Coming to a stop during road test.

A f'n men. Get in, handle your business, and get out.

 

Easiest way to put it I guess is I usually downshift 2 gears into the low side and run it down to idle, whether you grab both or skip one whatever works

coming to a light I leave extra room and will go down to first so I can creep to the light and stay off the clutch also slow down sooner and use the jake to save the brakes, use low when starting off

 

The tester called me on shifting through a turn. My guess is they were worried about a rookie missing a gear or stalling out.

 

As a former PA third party examiner snd current instructor for several private clients it is simple, we want to see that you can make it to the low side of the transmission and come to a stop in gear. Technically we are suposed to fail you if you are not in the proper gear, meaning one you can immediately resume forward motion in if the light were to go from red to green as you were slowing down but in reality most examiners simply want to see you get it in low side, not coast to a stop with the clutch in or trans in neutral.

As for shifting in turns, corners on a roadway are ok, shifting while turning from a dead stop such as turning onto a side street or parking lot are not for purposes of the test. Real world is a whole different thing.

Coasting more than one truck length out of gear or with clutch pushed in is a failure in Pennsylvania. Your trainer is teaching you what you need yo know to pass your road exam, either listen to them and learn how to do it ortake your chances of not passing the road test.

 

Yet with an automatic you coast all the way up to the light........

 

Coasting more than a length is not, and of course you cannot shift in a turn. This makes it problematic when you are trying to beat traffic if you take off from a dead stop. And of course you cannot shift going over train tracks.

 

What am I missing.... why aren’t you shifting down to 5,4,3,2 and 1?

 

The test sounds harder then back whin I took it.

You sound thoughtful so you'll likely do fine on the test.
But for quality of life you need to get a handle on being anxious. People drive like idiots around trucks and will stress you out to the point of quitting or developing health problems.
Look into the Philosophy of Stoicism. YouTube has some great videos. I hope it'll help you to relax.
Good luck with the test.