Question about shifting: Is my instuctor correct?

He didn't graduate.....he filed a suit and got relief from the courts, then settled with the job instructing!

 

It sounds like he is wrong and you are right. The problem is we have not heard from him on his side of the story. It would be nice if he would come out from behind the wheel long enough to answer the serious charges that we, the trucking judges, are now leveling against him. I just hope that in the future anytime you have a question with someone in your trucking career, you bring that problem to us. Don't ask them to explain exactly what they mean. Don't let them think that you are trying to learn. Let them know that you know everything.

Actually, if you are understanding what he is saying correctly, he is wrong. I am just a smarta s s.

 

just do it the way he's tellin ya. then when you get yer cdl and a job do it the right way!!

 

If he is talking to students in that manner then someone needs to call him on that.....That is not very professional and no way should you be made to listen to it. He has a boss I'm sure...look you paid good money to be given the basics of truck driving...not to be yelled or cursed at, next time he does that or uses that kind of language tell him that you and him need to go and have a talk with the folks in charge....

 

Is the truck shifting correctly doing it the way you are wanting to do it? If so, why is he saying anything? Pushing the clutch all the way to the floor is the wrong thing to do. On a hydraulic clutch it is way bad. He most probably is trying to get a person to push harder on the clutch and is over speaking. Like a coach telling you to hit the cover off the ball.

What you should do is tell the next time he yells, yell back. "Take the #### truck to a mechanic and get the #### Clutch adjusted."

 

Do what i did go to the school supervisor and ask him just be all innocent and ask his opinion lol things changed quick for us when i did that the yelling stopped and he shut up and let us drive only speaking when we messed up

 

Unless you are understanding him uncorrectly then yes I would say he is not teaching you properly. The clutch is there simply to disengage the tranny from the motor so that you can shift smoothly and match speeds. There is a clutch brake which is what happens when you depress the pedal all the way to the floor and hold it in. The clutch brake is meant for a dead stop so that you can get the transmission in gear. Sometimes when you use it its not quite lined up properly so you have to lift the pedal and depress it again. This will allow the gears to easily fall in. Try it a stop light and you will notice the difference. You can avoid using the clutch brake by simply slipping the transmission into gear just an instance before you stop completely. Maybe like 2-3mph. If you do it this way you will really notice the transmission easily fall right into gear. If you are traveling to fast it will not work until you have slowed to almost a stop. The trick is at the moment you feel it slip into gear you must depress the clutch (not to the floor though) and come to a complete stop, you are now ready for the light to turn green without having to strain for the clutch brake.

Maybe print this entire thread out for you instructors boss. There is no need to completely press the clutch to the floor to switch gears while moving. You must only depress it far enough to engage the clutch. In fact many experienced Owner Operators will have their clutch adjusted as to where the prefer it to engage. We just got a brand new truck and the tension travel was the complete distance of the pedal. In other words it was tight from the moment you touched it until it was pushed to the floor. We now have it adjusted so that it practically falls to the floor by itself and engages at the last second. Its a lot less strain on the knees.

Once you are clear of your schooling fiasco and are with your trainer, provided they have been driving longer than 3 months themselves, have them teach you how to "float" gears. This is by far the easiest way to shift and is how most experienced drivers do it. It is actually easier than double clutching. If you have a standard transmission in your car you can practice on it. Basically you are doing the same thing except not using the clutch at all. You accelerate from a stop and when it is time to switch gears you take the shifter out of gear, sometimes it binds up so you may have to give it a little bit of fuel to loosen the gears, once out of gear you wait a brief moment for the rpms to fall and tranny and motor to match speeds then you simply slip into the next gear. DONT FORCE IT!!! There is no need to grind! It should slip right in if you are doing it properly. If you wait too long you may have to pick up the rps a slight bit by tapping the fuel pedal. When you first start practicing this try not to run your rpms up too high before shifting. Try to go through all the gears as quickly as possible without bogging the motor down. This will make it easier for you. Its all just timing and rhythm. When you are down shifting you must once again give it a bit of fuel to get it out of gear except this time when you are neutral you must rev the rpms up and then slip into gear. Let's say 7th gear runs 45-55mph. If you are downshifting toward a higher speed of that gear you will need to rev up the rpms more. If you are traveling at a lower speed of the gear like 42-45mph then you will just have to slightly rev the rpms. So you are in neutral, rev up the rpms, wait a brief second then slip into gear. Let the truck slow according to the situation at hand by using both engine speed and your brake and or your jake and then proceed to downshift to the next gear. It will be slightly harder to down shift if you are running with the jake on. Running with the jake on also makes it a pain in the butt to upshift. Another thing you must be aware of is the engine fan. If you are at a dead stop and start to take off if the engine fan kicks on then you will have to make your shifting a little quicker. The fan pulls power from the motor and will drop the rpms much quicker so therefore you must be prepared to drop in gear quicker.

Hope this helps man. It probably sounds a lot harder than it really is. Just keep in mind its all rhythm.

Good luck...

 

The operators manual for the Eaton/Fuller 9 speed states that once the vehicle is in motion it is not necessary to use the clutch. Doing so causes wear and tear to linkage , throw out bearing clutch assembly etc. The 13 and 18 speeds are different and I won't go into that here. I will say I would not buy A used truck of unknown ownership that had A 13 or 18 speed transmission. A company I worked for disconnected the air supply to the splitter and it reverted back to A 9 speed. The earlier posts are correct , depress clutch just enough to " break torque " and get the shifter out of the detent without yanking on it. Beat on it and you will be putting it back into gear every time you go over uneven tracks or hit A big pothole !

 

Idk if most truckers stop caring or dont know to push the clutch to the floor from a stop, almost every time im fueling i'll be washing the windows (or something ) when i hear the guy next to me slam his door shut and grind it into first ( KRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrr KLUNK ) cracks me up every time and people look at me like i lost my mind

not laughing at him but its the sound of a door slamming shut then 2 seconds later hearing that grinding sound... it gets me every time i dont know why!