Random Question of the Day

There are several mistakes that new drivers make. Although they may only have one at the time.

In no certain order.

#1 Rushing the shifts. They try to shift too fast. But wind up screwing the whole thing up. And having to drop back into the gear they just left.

#2 Being overly concerned about roll back. This would occur from a standing start. There is always more lag with a truck, than a 4 wheeler. Trucks use air brakes, so there is time to move your foot from brake to throttle as the system releases. And you really don't need to use the throttle at all, except in certain circumstances.

#3 Forgetting what gear they're in LOL

#4 Downshifting..especially on a off ramp. Most try to drop too many gears at once, in an attempt to shave speed quickly with the jake. When just leaving it in gear and applying the brakes would have worked better.

#5 Believing the handbook for downhills. Which says one gear lower than you climbed it in, and never downshift on a hill. Why not say insert barrel into mouth...pull trigger.

 

#1 Yup - that gets me. It's not an emotional rush.. not "I gotta get to the next gear now!!!" thing.. it's a load thing. The pacing varies dependent on the load. Big loads, you shift faster or the rpms drop too much. Light loads or empty (or, God help me, bobtailing) you shift more slowly. Unless you like the sound of a tranny in pain. Fortunately, I very rarely have to drop back - just tap the go-juice a bit, grab the rev and drop it in gear

#2 Yay! No problems here!

#5
No.. #2

No.. #3 what? Never happens.

yay! another time I get it right. Brake until you hear the engine protest, then drop (for the Pete I'm in) 2 major gears (8 low to 6 high), then, if you slow enough, to 4 - but probably 5 high

#5 no kidding. Of course it depends on a bunch of factors. The book assumes the same grade going down as you faced going up. Yeah. That's common. I admit, though, I prefer to have downshifted too much at the crest and then shift UP if need be - but my trainer is making me downshift as well. Just in case. I think it's a good idea. You never know when you might come around a corner on a 3% and suddenly find yourself on a 6%.

#6 - I still say is punching the clutch in too far. I'm far better about it than I was, but I still do it.

#7 - not using the Jake. In the past two weeks, I've seen "experienced" (i.e. not with a trainer) drivers - lots of them - not use the jake when common sense says they should. Then, instead of stabbing the brake, they ride them - in a blue cloud of glory. I was actually keeping a tally of trucks passing me with their brake lights lit all the way down (or until they passed from view), but ran out of room on my little post-it. WTF? Is there some unwritten rule that we newbies don't know about that says jakes are for sissies? Is there a kewpie doll at the bottom for the first one down?

Our trucks have GOAL stickers on the trailers and on the mirrors. I would suggest that similar stickers proclaiming "Better Late Than Never" should be appended to every truck mirror, too - and windshield. Never happen though. Cant make a catchy Acronym from BLTN the way you can from Get Out And Look

Then there's my trainer (for whom I hold a great deal of respect), who freaks when I stab the brakes instead of downshifting on short grades. Why is a 5-second grab on a 6% different from a 5-second grab on an off-ramp?

(Ok, honesty compels me to admit that my trainer doesn't 'freak' - but he does get upset, and publicly worries that the brakes will overheat. If I rode the brakes, or did something similar, I could understand his issue - but a 5 second stab? Usually only one or two for the entire slope? weird, I say)

 

I have a Mercedes motor with an exhaust brake. That means, I'm lucky if my "engine brake" slows me down going uphill. So far I've done alright (out west didn't bother me, it's that one in Tennessee on I-24). Don't worry about the trainer. I believe the way I was taught is to stab the brakes until you reach 5 MPH below your "safe speed", which is what I've done. And I'm still here to talk about it.

 

Oh, I don't let him worry me. I was taught the same thing -and with the jake even on the first setting, it takes a long time to get back up to the limit. I'm not sure why he worries - he's not been driving long enough to remember the era before jakes...