Shifting gears question

I spent most of my career floating. Getting back into trucking this last year I learned to double clutch to regain my CDL and to go through training with Swift. Since going solo (and now team) I've drifted back to floating 85% of the time and double clutching about 2% of the time. The other 13% is "tapping" the clutch to disengage from a gear and then floating into the next gear, typically when pulling up a hill or downshifting going down a hill.

I think it's good to be able to use whatever form of shifting works best for the situation. The bottom line either way is you still have to get your rpm's right to slide it into gear.

 

It doesn't matter every truck you get into its gonna have a $&!ed up transmission
That doesn't shift right from the ten thousand idiots before you ;

 

True that. My current truck seems to dislike getting from 4th low range to 1st high range without double clutching. If I float that shift I'm often spending some time coasting and feathering the throttle to get it to drop. Each truck seems to have its own touch and you need to have a honeymoon to get all cozy with it.

 

Yes ive also had an issue like this as well. Mostly with multi drivers on one truck. Specially while shifting hard.

 

I hear what you are saying, at times in the sleeper berth I'll wince at the pounding the drive train is taking with some of the codrivers I've been with. On the bright side excess weight is being eliminated in the gear box.

 

That is what I do.

 

Hilarious !

 

Heh!......try it lol...good luck with that!

Simple answer is you just can't, there are no synchros in a truck trans to mesh the gears.

 

Are you wanting to double clutch? Save your clutch and just goose the gas.Two finger shifting compared to serious calf cramps by the end of a 14 hour day ? Nobody standing on the street will know the difference between double clutch and an experienced " floater". Most truck gear boxes arent synchronized ( like a car). Thats why theres the need for "double clutch". When you clutch to neutral then (only clutch about even with the top of the brake pedal) thisstops the gears from spinning (so they line up to mesh together "synchronize" if you will. I do a lot of city driving(stop and go) so I float all the time. Id say 80-90% of drivers float. Maybe not ( if youre taking a company road test or dot riding with you.

 

I actually 1st learned to shift a truck by floating the gears (before CDL school from a relative). When I went to CDL school my trainer would always yell at me because he wanted me to double clutch since that is what the test requires. I feel that I can shift so much smoother (both up and down) with floating. Its all in how you feather the gas