Mastering shifting.....

I don't know yet as the only trucks I have driven have been school trucks and the day cabs I had issues shifting.
I hope the oil truck I get on this job I just started I master quickly or at the least don't do too bad in front of the boss when I start driving.
Dave ----

 

What do you mean, "master" shifting... I wasn't sure anything in this job could be truthfully mastered. You might do it quite well, but mastering...

 

I bet those drivers who grind it into gear to start off would tell you they mastered it. I have good days and bad days...don't think i will ever master it...just want to be really good.

 

To be perfectly honest I'm the same way. I've got my good and bad days. On good days I'll happily smirk and brag on the inside. On my bad days it's usually because I'm distracted, tired or frustrated.

I've got days where you'd think I was driving an automatic and others where I swear the 4-wheelers point and laugh.

Mastering isn't the important thing. It's are you being safe.

 

Hmmm. Sometimes I float the shift. Sometimes I double clutch. Other times just step on the clutch just light enough to free the shift and then float it into gear. Depends on what the truck feels like and how I feel like doing it. Shift by the sound of the truck? The newer ones are so quiet that it makes it more difficult to do it by sound. Had a rough few miles in a new one at first. Everyone misses a gear sooner or later. If you miss your reaction to get it in gear should come as natural as getting the correct gear. Master shifting isn't being able to get it in gear or down shift. Its picking the correct gear for what is needed. Practice and time is the only short cut.

 

took about 25k for me to really get comfortable.

I started out with prime, as a PSD student - towards the end it started to make sense.

Then i switched from my instructors '12 freightshaker to a '14 pete, and started all over from scratch. took me a while to adjust, for sure.

then i got assigned a '13 pete, and again, there was some adjustment. My first time in heavy traffic though, I got it figured it out.

 

The later in my driving shift, the more likely I am to grind one. It took a good year to get smooth. I don't know. I don't really think about shifting anymore. But, I'm sure I grind at least once a day, and that's in my own truck I bought a while ago.

 

Sounds as if many are not very good at shifting gears.


My 1st driving job was with a 5 speed main box and a 3 speed auxiliary box and before 500 miles I had no problem shifting nor grinding gears.


The morning I started my boss asked had I ever driven a 5 speed main box and a 3 speed auxiliary box, I said no. He told another hand to go out to the truck I would drive showing me the transmission leavers and explain it to me. less than 30 minutes later I was on the road with my 1st load.

Later on I drove a 4 by 4, a 5 by 4, and a 6 by 4, never had a problem with them.