Automatic Trucks At CR England?

Hello all!

I heard a few months back that as of December 2016, CR England would have all automatic trucks or at least be phasing them in. Any truth to this?

That goes for basically all major carriers. Here in about 3 years swift will basically be all automatic. It's the way the industry is going.

Thanks Glad.

Prime is heading that way, as well...

So if one were to go to a starter school with a company that ONLY uses automatics, would the CDL have that on it?

They will still train you in a stick. Automatics aren't as bad as I thought they were. The biggest thing I dislike about them is backing because you lose the clutch control and the gear is pretty much like high reverse on a stick

So if one were to go to a starter school with a company that ONLY uses automatics, would the CDL have that on it?

The Paid CDL Training Programs will indeed train you on a stick so your license will not have any restrictions on it. For those who are not aware of this, if you take your driving test for your CDL in an automatic you will have a restriction on your CDL that says you can only drive automatics. At this time I do not know of any companies or schools that train and test in automatics but there are bound to be some out there. Make sure you avoid that situation. You do not want that restriction on your license and you do want to know how to shift a big rig properly even if you wind up in an automatic after that.

Good info, Brett. So since I have never driven any vehicle that is not automatic, I should just wait until I am in a school to start learning the trucks?

Definitely wait to learn the stick in a big truck! You don't want to learn any bad habits or have to unlearn things during CDL training. I'd much rather teach someone to drive a manual truck that has not driven a manual at all.

Definitely wait to learn the stick in a big truck! You don't want to learn any bad habits or have to unlearn things during CDL training. I'd much rather teach someone to drive a manual truck that has not driven a manual at all.

Chad is right. Believe it or not almost any instructor you come across will tell you that often times the people who have never driven a stick in a four wheeler will learn to shift a big rig faster than those who have driven a stick in a four wheeler. There are so many differences in the way you shift a big rig versus a four wheeler that it can be difficult to break those habits developed in the four wheeler.

I think almost everyone has some anxiety over learning how to shift a big rig and to be honest it's really tricky at first. It takes everyone time to get it. But everyone does get it eventually and once it clicks you'll see there's nothing to it. So don't sweat it. You'll learn it just fine at truck driving school.