but i thought it was easy

Don't overthink it, just relax and it will come to you. It will be easier to shift when you get that empty trailer hooked up as the bobtail won't be jumping around as much. Everybody has a difficult time shifting when they first start, especially downshifting.

 

I'll share something that helped me when trying to learn to land an airplane so I could solo. They actually teach or suggest this.

Set in your chair, close your eyes and practice shifting gears. This will help you memorize the gear positions and the process. Be able to know where all the pedals and controls are in your mind and reach out and touch them.

Setting in your chair there is no pressure. If you screw up start again and get it right. You don't have to do it in real time. You are going for technique and procedure.

As others have said, when you are doing this at school relax and it will come with practice.

 

A lot of the driving gets easier when you have a trailer attached. The mirrors will be easier to use because the trailer will give you a reference point. The added weight of the trailer will also make shifting smoother.

As far a starting out from a dead stop, car drivers pick up habits that don't work well for a truck. In a way it's going to be easier for you to learn a semi manual because you don't have any prior experience with a car manual. The bad habit that you learn with an automatic transmission (in cars) is applying throttle before the vehicle will move. This leads to applying throttle before the clutch has engaged, leading to a "pop" start.

Just keep your foot off the throttle pedal until the truck starts moving and the clutch is fully engaged. The engine will not stall, the electronics will apply enough fuel to maintain the low idle speed.

Downshifting is harder, because you have to do three different things at the same time while driving. The thing for me was that 5th (on a 9 spd) was my friend. No matter how badly I screwed, it always seemed to drop into 5th sweetly.

Follow BigJohns advice on practice. It's been found in sports that mental rehearsal is as important as physical practice for improvement.

The school may have a training library, Eaton Fuller had a few good videos on their transmissions, understanding exactly whats going on in the box under you while you shift may help you understand better what you need to do.

 

This tip was given to me by my teacher at school........get a plunger and pretend it is your shifter.....then just practice shifting nice and smooth in comjuction with your "clutch, brake, and throttle" feet.

 

I am new and never drove a semi before but I assume that they drive like a stick shift car? If so, my first car that I learned to drive when I was 16 was a stick. I never thought I would ever get used to it, since even when I slowly let off the clutch it seemed like the car jumped. If it is anything like driving a regular stick shift, I know to smoothly press the gas while slowly letting off the clutch and it will be smooth. Heck I can sit on a steep hill backwards and go smoothly with a stick now. I don't even know how I had so much trouble at first. I am sure you will be the same way I hate teachers who get mad at students. A lot of my friends say that I am an excellent teacher as I remain patient, calm, and give examples to help them.

 

They aren't much the same in any way.

With a truck you don't touch the throttle until it's moving. Sometimes it is best to put your throttle foot flat on the floor so you don't automatically mash it when the truck starts to move. If you give it any throttle while letting the clutch out it will buck like a prize bull.

The RPM drop between truck gears is about 500 while cars are about three times that depending on the transmission.

 

big trucks dont have syncronizers in the trans like small cars and trucks do to make down shifting easier

 

when you drive your car or pick up you don't think about the moves--you just kind of do them. After enough seat time, the moves come as well in a big truck. You will build the skill level to where your driving becomes intuitive. But not too intuitive because you need to remain hyper vigilant when in control of 80,000 pounds.