Gear changing and braking help

As a new driver, I had the same concern when approaching a stale green light or coming up on a blind red light.

Assume I am going 45 mph in moderate traffic and I need to decrease my speed faster than just using the jake and downshifting. I apply the service brake as needed to reduce speed and shift to neutral. The only way to stop is to use the service brake, so I focus on that pedal for a quick smooth safe stop. And I know I will want to be in 1st or 2nd gear to start if I am loaded. I can't grab 2nd gear until I am almost stopped, and using the jake in 9th gear is not going to stop me.

The only choice is to use the brake to safely stop. You simply do not have time to downshift - maybe one or two gears- but that only drops you to 35 mph.

This allows you to match your available stopping distance to the amount of brake pedal pressure that you apply. And make a safer stop.

There will also be sudden traffic changes where you need to drop speed, but not stop. That is why I shift to neutral, as I am then ready to grab the gear I need to roll on at 10, 15, or 20 mph. I glance at the speedometer and use this guide to pick my gear:
15 mph = 6 th gear. (1 + 5 = 6)
25 mph = 7 th gear. (2 + 5 = 7)
35 mph = 8 th gear. Etc.
45 mph = 9 th gear

Easy to remember....this method has worked well for me.

 

Again, each truck is setup differently, but a general rule of thumb is downshift two gears when the Jake cancels at 800 rpm's or 3 gears if you drop to engine stall speed at 600 rpm's. This is assuming flat terrain.

 

....I brake with my left foot (lightly) and use my right foot to float down as far as I can. Took some practice, but it's fluid now

 

Experience grasshopper... Wax on wax off, grasshopper. Until then you're only going to get confused with all the different approaches to do the same thing ... Stop

It's not that hard and don't make it more complicated than it needs to be.

Work out all the fancy "big trucker" stuff later when it makes more sense.

 

That's the thing I want to point on. With the left foot, you're used to press the clutch. And this means the pedal all the way down. And that's where the trouble starts when you use the left foot for braking.
It takes a lot of concentration to do it properly and you could lose your focus on what you should do COME TO A STOP.
I've tried it yesterday after I read this and I keep on doing what I did already before. Use the Jake to slow down and shift down. If it's more of a surprise, kick it in neutral a use the service brake.

Like other posters already suggested, allow yourself plenty of room (following distance), be prepared and slow down on a stale green light. This will prevent hard brake applications.

Many companies have the "Critical Event" activated in the Qualcomm. Getting a critical event and you will be reported. And this are the reasons for it:
- Driving too fast
- following too close
- distracted driving
Those events are easy to avoid. If you have one event in a month, nobody would bother. If you have one or more a day, possibly somebody is raising an eyebrow.

 

This is the same thing I do. You should practice doing this before you get into one of those emergency stop situations.

 

It would be impossible to make a video of this safely.

As far as doing it in a cab over, it would just depend if you have room to move your feet or not. I'm guessing every truck is a little different.