Going to school, Do I need to know how to drive stick in a car?

Nah. Any decent instructor will have you shifting in no time.

 

Our instructor told us it was sometimes easier to teach a student how to double clutch if they didn't know how to drive a stick in a car. You will be fine!

 

A manual in a car and a truck slightly different. I don't think it's necessary to learn how to shift a 4 wheeler before learning to shift a big truck. In fact I think it's better to learn a big truck. Ya know, clean slate. No bad habits to break.

 

I learned how to shift gears in a semi since I never learned how to drive a manual before that. OP you'll be fine. This is actually pretty common thing instructors deal with when training people how to driver truck.

 

Don't even bother practicing on a car. Shifting a car is a little different than shifting a manual trans in a tractor trailer. Learning on a car for a few days, will make you pick up lots of bad habits that will actually make it harder for you to learn on a truck. I could wrtie over a page just off the top of my head, there are quite a few other posts on this forum about the same thing.

Learn from scratch in school, that is what you are paying them big bucks for. Trust me it will make things much easier.

 

Not to be an A hole but the object of going to trucking school is to learn how to shift, back, make turns, and learn everything associated with trucking. There are several drivers like you who has never driven a manual transmission of any kind that wants to learn how to drive a truck. As long as you have the patience and desire and have a trainer that is patient and willing to teach you, then its nothing to worry about

 

I was told the same thing.

 

It'll be easier for you if you have never driven a manual automobile.
I drove a five-speed manual transmission for a decade in my personal car and so in school every time something went weird in the truck, I'd STAB that clutch.
My old habits died hard...