Is manual transmission like riding a bike?

tell them the truth that you are rusty.

heck there are days when even the most experienced drivers can't shift!

(or back up, or stay away from the buffet, or forget to set the brakes, or get lost, or double park at the truck stops)

 

I had a overnight from Toledo to roughly mechanicsburg PA I think, or was it carlise. There was a Excel break bulk facility warehouse with 22 spaces to put a trailer and a dumpster on several acres.

I show up dead tired on time at 9. They said pick a door. Nothing was on the property but me.

I could not do it. It's a beautiful facility up to code, lines, lights, dock pads etc. I could not hit any of them. The trailer bent everywhere but the dock. Someone put it in for me after they got through laughing.

I think I stewed over a couple coffees in the nearby sheetz off 11/15 for a while while mentally deciding if i wanted to continue to be a trucker after being laughed off the place like that.

It was later explained to me that when you are very tired past a certain point, you cannot function. And you will not. That is why soldiers who have been in 24/7 battle too many days just fall to the side of the road unable to do anything but become unconscious and unable to function.

I started working on getting more rest as I went along in trucking. It got a little bit better but not for a number of years. I think I took a number of years off my expected life span by running without sleep as I did many times back then. I know one thing, some days now I catch up on that sleep and then some. But I try not to do it too much.

 

Just be honest and tell the tester what you just told us.

Ask them if you can run up and down the low gears in the parking lot before going on the road. That should be all you need to blow the rust off shifting skills if you were ever decent at shifting.

 

If it’s the company I’m thinking, they are only testing to see if you’re a dangerous driver. Also the two people who do road testing are chill as all get out. You’ll be fine. They want you to use progressive shifting for fuel economy any way... and half the time I just take the truck out of gear and coasted to stop signs and red lights anyway. But what if the light changes and you need to get back into gear?

Rev to 1000rpm and shift into:

Mph
45 = 4+5 = 9
35 = 3+5 = 8
25 = 2+5 = 7
15 = 1+5 = 6
10 = 5th gear
5 or less when empty equals 4th...

Shifting up is also really easy... until you get good at doing it, again, you’ll do just fine shifting at 1300-1500 rpm all the way to 9th gear. And since you’re empty for the road test you can shift to 10th at 1500 too. In fact, you can just shift at 1500 the whole time when going up.

 

Both of the testers there ask what your experience is. Just be honest. And I drove 10 speeds for the entire year before coming here. The moment I got into a new truck with someone watching me, I grinded gears. These are people who have forgotten more about driving and flatbed than you and I combined will ever know in a lifetime. And they are very very calm. They will help you, not berate you, I promise.

 

I went for a test drive on a manual after not driving for a year....just like riding a bicycle. In fact a 10 speed bike shifts just like a 10 speed truck....a low and high range and 5 gears in each.