I'm not a truck but a mechanic on them, generally I prefer the splitters but the straight don't bother me either. I've never messed with an 18 speed so I don't know about shifting on those but the 13, 10, and 9's all seam fairly easy. I also agree on no truck shifts the same the old Ford LTL's you have to be right on top of your shifts where the newer trucks you have 1-1.5 second lag to get it in gear. Last when I took my class B test they didn't mark me down at all for not using the clutch but then again every state is different. I find it easier to shift medium and heavy duty trucks without the clutch anyway.