Class B CDL = lost cause?

Fishnell, that was a bit arrogant whether intended or not. One question how many trucking miles have you logged in the metro US? I'm talking the populated areas from the Mississippi east? It's far different in ND or Montana than it is out there. I have a Class A with Hazmat and tanker though I don't drive. I used to work at a farm coop FT for 4 years about 20 years ago. I drove straight trucks pulling trailers occasionally. My area is full of hills, definitely not flat land. It's also rural big difference. I got my CDL while working there at 18 or 19. I never went to school either. I learned by watching and doing it. My first time driving a straight truck was solo. They loaded a truck and told me where to deliver it and they'd meet me there with the rest of the product. By far the majority of people do not have that type of option available. It's far different driving in a farm, rural area than a metro area I'm sure of that.

If I do wind up driving OTR/regional there's a 99% chance I'll wind up going to school unless I find someone to train me which is unlikely. I'd probably prefer the school training since I've never had it and there's a lot I'd need to learn. My local driving doesn't count anyway unless it'd be for a local job. It's also been quite some time since I've been driving anything bigger than a pick up or a small bus.

Congrats on working in the oil fields in ND. I've heard it's brutal out there.

 

Docluv5150 --if you didn't already settle for a class (B) --DONT DO IT....... keep going for the (A).
This is going to sound funny but its true, when i was in school for a CDL (1986 or somewhere around there)- One of the instructors asked, who already knew how to drive a manual shift - 90% of the class raised their hands including me. Then he asked who "never" drove a manual shift a few folks raised their hand "We chuckled at that". The instructor chuckled too , but then said that the folks who never drove a manual would do better at "double clutching" than the people who drove a manual shift ....#### ...he was right.
The next best thing they taught us was to practice " double clutching" while sitting in a chair, your couch etc.
Yep sounds stupid, but #### if the ones that practiced sitting in a chair didn't get it better than the ones that didn't --1 -2, 1-2, 1-2, 1-2, 1-2, 1-2
Those of us that thought it stupid, ground some gears -those that chair shifted did great 1-2, 1-2, 1-2.
LOL when the instructor asked the gear grinders if they chair shifted --we all lied and said yes (he knew we were lying).
Needless to say after a night of "Chair shifting" 1-2, 1-2, 1-2, we all did fine the next day 1-2,1-2, 1-2, LOL

 

Point taken but I didn't have to go and shell out big money to learn the things that I did about driving. Common sense goes along ways, but than again it's not common to have common sense now is it.

 

I've got both an A and B. Drive trucks, passengers suck. Sounds like you've got a turd for an instructor. Learning the clutch can be tricky but strangely I find it easier in a truck now and impossible in a car. Stick with it.

 

I got my cdl in the 90's the old fashion way, but went back on the road 4 years ago and had to go to a school to get a job ( no recent experience). The group of students I was in had a guy that couldn't shift to save his life, this went on for two and a half weeks, two days before the cut it came together for him and he did fine, got his license and was still on the road last I saw him. Don't give up on your CDLA, it is far easier to get a job. Try moving your seat back a little so you have to reach with your leg to get to the clutch brake, it may help.

 

You should not quit. I have been teaching students for a number of years for Schneider. I have seen guys who got their CDL's that still could not shift when they came for on-boarding. It takes patience to teach someone to double clutch. One method I found to help is called idle shifting. I always did this in only a bob tail and around the yard. What this teaches is simply how far to move the clutch pedal and the timing needed to shift smoothly. Ask your instructor to try this for you. Start in 2nd gear and let the clutch out, without adding fuel clutch to neutral and then clutch again to 3rd gear, once the truck takes off repeat for 4th, 5th, and 6th. Then stop the truck and start over. 5 to 10 minutes of this and you should understand how to properly double clutch. Once you master going up add shifting down and practice both directions for another 5 to 10 minutes. If you are not able to do it after 10 minutes take a break and go at it again. Just don't give up, you can do it!! Good Luck!

 

To that end, we find ourselves in agreement. However, people don't go to school to learn common sense... either someone has that, or they don't. And if someone doesn't have it, they don't, and they won't last.
But, common sense is only one aspect of it... technical skills are another. Someone looking at a slack adjuster for the very first time isn't going to know straight off what it is, how it functions, or how it should look - that's learned. Same thing with shifting. If you're driving a twin countershaft, unsynchronized transmission for the very first time, you're not going to have it down right away.
Now, say, someone's from the inner city, and they never had the opportunity to be around this equipment before... they have to get the basics from somewhere. That's why they go to these schools.

 

Sounds like the instructor needs to be replaced. If he's getting mad he's in the wrong career. He shouldn't be getting mad. He should be helping you.

 

I-10 panhandle is not a good area for OTR jobs

 

I had an instructor that got mad and yelled. When he wasn't yelling at me, he was yelling at the other guy in the truck. When we stopped for lunch, he'd phone up one of his ex-wives and yell some more. By the time I dropped out, I could barely drive a half ton. People like that shouldn't be teaching.

I knew a guy with a truck though, and got my CDL the old-fashioned way. The thing is that I got the classroom instruction (good instructor there) and the time to learn the air-brake and pre-trip tests. Those were, for me, the hardest parts. According to my friend with the truck, those are a lot tougher than they were a few years ago.

As for double clutching, I had trouble with that. I learned to float gears as a kid (as long as Grandpa wasn't watching) and when I tried to double clutch I got into the clutch brake constantly. It threw my timing off too (pretty sure the yelling didn't help either). Anyway, the solution for the clutch brake for me was to wear very light shoes so I could feel the clutch better and to think that old 1950's doo-wop riff in my head...ooo-ahh, bomp, bomp.