How to not damage the clutch brake

Not if the people training are just warm bodies and don’t know, themselves. Then, if the driver isn’t of a mechanical mind, they’re not going to understand, anyway. Most people with a driver’s license don’t even know how a braking system works, much less a clutch brake.

 

MAYBE 10% of CDL newbies receive training on manual transmissions. The "trainers" & "instructors" that got their CDL 6 months ago may not even know somebody that shifted a gear in the wild. It used to be common sense to stay off a landline in a thunderstorm, but it isn't anymore and everyone is using cellphones.

 

I agree and this is why the CDL exams need to include the mechanical aspect of the truck, there is enough information out there to teach them. Understanding how things work is 70% of the job or should be.

 

Yeah people had to explain it too me too. A little piece of metal that slows down the engine just a touch to make getting into gear easier.

 

Anytime you shove the clutch pedal down completely you activate the clutch brake, it’s job is to stop the rotation of the input shaft and clutch allowing you to put the transmission in a forward or reverse gear at a full stop.

Clutch pedal fully down to put transmission in gear, clutch pedal 1/2 way down to shift the gears or roll to a stop…

 

Schools need a cutaway setup of a clutch and transmission to give a visual of what’s going on.

I personally feel many out there have a good head on their shoulders, but without a visual representation they really don’t understand the concept of how it works….

 

The people that would benefit from a cutaway model in school could see that if they wanted in a YouTube video or web search. They don't care and they won't search & won't remember what they are told.

 

close...It's stop the transmission from spinning. there's a lot of inertia in all those gears and they will keep spinning and even with clutch pedal pushed in there's still some friction trying to spin tranny

 

Be one heck of a brake to drag engine RPM down at idle!