My instructor says manual isn't for me.

Get a new instructor, you’ve had 5 lessons and everyone learns at their own pace. He should not be telling you things like that after 5 lessons, it takes time but one you figure it out and get comfortable with it you’ll remember it forever.

 

Almost everyone with any gear shifting experience in cars or pickup trucks will have MORE trouble shifting gears in a semi-truck than someone with ZERO shifting experience. The clutch in semi trucks is used very differently than passenger cars and pickups. MOST Newbies push the clutch in too deep when they are in motion because in cars/pickups you ALWAYS push the clutch fully to the floor or firewall when you push it. In a truck you only push the clutch as far as it will go when you are stopped or when preparing to change direction of movement. In a truck you only need to push the clutch down maybe 1/3 of it's travel distance to get into or out of gear. If you push it more than halfway you can begin to engage the clutch brake that will slow the RPMs of something important and doing that makes it MORE difficult to get into or out of gear. Most truck drivers that drive with manual transmissions don't even use the clutch for 95% of the gear changes they make. The instructor doesn't get paid any more money if he spend a lot of time with you or he just gets you to drive automatic trucks. Some instructors have very little experience or they don't have the language skills to explain what they want you to do.

Please describe what trouble you are having. Are you grinding the gears and taking several attempts to change gears. Are you stalling the truck when you first begin to move? Are you forgetting which gear you are in and which gear you are wanting to change to? Are you not using the hi/lo splitter? What is the issue? Also, almost everyone has more trouble downshifting (slowing) than upshifting (accelerating).

 

Downshifting, how can I learn how to do it?

Here's a link from when I was learning to shift. The shifting up was easier than downshifting, which was the focus of my thread. Shout out to @Dave_in_AZ

For whatever reason, Dave's post sat with me the best and helped me to improve. Then @Dino soar

Read that thread. Manual isn't for you? That's ########. He's just burned out.

 

One of the keys to shifting is just nudging the clutch.

New drivers go way too deep on the pedal. You just need to nudge it an inch or slow.

I'm still what I call a "slow" shifter. Never try to rush. Shift at about 1400 rpm.

It's all practice and feel.

5 lessons is nothing, and you're instructor is full of crap.

You're very nervous I'm sure just getting out on the road. Stay focused.

It takes awhile for the brain to absorb all the new things that are being thrown at it, so you have to think a lot while you're shifting.

This is just natural. You just need practice.

 

Learning manual can be a challenge.
Practice your shift pattern with the truck off, so you can feel where each gear is and how it flows.
While driving, each gear has its range, and they’re designed to top at a certain rpm to set up grabbing the next gear.
It’ll top around 1400-1500, and if you’re smooth, you’ll grab the next around 1100. The truck motor will naturally drop rpm when you ease off the throttle to your shift window, and you’ll slide right into gear.
It does take practice and being able to feel and hear what the truck is telling you, but the basics come if you’re attentive to the feedback it’s giving you.
If you’re double clutching, don’t floor the clutch. That engages the clutch brake and creates problems getting into gear. Half to two thirds to the floor is all you need.
Enough to slip out and into the gear sequence.
You’re not driving a sports car that’s tight and short throw shifter. Trucks have some slop in the shifter to make it a little more forgiving.
Keep after it. You got this.
Having that unrestricted license is a huge blessing to you long term.
You’ll have the option of driving anything out there, and there’s something to be said about grabbing gears while the sun is coming up.

 

A while back I was speaking to a female that was having this very same issue. Her driving test was coming up and she was concerned. Before I go any further I want to make it clear that not everybody is cut out to drive a class 8 CMV. It is what it is and have accepted this fact many years ago. One thing I have discovered over the last 20 years is there are so many distractions going on in the cab of that truck the average student/driver is spending far too much time with their attention inside the truck and not outside of it. In this female's case, I asked her a question. Are you able to actually hear the road and the sound of the engine? Not just looking at the tach? I told her to start paying attention to the sounds and insist on quiet while driving. What finally happened was that she quit school and spent some time with an old-timer and he spent almost 2 months working with her. She then went back to another school and quickly got her CDL. Today is driving for a West coast based company working on a dedicated account and making some really good money!

Remember driving a non-synchronized CMV transmission is not something that you just do. You are almost like an orchestra leader syncing up the engine RPMs with the speed of the vehicle.

Good luck!

 

That’s the part that sticks out to me. You are paying the bills, YOU make the call. Not your lazy instructor. If the instructor isn’t offering a discount for a RESTRICTED license, he’s not looking out for your best interest, but his.

So, what do you want…a real Class A or that restriction garbage that will permanently keep you trapped with bottom feeding mega carriers? You’re paying the bills, you make the choice.

EDIT: I am, of course, assuming that you actually learned how to listen in elementary school and can follow directions. It’s not your instructor’s place to teach you to listen.

 

Yes most companies are driving automatics most of the time, including my own. Just last month though I was driving a manual ten speed for a day. Would have been in a mess and unable to get anywhere if i had the automatic restriction on my cdl.

 

I got my CDL a few years before the manual restriction was an option, and I’m glad. If I had that opportunity then, I would have taken it gladly.. and I would have been wrong to do so. You may get a job at a smaller company that has a mix of both. Your truck is in the shop and the only spare is a manual. You won’t be working that day. I went from being terrified of shifting to being quite proficient. You can do the same. Believe me, I couldn’t get my leg to stop shaking. I was a wreck. If I can do it, you can.