CDL road test Friday the 15th

Hey guys and girls,

I’ll be performing my pre trip inspection and road test this Friday. I have the pre trip portion down really well and I know I can drive the “size of the truck that I’ll be renting for the test.” I have years of experience driving a 26 foot box truck but it’s automatic. I’ll be testing with a 26 foot Freightliner Eaton 6 speed manual. I’m not 100% confident in my downshifting.

Any advice or tips that you’re willing to share would be appreciated. I’ve drove a manual pick up truck but it’s been years. I’m testing with a manual because I obviously don’t want the cdl with a restriction limiting me. Should I be paying more attention to what speed each gear is good for as I upshift so I know when I downshift, should I pay more attention the the rpm’s than the speed? For an example if I’m coming to a stop sign and I’m in 6th gear will the tester likely allow me to downshift to 5th, come to a stop in 4th than downshift to 2nd to take off? I know I can’t travel the length of the truck with it in netural or with the clutch engaged.

I know I’ll be fine with upshifting, but I’m stressing out about the downshifting. Any tips or advice would be appreciated. Stay safe out there.

 

While I’m performing my alley dock, offset backing, parallel parking etc. I obviously don’t want to fully release my clutch. Is it acceptable to partially keep the clutch engaged so I’m backing up slowly enough where I can correct myself if needed? With a clutch fully released i’m sure I’ll be backing up a lot faster than I want to.

 

I’ve drove a bigger truck with a manual transmission years ago. So I can, but I’d feel more confident having a refresher before going in for the test. I’m more worried about not being as smooth as I need to be shifting. I’ll be testing for my CDL-B so the 26 foot truck I’ll be testing with I don’t really consider “big.” It’s only a Eaton 6 speed synchronized so double clutching isn’t necessarily required.

 

I passed the pre trip with no issues, I did all the parallel parking, offset backing, straight line etc without any issues and without any pull-ups.

My road test went well for the most part. I shifted pretty well and overall did well besides a few minor mistakes that obviously acculmated some points. I made a stupid mistake, the road I was going down towards the end of my test was 45 mph and changed to 35 mph. I’m not making an excuse, but I was focused on my shifting, checking my mirrors and intersections and I missed the speed limit change. I should’ve saw it. But he said that’s what failed me. I re scheduled the test and I expect to do fine