Stalling at every traffic light at 4th gear

Do exactly this!
And don’t be afraid to drop a few of your own F bombs on that poor excuse for a trainer bully either.

 

When did it become standard to start in 4th?

My instructor kicked my butt if I even thought about using second.

 

Imagine 1st gear and the student is already at 5mph, how is he going to put it into 2nd gear? Majority of students can’t just look at the gauges and determine what gear to put it in.

 

Doesn't 2 come after 1?

Majority of students won't know anything. Including rpm and speed.

 

Right, that’s what I mean. Also at 5mph, most student can’t put it into 2nd gear. That’s also the reason why they don’t want the student to start at 3rd gear because most would go to 8-9 mph and it’s too difficult to put it into 4th gear. Experienced driver sees 9mph and they know it need to put in 5th gear.

 

If the guy's gonna ##### at you for starting out in the PROPER gear then he's a dumb POS. The proper gear is one that will get the truck moving WITHOUT stalling, shaking/shuddering/jumping OR having to use the throttle.

 

Finally we have a winner

 

We all start somewhere! On the farm we started young as did our children.
I was going to share some stories but will skip to the point. Some clutches tend to grab as they engage. Some people tend to dump the clutch as soon as the vehicle starts to move. If those two tendencies combine it is a stall every time. As soon as the truck starts to move depress the pedal, ever so slightly, then continue slow release as the vehicle moves.
This as many other things are a learned responses to reactions of vehicles. Then having the natural ability or having to learn how to do it. I did a lot of welding this weekend while on a ladder. While I knew how to do the job I could not do it correctly when I needed to use my left hand. Gave up and worked in very odd positions in order to weld right handed at times. Just an example and you have no option.
His job is to teach you to pass the test. You can not shift gears while going through an intersection. In order to start off in a lower gear you would need to lay back from the line a bit allowing for a shift or crawl through the intersection.
Story is on me: Took company truck ABC ( Mack 5 spd camel back ) to pick up trailer XYZ. It was not my assigned truck. When I left the light by a truck stop it started hopping. Air ride cab and mechanical throttle linkage. The more I tried to correct the worse it got. May have had all three axles bouncing off the ground. Finally put it to the floor and it smoothed out, not recommending that. Then I heard: Ha company truck ABC. Got your ears on. I was so embarrassed I just reached up and turned the switch off. Same truck with a trailer was easy to take off with. Found running the RPM up some and slipping the clutch a little could get her going smoothly bobtail.
I would ask to go to a good practice spot. I am struggling with this a little. Can we work on this together while not at a traffic light.

 

I do not know his truck but 4th sure does sound high even empty.

 

I tried taking off in 2nd once with my dad's truck with just the empty trailer on the truck and I got ripped a new one. And this was a truck with a C15, 18 speed and 4.33 rears lol.