Training with Stevens Transport in Dallas

good job man.

 

Got assigned my trainer. Headed for Nashville TN at 6:45am tomorrow. Woohoo let the journey begin.

 

Now is when the fun begins... pay attention, ask questions and always remember to take a few minutes each day to appreciate the journey.

If things aren't always fun in the sun, remind yourself it is only 5 weeks.

Good Luck and have fun!

 

Great advice Kmac! Golden words...
The only things I would add is don't let someone else drive your truck, and if in doubt check it out (aka Get Out And Look)!

 

Having fun so far. a little low on sleep. but should catch that up right about now. It was less than 24 hours from when I climbed in the truck to my first mountain. Sandstone. getting some drive time and learning the 8. it's actually easier than the 10 I think. headed into chesapeak in the morning for our second delivery. and hopefully a load cross country. Thanks everyone for the great advice. finally starting to look like a good decision coming to stevens.

 

I assume you are speaking of transmissions...

I learned on an 8 speed in school.
My trainer's Cascadia was an 8 speed (Very nice! I can really sense the German influence).
My D&D T2000 was an 8 (Good truck. Mid-to-high 8s on mpg's under load!).
My Pre-Alliance 387 was an 8 (Huge sleeper. Rubbish turning ability).
My Alliance T660 was an 8.

My post-Alliance company T700 is a 10 speed. I despise this tranny. Its seriously thrown off my groove...
I like the truck. I hate the transmission.
I'm just glad its not a 13+. The extra splitter switch would drive me bonkers.

 

I am pretty sure these are all the same transmission, they are just marking them as 8 plus that LO gear...

There is a gear hiding there in the high range too, right where the 6th gear would be...

I trained on a new T700. As my trainer put it, it's a 10 speed but we drive it like an 8. I did D & D in a T2000 and actually kept that truck up until about 6 weeks ago and it was a 10... this new 587 is marked an 8 + the LO, same as the T700, I drive it the same way I drove the others. I never used 1st or 6th anyway, with the exception of using 6th as a turning gear, for low speed turns without dropping into low range.

With the 10, my normal shifting was 2-3-4-5-7-8-9-10

 

No, my 8s and 10 are different.
The 8s were all:

R/R 1/5 3/7
|----|----|
L/4 2/6 4/8

4th was duplicated and available in both Lo and Hi. Obviously you skip Hi-4, although its handy in downshifting.

The 10 in this T700 is:

R/R 2/7 4/9
|----|----|
1/6 3/8 5/10

Lo-5 and Hi-6 are different gears, and God help you if you skip 6th while under load. The truck throws a tantrum and other drivers laugh at you. It lugs the engine way down.
I can always skip 1st, and can usually skip 2nd and 4th; so my shift pattern in this truck is usually 3,5,6,7,8,9,10.

 

I'm a noob. I use them all.

 

Then difference between 5th and 6th is about 3 mph, which is why I ignored 6th, but whatever works for you, keep on doing it.