My turn for orientation at Watkins & Shepard!!

It's good to know how to, and be able to downshift while going down a mountain, if absloutely necessary. But, think of this, what will happen if you miss that gear? Lots of people have died on that mountain through the years.

If you see you're in too high of a gear, make that shift as close to the top as possible, before you reach too high of a speed. You should know if you're in the wrong gear within several hundred feet.

 

My thoughts exactly Stranger ..

 

I use it all the time, since we run Really light with these furniture runs we can run much faster Up and Down mountains then everyone thats heavy. And if you miss a gear.....you hit the breaks again and try again lol its NOT a big deal....no matter what the DMV book OR these CDL schools tell ya! Ask any watkins shepard driver its easy, safe and we do it ALL THE TIME....


for you guys that would never even think about it, if you ever see me out on the road I would be glad to show you what you've been missing all these years you've been driving.






American Trucker

 

Not a problem if your light .. 75k will make it a bit harder ..

 

i've skipped down gears before in school but it was when coming to a stop but i went from 7th to 5th just by slowing down to 15mph and then revving it up and sliding it into 5th but never on a grade lol

 

I do it when I'm hauling beer and other heavy stuff too. 75,000-79,999lbs. I missed a gear going down 78 or 81 whatever one has the big hill when I had a beer run about a week or two ago I was 79,930lbs and it wasn't a problem at all, like I said just tap the brakes again rev it and slide it in. People make way to big of a deal of shifting on a grade.

I regularly have people ask me if im 14 years old and I can do it at MAX Gross weight at 65mph going down a LONG 6% grade without braking a sweat, so if lil 'ol me can do it ANYONE Can lol




American Trucker

 

Next time you go down Black Mtn, look at the pavement at the last right hand turn. That driver thought he could go down fast also. Believe me, the speed limit is 35 MPH, loaded or empty, and the NCHP does watch the mountain.

The old saying is you can go down a mountain too slow many times, but only once too fast. There are trucks in the pits sometimes several times a week up there. I know that a persons confidence gets built up after a while, but don't let common sense be over ruled.

An air line or brake diaphragm can burst at any time, the jake could cut out at any time, (happens more than you would think), something could happen to the engine, or traffic could come to a stop ahead of you. Safety is much more important than getting down a mountain one minute faster.

Also, you know you are loaded light, but how about the guy behind you, who is grossing 80k, this is his first time down the mountain you're on, and he's judging how fast to go by your speed. He could find himself over his head real quick.

 

I agree stranger to much unexpected stuff happens at the wrong time take her nice n eazy down that mtn.