need advice on down hill slopes

Experience and Never get over confident. The best advice I can give.

 

let out of the throttle as you come up to the crest of the hill and drop another gear let the jake do most of the work on the down hill side. no need to come over the crest as fast as you can.

 

Just calm down.... Biggest thing you can do. You are doing the right thing by slowing down. As long as you Do Not jerk the wheel in a panicking manner nor speed down the hill knowing there is a curve at the bottom then your not going to roll over. Winter driving and wet pavements going down hills SLOW DOWN to a speed you are comfortable with and do not slam on your brakes or use your jakes and you won't jack knife. The first time ever in the mountains I took a coil up to Jackson, Wyoming and loaded Benoite out of Lovell coming back to Granite City. Drove along the Big Horn and don't recall seeing any guardrails along the way. I was in a 94 shaker with a 9spd with NO JAKES.... By darn I learned to handle hills... All I can say is drive as you are comfortable... Good Luck..

 

First off....Don't think you are the only one who becomes nervous about a downgrade.....


Everybody here was a Rookie.......


For now....Go down the grade in the same gear you pulled on the upgrade....Usually a safe bet that the down-slope is the same as the up-slope.....

You can always upshift running down more easily than you can downshift....

And don't let the "Supatruckers" who think they have better "Brakes and jakes" intimidate you.....You will get hassled on the radio by some because you might be running too slow for their liking.....Just wave when they pass you up....You'll see them down at the bottom smoking their brakes anyways......

Take your time.....Be safe.....

 

As long as you're aware that you should be scared you'll be OK. The fear will fade away, but don't EVER forget that only one hill and one mistake can kill you.

When you get so confident that you're flying down a hill and texting your GF without being concerned about the mile in front of you, it'll be your last day on earth- just don't take any of us with you, we have bills to pay..

 

Not sure but didn't seem to me the OP was talking about mountain grades.
More like the rolling curvy hills like I-81 through Va.
Just pay attention to your road signs. You will see little yellow signs with suggested speeds for trucks. Take curves at THOSE suggested speeds.
Once you have become comfortable doing that, you will learn what you can and cannot do. Your load will also determine how fast you take curves.

 

Been truckin for 30 years and I still sit up and pay attention when I start down a serious grade. You never know what is gonna happen. Mechanical failure of some sort, accident up ahead, construction etc.... So 7 months or 7 years experience doesn't matter. Learn to recognize your nervousness as being cautious. There old saying "err on the side of caution" was never more true when it comes to descending a grade. The fact that you seem to recognize that, is to your credit. Be safe and merry Christmas!

 

"You can go down that hill too slow as many times as you want. You can only go too fast once."

 

It never ceases to amaze me that I see drivers who think they're smarter than gravity on Donner, White Wolf (?), Cabbage, Vail, and Siskyou......

Most of those you have to run 35 or slower, and yet I see drivers running by me like I'm standing still.....