Tex,
On what website were you reading this information?
I think that information about a 4-speed on the column in an A-D trucks is a mistake, a mistype, or a misread.
The 4-speed manual transmission was only a floor shift during A-D years. The changes that took place in 1948 is that the three-speed changed from the floor to the column; and, the hand-brake (parking brake, emergency brake) handle changed from being mounted on the floor-shift to being mounted to the left of the driver's feet.
