Wrong time to start trucking?

You're Right about Swift Comfort Zone and Pennsylvania!

 

Both, came from the office (lower estimate) and my mentor's boss, an o/o with trucks leased to Swift.

I just passed my second road test yesterday and now on the waiting list for my own truck..yay! I volunteered for extra backing school just for the experience, I go tomorrow # 6am... can't hurt, I guess..

 

You seem to have skipped the part where you rev up the RPM's 400 or so.

 

Downshifting is simple once you get the hang of it.

Take it out of tenth, then lightly push it up into 9th. Don't worry about the clutch. Lightly push it towards 9th gear, don't try to jam it in, just a little bit of pressure, not enough where they grind. As you are doing this, step on the accelerator to bring the RPM's up. When the RPM's come up, it will fall right into gear.

 

Your mechanic and your wallet will thank you for double-clutching, but the choice remains yours... plenty o' truckers do either and some both.

 

Yeah school is really strict on it, but when you get out there things will be different. We weren't allowed to skip gears or start out in anything but 1. Instructor who was also their mechanic kept yelling "If the manufacturer wanted you to start out in 2nd, it'd be called 1st!"

Skipping gears on the way down just increases the amount you have to rev... 400 for EACH gear you're taking on the way down.

It seems confusing how they do it because by the time the instructor has to kick in and do it for you, your ground speed has reduced so much that you no longer need the 400. That's why it seems like he slips it in without revving.

Bottom line, the RPM's have to be at whatever THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN for that next gear for the speed you are travelling.

When upshifting and you are going a certain speed at 1700 rpms, that means that the truck would be at 1300 if you were in the next higher gear at that moment. When you shift up, it automatically lays down to the 1300. But when you downshift, you have to get the RPM's to match the next lower gear manually, so this is why you have to rev. In a regular car, you can downshift into gear no matter what, and the engine will just rev up by itself. These trucks just won't let you put it in there unless it's already right.

 

Trucking?
That downshifting has me laughing sooo hard....lol
Try this 1. let off the accelerator 2. clutch and easily set the stick infront of 9th 3. give light fuel as you feel the slot open (you should be very slightly easing the stick in the gear) You'll feel a catch and (((( BOOM )))) There you go.
I try to go through days without a single catch......haven't done it yet.