Getting exp shifting.

Lol...old timer who taught me said two things:

1.) You don't shift gears, you float them
2.) Clutches are meant for stopping/taking off

Then he handed me the keys to his truck and said, "Don't F### It Up!"

 

Google for those I listed and maybe they have some openings in your area.

 

The guy that taught me gave ya' a 'Gibbs' style dope slap every time he saw you going for the clutch to shift...didn't take too many Tylenol to learn to float shift

 

Go to the industrial park/warehouse district. LTL trucks are everywhere. There are the much smaller companies and of course, the bigger companies that Chinatown mentioned.

 

I have some friends working for LTL companies and they make $70K and some much higher.

 

What part of Iowa are you in?

 

So, if you know how to shift a 5 speed or a regular stick shift, you might realize you are up shifting at about 3000 rpm. that is for 5 gears. now you have 10 gears (usually) so you will shift at half that rpm for each gear. aim for about 1500 rpm on a straight 10 speed. PAY ATTENTION TO THOSE SHIFT POINTS ON THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION; this is exactly where you will want to shift on your manual transmission. usually up shift about 1500 rpm, down shift when the engine is at 1000-1100. Listen to the sound your automatic's engine is making when it up shifts, and when it down shifts. Learn this sound, this is what you will be listening for when you are actually shifting while driving a manual transmission.

In the real world, you will not be double clutching. you will use the clutch to start and stop only. Avoid killing the truck; only use your toes or your foot to lift up on the clutch, so the transmission catches. you know what i mean? don't use your whole leg to lift up on the clutch, start with the toes and if necessary, use your foot. otherwise you might "pop the clutch" and you'll kill the truck.

i learned to drive first on an automatic, so like me, you should be very familiar with the sound the engine makes when it up shifts and when it needs to downshift. the rest, is just moving the stick in a pattern; you will be crawling up through those lower gears like a grandma, and catching a lot of speed from 7-10 gear.

Another tip is to match your speed to the gear you need to be in. gears 1-5 are parking lot gears, then at 15 MPH you are at 6 gear (1+5 = 6), then 25 MPH = 7 gear (2+5 = 7) , and so on, until you are at 55 MPH (5+5 = 10)

You will want to especially learn to recover a gear, and in that scenario you will be ending up in neutral when you least want to be in neutral, like coasting down the road. You need to know this so you don't end up stopping completely and starting over back in 1st gear. In that situation, look at the speedometer and determine your ground speed as you are coasting. then determine where you think your ground speed will be in about 2 seconds. if going down an incline, aim for the next lower gear. if on a decline, the next highest gear (usually). If on flat ground, add up the numbers on your speedometer and choose the right gear, using the 15 MPH = 6th gear, 25MPH = 7th gear, 35 MPH = 8th gear concept.

That's pretty long, any other questions?