Manual Transmission

Renting a car with a manual transmission wouldn't do you much good, anyhow. The synchronized transmissions they have and the unsynchronized transmission of a Class 8 truck are much different. In a way, you're actually better off for not having driven one - you won't have any bad habits from driving a manual car which could result in you destroying a transmission if you tried doing those things with a big truck transmission. Don't worry - you'll do just fine. Getting used to the clutch is probably going to take more effort than shifting is.
It does seem intimidating at first, but after some time, it's nothing but a thing anymore. Get into local driving (especially construction sitework) where you do more shifting in one day than in three days over the road, and you'll get particularly good at dropping multiple gears at once.

 

It's good that you have never driven a manual before; no habits to break...

I had driven a manual before I started training, and had to UNLEARN everything I THOUGHT I knew about driving a manual... Cars is one thing; a semi is a completely different animal altogether!!!

Whatever you do, DO NOT try to teach yourself how to drive a manual before training, this way, you know ONLY what they teach you and trust me, you WILL NOT burn out a clutch in a semi, no matter ho much you screw up!!! Also, semi transmissions take a TON of abuse before they fall apart, so no worries there, either...

 

Its really easy, it'll sound complicated when they explain it and maybe even when they show it to you, but once you do it once you'll see just how easy it is, the only thing that might take you a little time is getting your timeing down.

I learned how to drive stick when I was like 10 and I picked up double clutching in about 3 seconds. Some people just pick it up faster then others just like backing.



But dontcha worry, you'll be a gear jammer by the time you finish school!

Like this guy, well maybe not this good but you get the point:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl911P93qUk





American Trucker

 

It's too bad that American trucks can't have synchronized transmissions. European trucks do.

 

It is kind of the whole point in going to school, no?

 

why so we can have even dumber people trying to get into trucking......If you can't do something as simple as shift a truck, you have no place driving a truck...





American Trucker

 

You never been in a traffic jam? It don't matter where you drive. OTR drivers are in cities everyday too.

 

what book?



American Trucker