My Central Thread

Well so far my time with my trainer hasn't been too bad. He has this habit of making weird noises or just being down right Oh My God Oh My God when I'm driving. I asked him why he does that and he says its to keep me from worrying too much or stressing out. I'm getting used to it but sometimes I want to just smack him upside the head and tell him its distracts me more than helps.

Last night we were taking a load from Carson Ca back to Denver and we were on a windy stretch of road. The speed limit was 65 and I was doing that most of the way. But I was coming down a hill it wasn't too steep but even with the Jake on I was nervous so I was using the brake to slow down a bit then let off. He came out of the sleeper wanting to know why I was heating up his brakes. I told him I was nervous because I didn't really know the road. He told me to slow down and down shift then. So he helped me with that but then I was so nervous I didn't speed up much more than 60 and he told me to pull over at the next exit he was gonna take over. I felt so deflated and like I wasn't cut out for this. I went to bed exhausted and hurt. When I talked to him today he said he wasn't mad just frustrated with me. So for my punishment I had to go down Vail. I did much better on that except for on an up hill. I had a prime truck in front of me and cars coming up on my left. Prime stopped dead in the right lane and I had to slow down when traffic cleared I pushed to the left lane but I was to slow for the gear I was in and killed it. I was having issues getting going again. He got frustrated with me again and kept asking me what happened what happened. I told him and he said well now we have to fix it. I finally got going after killing it a couple of times but I got it up and over and back down again.

I have a little trouble with down shifting in traffic too. But I'm so used to a 9 speed and his is a 13 I know the shift pattern is the same but there is a little bit more too it. I'm slowly getting it but Last Night really got to me.

I think most of his frustration has nothing to do with me. He changed over to the beer fleet just before getting me and the miles have to much time on them. The run from Cali to co was to be delivered Monday. We dropped it in the yard in Henderson and now on another load due Monday from co to Springfield or.

I just needed to vent a little I know I can do this and I'm not trying to stress considering I'm only on like my 10th day. I have the Qualcomm down almost perfectly I just have to remember what needs to be sent and when.

 

Allot of the stress they are feeling on the hills is properly placed.
This is the area where more trainers die each year than any other, due to trainees missing a gear on a hill or burning up the brakes and loosing control.
It is from a safety stand point one of the biggest things you need to learn in training.
Backing is a skill that can be a pain to learn, but normally if you mess up the loss is just financial.
Messing up on a mountain the loss will be life. I see even seasoned drivers that are on a hill they do not know and loose it.
If the hill is greater than a 4% grade then you should be down at least 1 gear before you start down, and do not let your RPMs get so high you cannot slow to grab a lower gear.
When going up the hills missing a gear really sucks. Because if you do not get it you have to stop. That is really really bad to stop on a hill.
Practice those down shifts. I never could down shift fast enough double clutching. So on hills I would always float them going up so I could get that next gear faster.

 

I would not consider that too slow.
You can go down hills too slow many times.
You can only go down that hill too fast once.
Until you know that road and the hills on the road you need to follow the recommended speed limits.
Once you know them well, if you know you can pull that hill a little faster then go for it.
But if you do not know for a fact that you can go faster, then slow is better.
I still go the speed limit on many hills, and I really do not care what other drivers think.
Now I will try not to go slower than that speed. I do not want to cause others to burn up brakes following me.

 

I have been getting better with the downshift. I told my trainer that I was having trouble and that I wasn't sure why I was having so much trouble. He then explained to me what rpm for what and so on. I still miss a bit and have to slow down then rev back up but Im getting it. We headed to Or yesterday and we were taking the 20 when it got dark he took over driving. He stopped for 5 and slept then continued on again. We were getting close the the top of the mountain on 20 and it started to snow. I was sitting in the passenger seat and he could tell I was scared. He drove the rest of the way down. I wanted to see him do it and watch what he was doing before i even thought of attempting the road. He was not upset or frustrated with me for not wanting to do it. It wasn't to bad and the snow didn't stick but I was still white faced almost the entire way down.

 

Smurf,

Everyone makes mistakes and that is life. You did the best you could given the circumstances and your trainer knew it. I had an issue on I40 going down a 10% grade and my fmr boss understood just well. I sorta panicked and used the brake too much and forgot to use my jakes. I pulled over got out and kissed the ground for good luck and got back in. I then made sure everything was set up properly. I had no problems the rest of the way.

KH

 

I know that at some point I'm going to end up on a road I don't know and not have my trainer to drive it for me. However I will be in the truck alone. The only person I would have to worry about would be me and the road and my safety. I wont have to worry about upsetting my trainer that I am going to slow. I want to be safe and feel confident when I am driving. 28days in a truck with someone who has done these roads a lot can be intimidating even when they are not trying to be. He is trying to help and I know so I'm doing my best but I will be happy when I do not have someone else watching my every move from the passenger seat.

 

When you are ready to down shift you just need to back off the throttle till the gear releases, so you do not force it out, and then raise RPM by around 500.
If you are in a 13 speed and splitting gears it will be around 250 rpm.
Practice it when not on hills so that you know the sound, since you cannot always look.
It takes practice, the big thing is not to miss the gear. Especially on a hill.
When going up hill and having to down shift you do not have much time. It is actually easier to do it floating than with the clutch. Since you will not need so much time.
If you double clutch it in that situation you have a much greater chance of missing the gear. If this happens do not try to fight for that gear, go straight for the next one.

Sounds like you are doing fine though. I would rather have a student with a healthy respect for the mountains and weather than a "super trucker" that will get me killed.