Dano,
Class 8 clutches catch very close to the top of the throw. When starting the engine, you must be in neutral. The truck will not start anywhere but neutral.
Once started, you can click into Drive, then you must depress the clutch all the way to the floor to activate the clutch brake. That's the only time you ever push the clutch pedal down more than 2 inches.
Bobtail, you can easily start out in 5th gear, by clicking the "up" button. Simply release the clutch, no throttle is required to coordinate starting off. Once rolling, throttle is applied.
The Eaton autoshift can be manually shifted with "up and down" buttons in the "hold" position. Lot's of fun!
onezman
http://onezman.tripod.com/yourrvhaulercom