I am mad at everyone on this board

[Popeye]

I just wanted to let all the posters know that I am very angry with all of them :evil: . I have spent roughly 3 mos. absorbing as much info as I could about this field and have heard what I thought was the hardest parts of the job. So 08/13 I start My CDL training and what do I find out --- SHIFTING :? is the most confusing and at this point the hardest thing.

Actutally this board has been great for information and I would like to say thank you to everyone that has posted useful (and some useless :P ) information. I have drastically improved but my first day I felt really bad for the truck and trainer . I think for the 2 hrs I drove today I had about 10 -12 bad shifts. Compared to Monday when I had about 95% bad shifts.

Again thanks to everyone that has answered questions for me and all the great info provided by CAD

[Uturn2001]

Every one has their own quirks when it comes to what they find difficult in the actual driving of the truck. For me it was learning how to do a good set up for various backs. A guy I went through school with had a hell of a time with left hand turns of all things.

Just remember it is only difficult until you figure it out.

And when it stops being hard there is always Viagra. :P :P

[COLT]

You have to learn to listen to her Popeye, she'll tell you with her reactions, too fast, she'll lurch, too slow, she'll bog down to a stop... You can pump her clutch till your blue in the face, but that won't do a thing to get her home...
Remember, she's in charge... Listen to her, feel her reactions and adjust your timing, it's all in the timing... Next time, we'll talk about different ways to shift ... Not all gear boxes are the same, newer trucks tend to be much less forgiving, the older ones are much easier to get home...

[Kranky]

Just remember: NEVER "jam" the shifter in gear.

If it won't engage smoothly, then you're doing something wrong.

[Sabine]

I am the gal who couldn't turn left. We spend days in an industrial park, going right, right, right.......

I never made a left turn. I almost failed my test because I swung so wide I didn't make it around the corner.

I have gotten better, but my instructors where baffled how anyone could make beautiful right hand turns and then screw up turning left....well they should have taught that too.

[Drew10]

Hey Popeye, know this, everyone of us went trough exactly what you are going through, especially the shifting, everybody had a difficult time learning how to mash the gears correctly.

You already know the basics, you must practice. If you are determined you will get better and smoother at the shifting. Just dont give up, you will be surprised how quickly you will master it.

Then the real problem will occur. If your 4wheeler is a stick shift, and you've been out with the big truck for many weeks, you will try and shift the 4wheeler like the big truck, and wait till you make that 1st right hand turn in the 4wheeler :shock: , its almost comical.

[Mtc_Is_Hell]

I just wanted to let all the posters know that I am very angry with all of them :evil: . I have spent roughly 3 mos. absorbing as much info as I could about this field and have heard what I thought was the hardest parts of the job. So 08/13 I start My CDL training and what do I find out --- SHIFTING :? is the most confusing and at this point the hardest thing.

Actutally this board has been great for information and I would like to say thank you to everyone that has posted useful (and some useless :P ) information. I have drastically improved but my first day I felt really bad for the truck and trainer . I think for the 2 hrs I drove today I had about 10 -12 bad shifts. Compared to Monday when I had about 95% bad shifts.

Again thanks to everyone that has answered questions for me and all the great info provided by CAD

You must go to a good school.. I didnt have more then 1.5 hours behind the wheel before i was doing the road test in St Louis .. You'll do fine.. double clutching isn't that bad.. I had a good laugh watching the other people in my truck trying to single clutch it everytime.. then telling the instructor they did double clutch it

[RebelDarlin]

Oh Popeye, you'll be fine! Everything is hard the first time you try it. By the time you're done you'll be wondering why you thought it was so hard. 8)

I think for the 2 hrs I drove today I had about 10 -12 bad shifts. Compared to Monday when I had about 95% bad shifts.

See you're already getting better!

Do you remember first learning to drive a stick shift car? Bet you stalled that a few times too. :wink: It will get easier, don't be too hard on yourself.

[Popeye]

Thanks everyone for the words of encouragment. Yeah I am getting better I just never thought that shifting was going to be one of the harder aspects of driving . We have only done straight line backing so far so I am sure that come angle time it will get even worse. :? Well off I go to class so I can make some more metal dust :shock:

[continental]

Don't worry, you will scratch a gear every now and then throughout your career.
WE ALL DO! Anybody says otherwise is a liar. :wink:

[golfhobo]

Popeye said:

We have only done straight line backing so far

Ahh... see...... THERE'S your problem!!! You're not SUPPOSED to shift while backing!! :wink:

But, it MUST be our fault!! We forgot to TELL you that!! :shock:

[Popeye]

Ahh... see...... THERE'S your problem!!! You're not SUPPOSED to shift while backing!! :wink:

But, it MUST be our fault!! We forgot to TELL you that!! :shock:

Now I understand my problems -- Thank you :wink:

[Wolfhound]

You don't mention what type of truck you are training on..

If it's a Freightliner Century Class..you may be in luck..

Many of them have a color coded back panel for the rpm gauge..

Just shift up at the "top of the green" and downshift at the "bottom of the green"..

Otherwise, make sure your jake is off, and upshift around 17-1800 rpm and downshift around 1200 rpms..

In the meantime, just keep at it...It will"click" for you soon enough..

Listen to the engine, after a while you wont even need to look at the rpm gauge...You'll know when to shift , just by the sound..

Keep it up..Best Wishes..

[yoopr]

Good thing you're not starting out with the Old Ceramic Clutches Popeye.
With those things no matter how long you have driven you're going to have a rough time without some grinding.

You'll get it-have some patience and practice

[Fozzy]

I am the gal who couldn't turn left. We spend days in an industrial park, going right, right, right.......

I never made a left turn. I almost failed my test because I swung so wide I didn't make it around the corner.

I have gotten better, but my instructors where baffled how anyone could make beautiful right hand turns and then screw up turning left....well they should have taught that too.

I had a student in my class one year who's brother was going through training in Sun Prairie at the same time. His fist left turn was on the CDL test. I never really wanted to believe him, but I guess this is the second person who told me that their left turns were not taught either... :shock:

He almost failed the CDL road test at the point where the examiner asked what the clearance of the up coming overpass was, he replied; " I hope its over 13'6" or where screwed!".. the examiner gave that too him.

[golfhobo]

Fozzy wrote:

He almost failed the CDL road test at the point where the examiner asked what the clearance of the up coming overpass was, he replied; " I hope its over 13'6" or where screwed!".. the examiner gave that too him.

This one happened to ME, too! (I think I posted about this.) Anyway, a driver just returning from taking his test had a chance to "warn" me about a few things. He said I would be asked about the heighth of an overpass, and that it was 13'9".

So, as I was approaching the overpass, being distracted by the school zone sign, I forgot to look.... but I KNEW I could get under it. Just then the tester asked me the heighth, and I said "Thirteen Nine!" He said, "Well, actually it's NOT MARKED! But, you got it right!"

[Popeye]

To answer Wolfhounds question we are in International's. They have mostly 10 speeds and one 13. I believe they are low horse Cummins in them :?: . I actually have improved drastically since the beginning of the week. Still maybe not great but at least good (sometimes):? . I have actually gotten the 13 down to the point of being able to split the gears up and down and still prefer the pattern in the 13 over the 10's. I still have my moments when I get nervous and lose track of what gear I am in though and then all hell breaks loose. But the most important lesson that I learned so far is to relax and take a deep breath regroup and think about what I am doing. You pro's have always made it look so easy that I just never thought it would be that different than a car trans. The instructor felt comfortable enough today to take me through downtown :x in Cedar Rapids IA. Not the biggest town I know but still pretty nerve racking for a Noob. What I found though is that with so much to watch over that I started hitting the gears out of instinct instead of concentrating so hard on them.

The nice things about the replies on this thread though is you other drivers talking about the problems you had starting off. Makes me think that I am atleast not alone. There are some in the class that I feel really bad for. I don't think they have improved one bit since Monday. Of course the one knows everything and keeps telling the instructor how he needs to do to make it "work for him" . I guess there is one in every group :evil: .

Sabine I can't believe that they never taught you to go left. The first one of those must have been scary.

Well anyways sorry about the long post but I feel that atleast you all know where I am coming from (my wife has no clue about it and I think is already getting tired of hearing about it ) So thank you everyone again.

[silvan]

everybody had a difficult time learning how to mash the gears correctly.

No driver, you mash the gas. If you mash the gears, you ain't doin' somethin' right. :P

Then the real problem will occur. If your 4wheeler is a stick shift, and you've been out with the big truck for many weeks, you will try

I had only barely driven a stick in a fourwheeler, which was a blessing and a curse. I had a lot of trouble with the gears. I had to figure out how to do it a weird way that totally confused my teachers. My thought process, rather, not what I was physically doing.

The funny thing was when I drove my boss's pickemup to the store to pick up some truck parts. Back when I had driven a fourwheeler, the subject of downshifting never really came up. I wasn't sure how to downshift a fourwheeler. When do you drop a gear?

So I was coming up a hill, and thinking it was starting to "lug," so I decided to drop a gear. I accidentally dropped two, let up the clutch, and left four black streaks in the road.

Oops.

Fourwheelers let you do stupid things you could never get away with in a truck. I like trannies with no synchros better, personally.

wait till you make that 1st right hand turn in the 4wheeler

I was coming home from some really long run one time, tired as hell. I actually got "pulled over" and sobriety tested in my own damn driveway. The cop saw me swing hugely wide for the turn going up my street, and he thought I was drunk.

Embarrassing. Nothing is more fun than standing in your driveway with a flashing cop car behind you while the neighbors drive by.

[Redlight]

My first day I was thinking I am not going to make it, I felt so sorry for the trany. I was fine if I didn't need to shift LOL

[Popeye]

My first day I was thinking I am not going to make it, I felt so sorry for the trany. I was fine if I didn't need to shift LOL

HaHa that about sums it up