Only logged 19 drive hours in school so far. Is it normal to be afraid of the truck?

When I went to school, I logged about 1000 hours of driving time, and many more hours of backing and range driving.

Down shift a lot. You need to downshift to control the speed of the truck. You don't stand on the breaks like in a car. You turn a corner in the 3rd or 4th gear, so you have to start downshifting if you are up in 7th or whatever. If it is a tight corner, you might go down another gear. The Gears are as important as the steering wheel or the breaks for controlling the truck. You gotta master that skill.

An automatic 18 wheeler is not the same as an automatic 4 wheeler. There is still shifting involved. Have you used one? Do you like it? I liked it, but like I say, there is still shifting involved. I actually liked the 10 speeds more than the 18. Too much stuff to remember.

Your truck is not full of stuff, so it is light and bouncy. Read the DMV guide. Empty trucks are harder to stop, and harder to control. You are basically dragging an empty tin can (your instructors may have put a pile of tires in the trailer, I don't know).

Why are you starting a truck from a stop in 3rd gear? That is done in 1st or 2nd. It stalls out if you are in 3rd.

Stay in the truck lane, and at the regulated speed (which I thought was about 65 mph). Never pass unless you need to-- really. Passing is dangerous. Little cars try to squeeze by you, and you will never feel it when you squash them. Passing from lane 1-2 is also on your "blind side" so it is extra dangerous.

Fear is nature's way of telling you, you are in new territory. Experience lowers fear, but you should always be 125% there when driving a big truck. There is nothing wrong with fear unless it paralyses you. A little fear is a good thing.

I remember when I started shifting (a car). It was scary. I was given an hour's worth of lessons then put out on the road. I felt fearful for about a month, messing up at stop lights (stalling out) and also on hills. I eventually learned it so well it was second nature. A truck has a bunch more rules-- things like how to turn a corner without killing anyone or destroying property. There is a lot to know, and it will come to you over time. Being in a truck seems to me like driving an airplane (without wings). You are way high above the traffic, and it makes you freak out a bit.

 

If you are light or empty starting in 3rd is not an issue, hell mt you can start in 4th and get rolling no problem.

 

In my 10 speed the truck will go from 5th no issue with an empty trailer or 6th bobtail..... I wouldn't think that the paccar mx is a more powerful than average engine either. I would venture to guess that if it is having trouble going from 3rd gear in a 10 speed it has to have extra weight in the trailer, but if this is an 8 speed 3rd is probably where I would start but I could see it lugging a tad as it starts moving, but nothing that should stall it unless the clutch is being dumped.

 

I'm gonna give everyone on this a forum a last good-bye b/4 I post this, cause when I'm done the Mods are probably gonna ban me, but thats OK no problem. After over 30 years of driving across this nation and in Mexico and Canada, I have NEVER heard such a load of garbage come out of a drivers mouth. I'm referring to the post that nicholas_jordan made. I find it not only OFFENSIVE , but the MOST IGNORANT statement I've ever heard. Not only are you an accident waiting for a place to happen , you are a DISGRACE to the ENTIRE trucking world. I hope that whoever hired you gets a chance to read that stupid drivel and shows you the door before you kill someone! You are one of the biggest reasons that regular folks have the opinions that they do about truckers. Again I apologize to all of the wonderful men and women who keep this country and this planet operating on a daily basis for losing my temper and reacting in an unprofessional manner....but that had to be said....to the OP... man if you are that scared of the truck and don't have 100% confidence in your abilities, then please either get more training or look closely at your career choice. Thanks to All of the folks that thanked me on posts...and to the ITA "white light crowd" and you know who you are...Godspeed and God BLESS you folks.....

 

That is very good advice, I will look into it. Thank you.

 

See I totally disagree with this statement. Once you get your CDL, that makes YOU the "professional" driver. YOU should know better. With that said, in the event you can't get over to the left lane, I would suggest just to slow down and try your best to keep a safe following distance and keep your attention on full alert. You know things are going to get hectic real quick. Then just move over when it's safe to do so. If you don't and get into an accident, guess who's knocking on your door wanting to see license, insurance, registration, permit book and logs? Just save yourself the hassle, slow down and move over when it's safe to do so. Just my two cents.

 

Ill tell you like my trainer told me; if you're scared of these trucks... move on over for somebody else. When i started truck driving school i was 130 pounds wet and wearing boots. My leg tremored and shook when i depressed the clutch and everyone thought i was scared. It was kinda true. But Really though, I just didn't have the strength to repeatedly double clutch. I was for lack of a better word...a little #####. But trucking school definately made a man out of me and looking back it really wasn't so bad. hang in there kid. The real test starts when you go out for you first twenty eight...

 

Good greif Katel, I would never get home if I listened to you. I ran 2.2 million accident free miles. When you changing lane, turn your turn signal on, move toward the line (L or R) and wait til the count of 3. YOu might hear that beeeeeeeeep that will save you from an accident with a motorcycle or small car. I owned BIG trucks that would do over 100 MPH out west and my best advice is, you should be a little nervous when coming off the mountain e bnd into Denver with 80K or you're a fool. Have seen the wreck in CO and they are not pretty. Every body out there is drunk except you so drive like it and you'll never have a wreck.

Bullet15
As far as getting into the left lane to let 4 wheelers onto the highway, it's nice if you can do it, but I wouldn't lose momentum or speed just to satisfy them. They're the ones with the yield sign, not you, if they can't put it to the floor and get around you or slow down, that's their problem, not yours. My safety man, a retired state policeman says the same thing. I agree. If you have an accident moving over it's your fault.

 

Btw... how.long did you go to driving school? 1000 hours seems like an awful lot for a school... at 10 hrs a day that's 100 days worth and that would have to be done with an instructor... did each student have their iwn instructor?

 

The school I went to had some federal grant 6 month program going on with 2 students in it. Might be something like that.

I got a whopping 3 hours on the road before I did the road test. Luckily, it was all city driving so I had shifting and turning down enough to pass.