out of manual/auto all day approaching r/bs, junctions and hills. Do forget I’m in manual when pulling away from lights sometimes tho’ 
What transport technology will we be discussing twenty years from now?
Dave55:
I hope I never go back to a manual. A few days in London is exhausting!
I don’t understand the phrase ‘I like to be in control/I need to be in control’. You ARE in control - it’s a machine,you drive it!
I’m in and out of manual/auto all day approaching r/bs, junctions and hills. Do forget I’m in manual when pulling away from lights sometimes tho’
What transport technology will we be discussing twenty years from now?
I am with you mate and I am old enough to have driven a crash box, do I miss it? Like [zb] I do!
Don’t hold with this deskilling nonsense, it is a different skill set.
In todays world it’s about getting more miles for less fuel so the technology is here to stay, adapt.
I evene fitted colour tv with remote control!!!
I much prefer a manual. My main beef with the automated box in the Stralis, is that it is so slow on the uptake. It also constantly loses itself! By that I mean when in traffic it will tell you its in 3rd or so, then put your foot down to pick up speed a bit and nothing happens. 3rd still displayed, but no drive, select neutral with a grinding crunch from the gearbox and reselect D, away it goes until a few miles later. Iveco cannot find a fault though.
I do miss a David Brown or a Fuller though 
Muckaway:
My boss wont buy autos, even had to make sure our Euro 6 CFs actually came with a manual 'box. And my CF is better on fuel than the contract hire FM with IShift.
I get better full economy with a CF manual 360 than a FM 410 Ishift pulling the same load.
Dave55:
I don’t understand the phrase ‘I like to be in control/I need to be in control’. You ARE in control
Doesn’t sound like it 
I don’t miss manuals for 2 reasons. 1, I still drive them so can’t possibly miss them. 2, even if I didn’t drive them I wouldn’t miss them as the Merc auto is more than competent. OK so it lacks the absolute control of the manual when reversing but with manoeuvring mode activated and a bit of patience it’s 90% there and that’s good enough for me. Not having to change gear every 5 seconds more than makes up for that missing 10%.
As for the Eaton Twin Splitter, I think a lot of the hype is just older drivers trying to get one over on newer drivers who will more than likely never get the chance to prove they could handle one.
I miss them like I miss no power steering, no aircon, no night heaters, steel springs, unsprung seats, no bunks etc etc etc…
I drive in contacts not rose tinted glasses 
It is a good point. I wouldn’t like to have to drive without power steering and glad we have air suspension. I do like manual gearboxes but autos are here to stay and there’s no use looking backwards I guess.
Milk Man:
Muckaway:
My boss wont buy autos, even had to make sure our Euro 6 CFs actually came with a manual 'box. And my CF is better on fuel than the contract hire FM with IShift.I get better full economy with a CF manual 360 than a FM 410 Ishift pulling the same load.
Well you would do since the Volvo is a bigger engine, it’s comparing apples and oranges.
I only miss a manual when I’ve got to drive one of our auto CFs.
But when I’m in my Renault with its I shift, it doesn’t bother me driving an auto.
The Eaton Twin Split was a pig of a gearbox.
But once you had got your head round it you felt you had achieved something.
I haven’t driven anything with an auto box for a few years but I always thought
they held on to the revs too long and I would generally select the manual option,
and usually getting more MPG.
Freight Dog:
This probably is a hackneyed old topic. Sorry if it is.I’m fed up with driving autos. I know they’re much more fuel efficient possibly safer as you have more capacity to study the road. The thing that gets my goat is from a really childish point of view. They’re just no fun. I don’t feel like I’m driving a truck anymore. The twin splitter and range changer separated it from mere car driving, a sort of clunky hissing proof you were in something big that required skill. Now it’s like one of those buses; all that hissing and cluncking of range changers but I’m not involved. Bloody annoying. Don’t get me started on reversing and the fact it seems to be speaking to sattelites at roundabouts. Even more so backing under loaded trailers. I think the auto was the coup de grace for the truck driver and enter the modern “professional”
My last lorry before I took a permanent job yard shunting a ERF EC12 fitted with the best ever gearbox period the legendary Eaton Twin Splitter no clutch needed other than for starting/ stopping and reversing super smooth fast up and down gear changes a lot better than those Merc EPS lorries we had on demo for a while
You couldn’t rush them thankfully we never bought any
Unfortunately a change of management later on and he must of had a senior moment and bought Volvos which were the biggest pile of junk we ever ran with that poxy 3 over 3 box
I’m glad i left after that but I heard he was sent out to grass later the Volvos went not long after
I have a manual stralis at the minute and I spend most of my time driving on twisty roads and through towns etc with 40+ tons on and it does my head in after having an ishift before. I must change gear about 500 times a day.
billybigrig:
I miss them like I miss no power steering, no aircon, no night heaters, steel springs, unsprung seats, no bunks etc etc etc…I drive in contacts not rose tinted glasses
Like button clicked
the local MAN used salesman rings me every couple of months offering me a nearly new truck at a fantastic deal, i,ve told him not to ring me anymore until he can find a manual, i,ve had 3 auto,s now and maybe i see it differently with being an O/D but these auto,s just frighten the life out of me when i think how much they could cost to fix, so be it Scania, Man or whatever, the next one i buy will be a manual
I’m 26 been driving trucks for over a year now, when I started driving trucks through agencies it was all automatics, quite liked it, having driven all automatics buses for nearly 7 years it was one less thing to worry about. Soon got a job with a company that operated only Scania R420’s most of them manual (3 up, 3 down with the half splitter) those trucks were magical. I was a driver, not just a steering wheel attendant, I decided when that truck moved at round abouts, I decided when that truck changed gears, I decided which gear was appropriate for the circumstances, the truck engaged with me and I it, we worked together. It was great.
damoq:
I only miss a manual when I’ve got to drive one of our auto CFs.
The company I work for now, only have Daf CF autos, I ■■■■■■■ hate the ■■■■■■■■ with a ■■■■■■■ passion, pieces of ■■■■, feel like a fanny at most round abouts and when reversing off of streets and it takes its time to engage reverse makes me want to get out and kick utter ■■■■ out of it, really hate DAF CF autos really, really, really ■■■■■■■ hate them 
How many auto converts out there would buy an auto car though?
if you think the Daf,s are bad you want to try a 9yr old auto Man, I have to nip to work on Sunday night and put it in gear ready to set off Monday morning its that slow !
Muckaway:
How many auto converts out there would buy an auto car though?
Got one, although apples and oranges as the car is automatic whereas my lorry is automated. Pretty important difference 
Working for one company I started with an r480 auto then given an r500 manual and fuel consumption went in the the 11s and there was a bit of joke in the office about everyone being given v8s!