Failed CDL test :(

That's worse if they are lenient on you. Too many let em slide.

 

What if you change jobs later & can't downshift???
Look at what happened in Colorado awhile back.

 

Gee, I wonder why. When I was at Swift's school, one of the instructors had a brand new clutch put in his truck. Guess how many days it stayed pristine before a student did what students do, and performed some very unladylike acts on that truck?

 

3rd is a bit high.

Try first or second. Don't worry dance a little in that cab once you release service brake, be coming off your clutch and adding fuel before the Mr Hiss is finished with you and mr rollback gets a chance to play with it.

If you wore boots with square toe and one inch heel you can set the heel slightly off the service brake and simply rotate over to the fuel pedal. Your other foot should be in position to handle the clutch already.

 

I recently finished school and passed my CDL test. We would mostly start out in 4th unless on a hill. We were taught to downshift.

Slowly let off the clutch until you feel it grab then give it some gas as you release the clutch.

 

If you have to use any throttle application while starting out your in the wrong gear. Feel the torque. However, I never went to truck school soooo.

 

I start in 3rd all the time with an empty trailer.
You're overthinking it! Hold the brake, if you're on a hill, let out on the clutch until you feel the truck want to move. TAKE YOUR FOOT OFF OF THE BRAKE. Continue letting out clutch. Once the truck feels like it wants to move, the brake is hurting you.

It takes a lot to stall a truck. You dont need to give it any throttle until the clutch is all the way out. The truck jumps around because it's like a dog on a leash wanting to get to a squirrel that isn't. Let the dog go!

 

If it's a truck your testing in. Like 10 speed truck transmission. The trick is not give it much if any power. Truck have high torque. So you don't need that much power to get rolling. You start in first gear and keep foot on brakes and let the clutch out and let the engine pull at idle. Then you shift at 1,000 RPMs or less because you don't have to match up the gears at 1,000 RPMs and you don't need all the power to get rolling. You will shift like 5 grears just getting half way thru intersection. Then when you flip the switch to high range gears 6-10 or something the key is when you flip switch to high range. Then you bring the RPMs up to 1,600 RPMs for each gear because now you need the power. Push clutch in, shift gears but don't go to fast because the RPMs need to drop down to 1,200 RPMs to go in gear. It's usually 400 RPM step between gear. So if it won't go in gear let the RPMs drop to 800 RPM and it should go in gear. 800 RPMs is a little low but if on flat ground it should pull

 

I was taught at work to drive and was always told to use first gear and it's stuck with to this day. I agree that if you just can't let the clutch out and start rolling without any throttle you might wanna drop a gear or three lol.

 

doubt it’s 3rd gear uphill empty trailer. I do 3rd gear launches too with an empty even 4th and 5th just depends on where I’m at on the road, like if the truck rolls by itself forward when I let go of the brake or not, but for a beginner if the DMV mandates a 3rd gear launch then all he has to do is feather the clutch out till it grabs and slowly release the brake pedal.

it’s hard for beginners but doable. Not sure why dmv wants a 3rd gear launch that’s just stupid.

OP find out what your dmv requires and do that and forget the instructor. He’s an idiot for not explaining to you when 3rd gear launch is appropriate.