Driving a car after driving a truck is quite wierd...

[matcat]

Well after coming home after spending 6 months OTR and hopping back into and automatic car, OMG it was so weird... At first I felt like I was in a coffin or something, so small, then being so low to the ground was odd, then constantly going to stomp on the ghost clutch, reach for the ghost stick, turning wide a few times, rofl. Plus starting to come to a stop from wayyy back. After a few days I got used to it, but man its a trip.

[DaveP]

I know what you mean...

I drive a Honda Accord and it feels like I'm doing about 150 (even at 45) with my butt about 2 inches off the gound.

[jw6831]

Yea, driving without the clutch doesn't work well either

[Oakdancer]

Ain't that th' truth?

Don't know how many times I've reached for the jake going downhill, and I know I swing turns wide. Also, I've been dring th' missus nuts shifting gears - you know, with just a little practice you CAN float the gears in an Isuzu Trooper?

Biggest problem I have now is trying to back into a parking space - I ALWAYS turn the wheel the wrong way!

[moose81]

I know I can tell more than once I have tried to release the air brakes on my civic

[Drew10]

There is another post running around here somewhere regarding this topic about the transition from the "big truck" back to the 4wheeler. Its definetly a reverse transition.
I used to drive my Pickup (Mazda B2600i 5speed)....well....like a 4wheeler, not anymore. Way more cautious than I used to be. I get all the transitional problems. Parking brakes, leaving it in neutral when getting out, wide turns etc.
Your talking about your car having an auto transmission. How bout the standard transmission. Anybody try and flip the, no existing Range switch after going through your gears in the 4wheeler.

[heavenbound]

I know I can tell more than once I have tried to release the air brakes on my civic

Thats to funny, i reached for the engine brake today and tried to play it off like no one saw me, but my wife had to say something about it, lol

[Malaki86]

I still forget that I actually can go into any gas station, fast food, etc and not be able to get turned around. My wife has asked me to pull into a rest area at night and I forget what I'm driving and tell her where the next truckstop is that I know I can get in and find a parking spot. All this in a '99 Chevy Blazer.

I did get rid of my Grand Am though. I was soooooo freaked out on the interstate in it when a truck would pass me. Sorry, but I'm not used to looking up at the underside of a trailer. I completely avoided the interstate just because of that when I drove the car while I was home.

[Drew10]

I was soooooo freaked out on the interstate in it when a truck would pass me. Sorry, but I'm not used to looking up at the underside of a trailer.

Man...you got that right...Doesnt bother me in the truck to run side by side with another truck, but not in the 4wheeler, freaks me out too.

[Drew10]

I was soooooo freaked out on the interstate in it when a truck would pass me. Sorry, but I'm not used to looking up at the underside of a trailer.

Man...you got that right...Doesnt bother me in the truck to run side by side with another truck, but not in the 4wheeler, freaks me out too.

[Rokk]

I actually pulled into a weighstation to cross the scale while reaching for a smoke while driving my car ( some OCD act, See weigh station sign, light up) it was like a reflex to pull in. good thing there was also a rest area there, so i didnt look obvious when i realized what was happening.

[wsyrob]

My F150 truck feels like a sports car its so small. I also tried to back out of my parking space in first gear once

[Mr. Ford95]

I have tried going for a 6th gear on my 5 speed Chevy S-10 on a regular basis. I transition a lot of my truck driving over, staying way back and slowing down early for lights, etc.....

[matcat]

A little off topic, but today I was watching this guy trying to back up one of those single car flatbed trailers with his pickup, I was about half tempted to say hey, let me do it for you! after watching him for 20 minutes try with all his might and doing everything wrong, but then later on I thought about the fact that that trailer is only about 10 foot long... and being used to 53 foot trailer, I probably wouldn't of done much better... The air brakes haven't snagged me yet, probably because I share the vehicle with a roomate, and he actually sets the parking brake, so every time I go to drive I have to release them. But slowing down from a far distance is something I have been doing consistently, just a habit, keeping following distance too. Plus I've had to retrain myself to use the rear view mirror Keep trying to just use the side mirrors and they are so small, Its like OMG whats going on around me... ohh duhh I got a rear view mirror! Still retaining that look at both mirrors every few seconds habit too, but those habits are good at any rate. Ohh and slowing down much more then need be for a 4wheeler for curves haha. God I miss driving that truck, only been 2 1/2 weeks, I gotta find another driving job ASAP before I go stir crazy. You know your hooked on driving when you pass an industrial zone and feel at home, or go to a place that has a 'shipping and receiving' door and your first instinct is to go in there... then got frightened when you can't think of where you put your BOL, haha, happened to me the other day, went to go fill out an app at a local trucking company, and went in the wrong place by accident that had a shipping and receiving door, and for a split second I was going crazy trying to think of where I put the BOL until I realized what I was actually trying to do there, haha. Ohh and I have been finding myself going way off the beaten path trying to find places to turn around when I get lost! Did that a couple of times in the 4wheeler.

[rumbarrel]

Hey Matt...........sorry to hear that you lost your job. It sure seemed like you were enjoying it !! Hang in there.....keep trying....there has to be a company that can use you.

Well, I have finally made the decision to go for it. I start training for my CDL on APR. 14. I am scared sh--tless, but WTH...... you gotta just go for it sometimes. I've heard somewhere that it is tougher to KEEP a CDL than to GET one. I plan on working real hard to protect my CDL when I get it. Have a perfect MVR right now, and I hope to be able to keep it that way. 5 week course, so I should be OTR with a trainer, hopefully, by late MAY. Haven't decided which company to go with yet, but there are a couple of companies at the top of the list. (Swift isn't one of them)

So anyway, here goes another mid-life crisis career change.

Anyway, back to you..........IMO you should be totally honest from this point forward......make sure when you talk to perspective employers that you are up front with them and show sincerity when you tell them that you made a dumb mistake BUT you learned a BIG lesson that you KNOW will help you to continue your career when you DO find a company that is kind enough to give you a second chance.

[CrazyTulip]

Phew - thank God I'm not the only moron trying to set the air brake in the car

[bentstrider]

Well, one thing I do differently now is that I back in everything that I drive.
Whether it's a motorcycle, bicycle, or a pickup, that's the way I do it.
Hell, when I see most of the cars in a parking lot while cycling through to the bike rack, I'm chewing most of these people out like the drivers that pull in at a truckstop, as opposed to backing it in.
I don't know, I just see backing-in as an "elite-skill" for some, odd reason.

[Mr. Ford95]

I laugh at the wannabe truckers who attempt to back their pickups into spaces while turning around to look out the rear window. They always end up crooked as doo-doo and usually over a line and that's after at least 1 pull-up. Good drivers can use their side mirrors only, be straight within the lines and without using a pull-up. 8)

It's an elite skill that nearly all non truckers don't have but they sure think they do. It's that dang, "Hey look at me, I'm cool." Your also crooked and over the lines dude.

[BigWheels]

I've gotten pretty good at floatin' the gears in my wife's civic -- so good in fact that I've just about completely blocked out the grinding kaChunk noise I hear.

[lurchgs]

Yeah - I've gotten darn good at floating the gears on my Lincoln.. oh.. wait.. it's an automatic, and I can't even do a good downshift in a truck yet.

But there IS as damn dent in the firewall where the clutch pedal would be