So, I am on the verge of re-testing the road portion of the my CDL license, I am re-testing because I stalled the engine when I was stopped at a stop light and was proceeding to turn right, automatic fail due to impeding traffic! Anyways, I was just offered to test in an automatic for my re-test this week? I am asking the community here for some advice before I give my decision to the school, all I have been hearing from the trucking recruiters (Midwest, Roehl, Schneider, PTI, and even a small company running 6 trucks) that their fleets consist of 95% automatics. I am a total greenhorn and just wanted to get some opinions here so any information would be greatly appreciated, thanks and keep on trucking!
Welcome to the community. I am new also and this is my first reply!
A year ago, I was hired for a job I have desired for several years. They require all drivers to be proficient with a 13 speed transmission and without a transmission limitation on their CDL. I drove an automatic with my previous employer for 3 years. My current truck is a 2025 Peterbilt 579 with, you guessed it, a 13 speed transmission. So depending on your current and future career goals you are smart to give this subject serious consideration. I was offered a similar choice during training and elected to train and test with the manual transmission.
I wish you the best of success with your road test!
I think itâs very much worth getting through the test in a manual not to have that restriction on your CDL. Like the gentleman above stated there may be an opportunity come up down the road that requires it which is exactly why I paid the extra to have the training done in a manual.
I have no doubt youâll get through it. Experienced a few people at the school I went to stall and have to retake. Not a big deal. Just make sure not to dump the clutch before you get rolling while giving a little throttle.
Iâll agree with the others that since youâre already in a position to test on a manual, then go ahead and test on the manual. It doesnât matter how many times you fail; you only have to pass once, and you have it for life.
If you werenât in a position to use a manual, Iâd say donât worry about it. But youâre already in a position to get your CDL without the restriction, so go for it. Do it in the manual.
I feel that you should test in a manual transmission truck. We do not need anymore restrictions in our career even if most companies are going to automatic. If you ever had to use a rental truck with a manual trans. you would not be legally allowed to drive. It might not happen but I say go for the manual.
I truly appreciate the information and your time and consideration to replyâŚreally means a lot to me as I am facing this decisionâŚas in all things in my life, I am praying on it as well. There are a few other mitigating factors at play as wellâŚI will let you all know what happens.
Dawg, youâre just starting out. In my experience, I learned in a manual/stick truck. At that time automatic shifts were just getting into the big fleets (I started at Swift). After about a year I was issued an automatic shift. In just a few days I was hooked.
Take that 95% auto-shift figure. I promise you, in an average driving career these days, you will never need to work a clutch. In my opinion youâre better off testing in an auto shift. As you found out, newbies can fail out just because they messed up shifting.
Few situations in truck driving require manual control. My conclusion: let your left foot take it easy and donât worry about the clutch.
Ok, let me clarify something here. By âfail out,â he doesnât mean permanently. He means you can fail a driving test, and you have to retake it, which is no big deal.
Errol, Iâm not sure why youâd recommend he use an automatic when heâs already trained on a manual and is in the testing phase. Why would you tell him to back away from it now? That makes no sense. He already knows how to shift, but made a mistake on the test. Heâll get it next time.
You donât invest all that time and effort to complete driving school, learn to shift gears, and become fully capable of driving a manual, only to voluntarily accept a restriction that limits you to automatics, just to make the 20-minute road test a bit easier. Thatâs short-term thinking.
And itâs not about âneeding manual control,â itâs about qualifying for jobs that require driving manual transmissions.
Aaamen! Very well said and my thoughts exactly. Hell it took most people in my school 2 to 3 times to get through all 3 phases of the test. He made it to the road test and stalled. No biggie. Heâll know what not to do next time.
Brett, thanks for cleaning up the âfall outâ thing. Actually I was writing on my phone and you know sometimes the phone might say âfall outâ when I meant fail.
More on my thinking is that sure, if you get the training for manual shift, by all means get it. But if you get the âobstructing trafficâ fail because you stalled, here is what should happen to you: you quickly become an expert on coordinating the clutch and accelerator. (Mostly) Small errors of that type can help you learn*.
I have trained students on both manual and automatic. You and I know that not having to learn the clutch speeds up the process and makes for better chances to pass the CDL test the first time. But I was answering the OPâs subject line Automatic vs Manual. I have found only one open truck job listing that required a manual non-restriction. The company explained in the listing that their back up vehicle was a stick shift.
I still stand by my point that the ânon-manualâ restriction will not hold back anyone from getting into an 18 wheeler these days,.
*If you ever get called into Safety for a boo-boo, be sure you tell the Safety person you learned something from the incident.
I can never understand why they do this, but schools almost always tell you start in like 4th gear or something. If you stalled at the light, you were almost certainly in a higher gear. If you start in 2nd gear, youâll need far less clutch feathering, and your chances of stalling will be significantly lower.
Itâs way, way easier to get rolling from a dead stop in 2nd gear than 3rd or 4th. Make life easier on yourself and start in a lower gear.
There! We agree on something! My students start in second, even first gear. That all but eliminates stalls or shuddering.
FYI it takes about 2 BTW hours to go from âThis hereâs the clutch" to driving and turning a tractor with a 53 foot trailer with regular traffic. The rest is just left foot practice.
Well, I truly appreciate your comments and advice regarding my dilemmaâŚI have made my mind up and have decide to re-test in the automaticâŚnot because I am not confident or afraid of re-testing in the manual but all my job inquiries have been automatic responsesâŚso I am thinking why would I test in the manual if I am not going to be using that skillâŚa skill that is perishable and probably wonât be utilizing my first 6-12 monthsâŚand I know that the future is unknown to all of us but I feel that this is the right decision for me, at this time and place in my present but I really appreciate the feedback and supportâŚI will be asking a lot more questions as I begin a new chapter, super excited about the future, keep on trucking people!
We can always respect your decision to go with the automatic for now just remember if you decide to remove the restriction from your CDL-A later it will cost you additional money and trying to find a manual truck to take the test in. Good luck and youâll have that CDL-A soon.
As I said, youâre using short-term thinking, which is the wrong approach when making career decisions.
Not to mention, you have no clue what career opportunities will come your way in the future. Now youâll have limitations for the rest of your career, but hey, that 20-minute driving test will be a tiny bit easier!
Finally, driving a standard is not perishable. Youâre saying that in hopes youâre not screwing yourself in the future.
Errol, this is on you. We unanimously told him to use a manual, and that was the right call. Heâs already trained for it! He almost certainly would have used the manual, but you gave him the ok to take the easy path that he came here hoping for. Thatâs some pretty sh*tty mentoring right there. You knew exactly why he was asking us if he could take the easy path, and you fed into it. You encouraged him to make a decision with no upside, only downside.
Thereâs a saying I live by:
If youâll only do whatâs easy, your life will become hard. If youâre willing to do whatâs hard, your life will become easy.
Iâm disappointed in the decision, but itâs not going to create a crisis. I just hate to see people settle for less than they should.
I agree with you on this but ultimately it is dawg1âs decision. He is choosing the easy way which is based on Errollâs opinion and posting and it is his choice. Erroll is also entitled to his opinion whether it is in the opinion of others on here. I say good luck to dawg1 and hope that he doesnât have to wish he went manual.
Iâm late to the party. My opinion is very biased, but the same as several already stated. I drive a manual. I love it. But I do heavy haul sometimes.
Most all megaâs donât even remember what a manual is, much less have any. That is the smallest portion of the entire industry, although they try their best to rule the industry.
I always advocate for new drivers to test in manuals because that license is good from that point forward. Auto restrictions can and will limit opportunties.
I learned along time ago never say never.
Brett is spot on. In this industry long term thinking is far better than short term thinking.
I understand Errolâs point but that is for the here and now. What happenâs tommorrow??? No one knows.
This entire industry has been upside down the past 3 years or so. I canât see putting my faith in anything within it. I can write a book of the ride we have been on.
Personally I have only survived because I looked down the road years ago and made myself flexible and versatile.
Navypoppop has met me in person and has a good understanding how I approach things.
Thanks PJ for the âpat on the backâ. As always you speak with wisdom and experience without trying to sway anyone. Your point of testing in a manual trans. will put no restrictions on your CDL and allow you to drive any truck there is. Thanks
why would I test in the manual if I am not going to be using that skillâŚa skill that is perishable and probably wonât be utilizing my first 6-12 monthsâŚ
Hey dawg, clutch shifting is not perishable. I learned double clutching for class B in 1978 then moved on, my double clutching skill was âmothballedâ for 29 years. In 2017 I got into a CDL class for a trucking job and picked up shifting in five minutes. in a manual shift truck I can glide the gears up and down without even looking at the tach. Itâs not âperishable" on you part. It is perishable in the industry. I admitted above that I answered your question wrong. If you go to the trouble to learn the gears, and you mess up on the test, really no big deal. Go again, and as I last posted youâll be ready with that second gear start.
As far as having a âcompleteâ CDL, remember this âfrom left fieldâ fact: about 25% of U.S. households still have a landline phone. Why? Most probably special situations. I bet you are surviving just fine without a landline. Same deal with manual shift - everything from old trucks to heavy haul. But most commonly now most fleets are moving to auto-shift exclusively. So you can still get film for your camera, use a typewriter, listen to vinyl albums or your favorite cassettes. But you for your trucking career you wonât be hobbled if you end up with a manual shift restriction.