I'm a self taught driver from helping out on my father-in-law's farm. I decided to go ahead and get my full classA. I took and passed the written tests with all the endorsments to open up the job market a little more on completion of the skills test.

My problem, and it might not be a problem in the state of michigan, is that i've learned to float shift and not use the clutch and i've been doing for a while. I heard I must learn the "double clutch" before taking the test. Is this true, and other michigan drivers out there recall this from the test?

If I need to learn this, what's the best way to go about it?

 

I 'm not sure about the driving test goes.

But by being "self taught" you are going to have a hard time getting hired by any of the big companies. They all want you to a graduate of a approved training school. (Insurance purposes)

 

In SD you have to double-clutch to pass. I float everything, even my personal cars. But my instructer said the tester would be watching for double-clutching so I focused on ditching my old habits when I was in the truck.

Like my instructer said when someone did something not according to the state instruction manual, "He has his CDL. You can do that when you get yours, but you have to get it first."

 

What if start at local companies.. would the experience be enough for the big companies?

 

in Mass you are supposed to double clutch. but when I tested the trooper saw I was not used to double clutching. so he told me not to. I guess he liked sitting in the seat. rather than being bounced out every time I shifted.

 

After 2 years of equivelant experience most companies no longer care if you went to school. By equivelant experience I mean OTR is OTR experience, local driving is local experience, etc.

You might be able to find a small company somewhere that will be willing to take you on, but since it is really the insurance companies that dictate who someone can hire you may still find a problem getting the type of job you really want.

 

Double clutching.....

Tap the clutch to take it out of gear, and then tap the clutch to put it into the next gear. If you can float then you already know about matching rpm to road speed and all that.

 

If you can float then just press the clutch pedal a couple of times while shifting - you have now double clutched. :lol:

 

Ok since im from michigan i can say that you do have to double clutch on the test.. but if you self learned the harder part of the test will be the pre-trip where there are certain things they want to hear about everything.. any questions feel free to ask.

 

I would agree on the pre-trip part, be sure to bone up on that info before going for the test. The double-clutching will be the easy part. I had a very similar situation to yours in that I had a ton of experience over the years in farming, just didn't have the CDL. The difference for me was that I did decide to go ahead to school before taking the tests. It helped me a lot in my backing skills and so forth and it will open doors to more companies than if you do not graduate from a school.

My guess would be that most local outfits won't care if you went to school or not, especially if you'll be pulling something like a grain hopper or rock bucket. Some big companies won't care either, but some definitely will.

As for floating, you do have to use the clutch in Ohio, not sure on Michigan, but it's not always necessary with big companies. When I took my road test with Maverick I was worried about double-clutching also and tried to make it look good. The instructor asked me if I always used the clutch and I told him I thought I was expected to. He responded with, "hell no man, if you know how to float, float em!". He took a lot of stress off of me and told me that he didn't care what experience or schooling I had, "You got your CDL, just drive the truck.".

Don't sweat it so much, it's very easy to fake and even if they know you are faking it probably won't hurt you.

Good luck!