Got fired for not floating gears

Sounds like you're better off without them. A professional floats and uses the clutch according to what the situation requires. Its never a hard and fast rule.

 

How is it known that you were not floating the gears?

 

Over the years, I've applied at a few places, who told me you would be fired if you floated the gears. Strange they would fire you for not doing it.

 

Plenty of jobs out there……

 

That's a crock. It's not you. Like AModelCat said,there's a time & a place for different driving techniques. Good luck.

 

What!? You should have talked to the manager and lied and told him you would float from now on if they showed you how, and then promptly did #### all when you started driving. Schneider tried to fail my driving test for not stopping at a railroad with a non-placarded bulk load. I remained calm and talked to them and said I’d learn to drive their way. Then proceeded to forget whatever the hell they told me to do after I passed. I have absolute confidence you know how to drive a truck.

Have you ever worked other blue collar jobs? Where the safety guy strolls around and suddenly everyone is OSHA compliant out of thin air? Same idea

 

Dang man....that's a tough break. Every truck is different and shifts differently. He just automatically assumed you were inexperienced and didn't know how to shift. Some people are anal like that. It's just how it goes sometimes. They want you floating gears like a smooth criminal. Don't worry about it man. You'll land on your feet in no time.

 

If thier concern was that you were not super smooth with your shifts... They must be living in dream land. Every truck shifts at least slightly different, and that change can take a few days to get used to... Even a truck you have driven before, but its been awhile.

My daily driving truck is an '07 W900 with a turned up CAT and an 18. I can run it all day up and down the roads pulling a tanker A-Train and never turn off the jake brakes but they very rarely burp unless I want them to, and the ride is nice and smooth...

Today my truck was in the shop for a blown wheel seal... So I got stuck in a much newer Pete with a 10 speed... Lets just say its a good thing I spend most my day driving back in the sticks, because you'd have thought it was my first day in a truck. Missing gears left and right, grinding a few gears, crow-hopping as I take off from a stop. Yeah it wasnt pretty... Unfamiliar trucks take time to learn and adjust to, even for very experienced drivers... I been in and out of trucks of various types and styles for over 20 years. Sure I felt a little ashamed, but I kept at it and improved as the day went on. When I went to get my truck back, I approached the yard hitting every downshift nice and smooth, swung in through the gate, parked it nice and straight, dropped my trailers, moved the truck infront of its normal trailer, and shut it down. I then walked over to the yard man and said, "Not a bad truck, but not a good truck for me... YET."

As soon as I put my truck into gear it was like all that was just a bad dream... And back out onto the road I went, just as smooth as ever.

My point is... Dont beat yourself up because you had a rough time shifting a new truck, or because they let you go either. There are other jobs, with lots of other trucks.

 

Using the clutch wears them out faster. At least that's what I was told by an "experienced" driver.