Road test in automatic truck?

Just mash the throttle to the floor and let the selectomatic transmission do what it wants

No shifting on RR tracks is exclusively for manual gearboxes.

 

Point it east, hit the go pedal and find a good station to listen to.

 

That's a really good question.

This is one of those cases where more modern, up-to-date technology has pretty much taken an earlier problem completely off the table.

When I took my road test for my fuel hauling gig--i just let the auto transmission do the work--no need to shift the tranny into "manual" mode.

Another thing to keep in mind for fuel hauling (while doing a road test, or not)--if the tractor is moving, regardless of how slowly....or how short the distance....or backwards or forwards....BE SURE YOU ARE WEARING YOUR SEATBELT.

Yes....it's silly. Believe me--I get it.

But the safety depts in the fuel or cyro hauling worlds think like that.

You will also have to live with a driver-facing camera, too. Get used to it (if you're not, already).

I would respectfullly submit--that said camera is not "watching" you ALL of the time.

It only runs when a "recordable event" sets it off.

If the tractor is moving, and you are not wearing your seatbelt, this could easily set off the camera.

You may thus flunk your road test--even if you did fine, otherwise.

Hokey? Yes. But it's the modern reality of fuel hauling (or hazmat tanker, for that matter).

--Lual

 

I think pretty much everything will shift a gear through an intersection. When stopped.

Unless you have a big motorcycle with tall gears like mine.

 

Do any companies treat the road test as more than a formality?
Everyone I've ever done was simply "Don't hit anything and you pass"

 

It is always on and recording, so it is always watching you.
If an event is triggered it saves the footage from 10 seconds before to 10 seconds after the trigger to a separate folder, which is later uploaded.

If it only ran when an event is triggered it would not have that previous 10 seconds of footage.

None of us is really privy to the actual memory capacity of these cameras. They could hold days worth of footage that can be later uploaded and reviewed.

I have seen videos of recorded events, and they went back into previous days to gather more clips of the driver doing the same thing that he was doing when an event triggered. In that case it was watching movies on a tablet that was seen through the windshield reflection.
Watching the movies didn't trigger an event, it was hard braking that led to an accident.
But they had earlier footage, so there is some generous amount of saved video that was not uploaded but available and accessible.

Make no mistake...
It is always on and watching.

 

In my road test, the real test was the right turn onto the last road leading back to the terminal.

I did it during rush hour in Fontana, CA.
Turning onto a narrow 2 lane road with lots of traffic, so both lanes were needed.
I must have waited there for 10 or more minutes before I could use both lanes and make the turn without curbing the tandems, all the while blocking the cars behind me.

I was told after the test that that last corner failed more drivers than anything else.
One part of the test is patience and prudence, it seems.

 

@Moosetek13 --

THANKS SO MUCH...for that correction.

I described the function of the cameras as per the above....so perhaps Hawkeye wouldn't be nervous during his interview road test.

The hope was....he wouldn't learn/find out the not-so-pleasant truth about those cameras until later....

But thanks again....I have thus been "put in my place"....

-- Lual

 

For testing purposes? They know you can't control when automatics shift, so it won't count against anyone should it do so at that moment. As someone else pointed out, that rule is only for manual shift.