Transmission "feel" question

Maybe the outfits you worked for but you couldn't be more wrong about company drivers for the major oil companies. We treated those trucks like our own and in many cases invested money to fix them up. We all had the same philosophy that if you took care of the equipment it would take care of you. That's part of being a professional and you should be teaching that to new drivers. Maybe that's why our truck sold for $55,000 after 6 years of city use. It was a special design but the company made their money more than once that's for sure.

 

we teach them not to rest thier right arm/hand on the gear shift, we teach them to use the clutch, we teach them not to jam gears. beyond that, not much else we can teach'em. we don't get good used trucks from gasoline companies. we get them from Ryder, and some other companies that have a HUGE turnover in drivers. so they beat the crap outta them.

 

You can teach them how to take care of the truck. Show them what does what and what to look for. A good example is to look for leaks around the turbo. You can teach them to catch items before they break. You can do many things that they might have no idea what to look for but you do. That's where your expereince comes in. However, I know you don't have much time but you can do more than just showing them how to drive. Plus, sometimes in your case, a truck that has problems is better so they know what it looks like and what to look for. Teach them to use all their senses including smell. Maybe with a little luck some of them might get exposed to brake smell or clutch smell. Teach them to feel. If the mirrors are vibrating so much it's hard to see clearly you can bet you've got a drive-line problem. You signed up for the job to teach and you are the first exposure they have to our industry. If you make it a good one they'll remember you more than the company trainer. Besides, we've all heard about the horror stories with company trainers.

 

actually i and the other instructors do this as well, i just didn't mention it earlier, i thought it would be a bit too much to talk about. but we do teach them, what they keep with them when they graduate is up to them. i think the students, turned rookies, turned pro's forget what they learned, or have "selected memories" and just go about their business, till something goes wrong, then they try to remember, but it can be too late then.
also, at my former school, we had the "dregs of society" as students, you know, the 'gang banger wannabes'..?? and also the "english as a second language" students. as per DOT regs, a person must be able to understand english to converse with others........well......i only speak english and so do many of the other instructors. so to try and "converse" with some students, was a study in futility. teaching ain't black and white.......but we try.

 

That's good to know and I'm sure you all do the best you can. You might be surprised on how much a student will remember. I didn't go to any school because when I started they didn't have schools like they do today. However, I can remember alot of what was taught to me by the old timers. Maybe it was that way because if you screwed up constantly you got slapped in the back of the head. OR, maybe it was that way because they came across as very professional drivers and they knew what they were doing which left a positive first impression.

If you're pushing those students through that can not speak english what kind of drivers is your school putting out? I could never do it just because I believe when a driver shows up for a job they should already know the basics and be safe enough not to cause any accidents. I'm sure it's hard for the instructors and I would sure hope that the school keeps the staff motivated so the instructors do take the extra effort just for the sake of the industry.

 

Case in point, at the community college I'm taking class at, we have:

Three who are meeting attending AA members.
Two felons, having trouble getting jobs. (complete with prison ink)
Two who look, act & talk as if they're 'crips', 'bloods' or 'MS13' soldiers.
One from Russia, with a green card, speaks some english...

Sixteen total, which leaves 8 "regular" students, whatever that means.

 

The best "feel" in shifting comes from a shifter that goes straight into the gearbox with no linkage. Many of us remember the old cabovers with horrible shifters.

The sloppy and unforgiving ones are the result of poor shifting practices. Every time a gorilla grinds a gear, it either wears the teeth off the sliding clutches, or puts burrs on the receiving gear.

A good driver who has mastered shifting will be able to change gears without using the clutch, and only holding the shift knob with a thumb and one or two fingers.

Even if you get a truck that has been abused by poor shifting, it will smooth out and finds it's groove in time. If it constantly "hops" out of gear, than a rebuild is in order.

Like women, they are basically run the same, and all have their distinct personality's. Most of your 9, 10, 13, 15 and 18 speeds have the same main gearbox, same sliding clutches, etc.

One of the best shifting trucks I had was surprisingly the Freightliner pictured with the set of doubles. It had 12K on it when I got it, and the first driver knew how to drive. Shifted like a dream - it had a "Lightning 10" - an automated overdrive version of a Super 10.

And as anyone who hauls heavy will tell you, when you act like a baboon grossing 146K+, and shift in kind, drive-line pieces lay on the ground.

 

my first school employer will (and still does) take ANYONE that can get the student loan money.

my second school (current employer) does not have a government student loan program, thus, the students must get the money by themselves. at my current employer..?? we turn down those with terrible driving records, arrest records, and other problems,as we got for the quality of the person, not quantity of how many we can get.

this is true of many schools that have the student loan program, or "in house" financial aid. many of those punks just want to occupy their time to either show the welfare people they are doing something, or they are milking the loan programs. none of them, or shall i say, not too many of them actually will ever want to drive a big rig, not even a class B as well.
it's all a game to some. the real losers are those that want to go to school but cannot due to lack of money, or whatever else, as others simply "steal" from the government or other sources for "freebies"