Floating or Double Clutching

What he said

 

Or you can add profanity while doing it

 

Years ago everyone wanted you to float, but now I hear more and more that carriers want their drivers double-clutching to save wear and tear on the transmissions. Don't stress floating, it seems hard at first but it comes on pretty naturally as you drive. Just don't go slamming it into gears and you'll be fine.

 

On a somewhat serious note, was that driver trying to shift with RPMs too high?

 

Too high, too low and the completely the wrong gear for the speed a few times. That's about all that I noticed.

 

I actually do more of a single clutch. Typically it is easier for me to clutch out of the gear but not clutch going into the next gear. Weird maybe but it works for me. That said I actually drive a Volvo I-shift now which I really like but drove manual for a couple years before the company I am with now.

 

Even I wasn’t that bad starting out!!

 

I never learned to double clutch. I got lucky the DMV didn't put an auto restriction on my license using an auto school bus to get my class b CDL. Then I went into concrete and was trained in an automatic truck got put in my own truck that was a standard thought to myself of #### I never even drove a standard car much less a truck. It took about a few minutes just to get the dam thing to move but I played it off once I got moving I figured out how to get through the gears. I found out I only needed the dam clutch to start off not shifting. That truck always popped out of 3 and 7 for as long as they had the truck from what the other drivers told me. They were surprised to see a rookie actually get it to a job. They never knew I didn't know how to drive a standard till I taught myself in that truck.

 

You wont find a company that requires it. You will however find that you are required to keep power flowing to the drives for example when crossing rail tracks by staying in one gear.

Floating is not that important. If you run a manual long enough you will begin to change gears without using the clutch at some point and find it a useful workaround in certain situations.

First things first grasshopper. Learn the industry first before getting into the showboat stuff.