I am just finishing my first week at a trucking school. On Thursday I got to sit behind the wheel for the first time.

The starting exercise was upshifting from lo to 4th gear then of course downshifting.

I am told I did okay on a first attempt. I did get to the point where I was able to upshift and downshift. It was a bit rough though

I understand what I need to do to double clutch - doing it quickly just isn't happening right away. I am hesitating....it goes something like:

Clutch
Out of gear
....pause...
clutch
into gear

That pause isn't long but it is me thinking about what happens next...and even a short pause isn't great. I ended the day feeling kinda frustrated after seeing someone else step into the truck for the first time and do much better!

Hrmm...so question...is this an okay first day?

I am hoping with a lot more time in the truck to come this pause disappears.

I did ask the instructor how I did - he said I did well but I guess I would have liked to have done a lot better.

Well, let me first say that I'm in my 2nd week of school and felt THE EXACT SAME WAY!

It helped me to count....one-two. Or whatever. Just remember not to go too far to the floor with the clutch...it'll lengthen the "pause" you mentioned. Here's what all of the instructors told ME: "Just relax. EVERYONE does just fine after awhile."

Good Luck!

it should help to put just a little pressure on the stick, when ya clutch it, will pop out of gear. then while your clutching out, release any pressure on the stick. then clutch and put just a little pressure on it and it should just jump in gear. i found that when you shift and don't give some slack between gears that the gears kind of bind, and don't want to slide easy. most training trucks i imagine are pretty well worn and should just about get in gear by themselves if you let them. most trouble is caused by rushing the shift. remember the throttle will hold the correct rpm as long as you need it so use your foot to help your hands. good luck.

Iam at J.V.I right now and they have me double clutching too iam on my 8th week and I improved alot it jus takes alot of practise. You will get it. I was jus waondering what school your are taking? Good Luck

The problem there is that the point of synchronization will drop with your road speed since you'd be slowing down while still in neutral.This becomes much more of a problem in the lower gears, especially while empty because you have less inertia to help keep you moving.

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Z-Lady's devoted hubby.

Our class just got on the range too, to learn up and downshifting. Up shifting was easy, but downshifting took some practice for me...and the rest of the class. The change for me was when the instructor got in the truck and told us to watch him. Everyone did much better on downshifting after that. Its funny that you have such a powerful piece of equipment, but you have to be so gentle with it for it to work properly. Good luck!