Double clutching putting my new career in jeopardy

Talkin' to me? Why yes, fact is, I did know what I was doing when I walked into my 1st TT job. Owner took me for a short 5 minute ride, filled out a 3x5 index card with some phone numbers, and I was truckin' that very afternoon. Remember, and I know I'm contradicting my earlier response, but the fact is, trainers must see a lot of people come and go, and can probably spot someone that doesn't grasp the situation. Sorry, I'm flip-flopping on this. I want to hear from Gentleroger again.

 

It's the number one problem in the industry - how to teach guys what They need to know in the most economical manner possible. Roehl has 4 weeks, I think, to take someone who has never seen the inside of a cab to a fully qualified driver. It's not nearly enough time for most people. They'll get the basics, but that's it. When an instructor needs to be a psychologist as well, forget about it. The CC program is much better suited for (almost) all, particularly the P.O..

@"semi" retired And I talked a little in another thread about assigning blame to a deer/car/truck accident. The OP would have been the truck driver. Crest a hill on the interstate and see a car stopped in your lane. Slam in the brakes and clutch in instead of grabbing a couple of years and cutting your stopping time in half. Or worse slamming on the brakes and not getting the clutch in, either sending yourself into a skid or snubbing the engine. Or, or, or. In the other thread I was loath to place blame without more information, but it's obvious that the truck driver carried a lot if responsibility for what happened. If we don't train properly, and we don't weed out those who are not ready/capable/responsible this industry will continue to slid down into fast food type employment.

Edit to add: the hardest thing for me to teach new guys is how to think independently and ahead.

 

Hi gr, I know the situation on I-90 was pretty tragic, and yes, you're right, I talk big, but it just never happened to me. I've come up on stopped vehicles in the driving lane already, but saw it in advance, and was able to stop. We don't know all the facts, but the bottom line, you cream somebody in the back, it's pretty hard to get out of that.
I do hope this person gets the "jitters" out of their system, the industry needs people like this. It must be an awful tough decision who stays and who goes.

 

Oh, it's brutal crushing a guy. When you know they're broke, with no real prospects, and you've got to tell them you're not good enough. Hard work and desire aren't enough, you need opportunity and time. When they get rushed thru the cdl mill they're not ready to make those decisions. I know in my first year I got very lucky a few times and learned. I came out of a great cdl program - 10 weeks, 1,200 miles driving , 1,100 in the right hand seat, almost all of it in town using sleepers and 53 foot trailers. I spent 4 hours backing one afternoon, no instructor no time ever crunch, just playing around until I understood the concept. Still sucked at backing the first 6 months.

Threads like this but me out. I see the industry eating it's young, allowing cdl mills at CRE type business models. Companies only caring if they can get 6 months out of a guy before he quits or get fired. I wasn't part of the "Golden age" of trucking, but until we start truly helping new drivers, holding them accountable without destroying their career, expecting all parties to act with integrity we'll just continue rolling around in the muck

Now you'll need to excuse me, I'm late for a tea party in Utopua with a Unicorn, a Leprechaun and a Rabbit with a giant watch.

 

I'm late to this
The way I was taught was talk it out loud clutch neutral clutch gear clutch neutral rev clutch gear
or clutch neutral clutch 6th clutch neutral clutch 7th to help the ones who kept forgetting what gear they were in
it is a tempo like a dance