driving down mountains in truck has no engine brake,how to handle that

What did your trainer teach you?

 

Maybe he was absent that day. Or maybe his trainer has never gone down anything that makes him qualified to offer any sensible advice that’s worth a dam in the real world.

Based on what I gather here, not many trainers are qualified to teach grade speed management or backing and probably it’s just as well they keep their poor skills to themselves.

 

I-68 usually is either Sideling Hill or Big Savage near Cumberland. At the bottom in downtown Cumberland on the final drop eastbound there is "The Wall" high as you are and designed to keep you from falling onto blocks upon blocks of 1920's era wooden homes under the final curve consisting of a bridge beyond.

My Uncle survived Big Savage in the early 50's with a load of gasoline. I-68 did not exist in those days, something about 7 miles all the way down the hard and fast way. (If you really want some fun, take a look at Luke Maryland, One stopsign and a mountain rock wall with about 30 crosses all over it.) That uncle made it into Cumberland, parked the whole thing which was damaged by now, went to the telegraph and quit, then took the next train to baltimore home and that was that. He did not survive a shooting war on the redball in france with more gasoline and fall off a mountain. Enough was enough as far as he was concerned.

I recall running Mt Eagle early on with some of the older trucks, come off the top at 80000 and be at 15 to start off. Or running Black Mountain at 20 to try and hold her at 30 before the bottom in about 6 miles. She's pretty hot by then. And a few more hills in the region.

I see that stories vary widely. I am disappointed in the idea that today's newbie cannot function without a GPS dot on a small screen. That's not trucking. Then again the trucks made today are essentially dumbed down pushbutton etc compared to the old stuff where a driver was mentally part of the truck rolling down the road.

 

It appears to me nothing!

 

Weeeelp, time for me to go perform brain surgery on my cat. You know, because I studied in mommas womb and the day I came out of there I was already tasked with operating on patients....30 years before I knew anything. Lol

 

I love how guys are just listing off random gear numbers. Sorry OP you left it too vague. What transmission, what rear end ratio, we talking a big bore 16L engine or just a small little M11? 7% all the way or does it vary?

 

I don't know. I'm guessing 15-20mph. Without a jake brake, the key is to not let your speed build. You generate more heat energy letting the speed build, say 5 mph and then braking, than by using a low enough gear and keeping speed constant.
Kinetic energy = mass × speed ^2
a little speed increase causes a large energy increase. It's not offset by a few seconds of rolling free and letting your brakes cool. That's a common misconception.

 

Best off stopping at the top of the mountain and putting it in 2nd or 3rd gear and taking it nice and slow.