I had to make a right hand turn onto a public road, which wasn’t a problem as there was no traffic. So, right blinker on, starting in 3rd gear, no problem. My shift to 4th wasn’t so friendly to the gears. Once again, I was grinding the gear. This time I was shifting to the right spot, but the engine/road speed wasn’t correct (too slow). Finally on my third attempt, I gave it a nice engine rev and was able to slip the shifter into 4th gear. The sound of those gears grinding is horrible! I made another right turn back into the industrial park, where I was much more comfortable.
At this point, we were coming up on a another turn in which I had to downshift for my first time from 5th gear to 4th gear. I flipped the switch to engage “low gear,” put the clutch in, shifter in neutral, clutch out, blip of the throttle, and it slipped right into 4th gear like butter. I nailed it. That was such a great feeling. But again, when I tried to shift back up into 5th, I was grinding all over the place. This time I was able to correct it on my own, but it’s still frustrating when I grind the gears. Finally, I got to the spot where we were due to change drivers. There is a culdesac (built for trucks) that I went around, came to a stop, shifter in neutral, parking brake on, and I was done! Wow! What an experience! Rhonda, you were right, this is far different from a manual transmission car. Holy smokes! There isn’t even a comparison! For those of you who have never driven a manual transmission vehicle before, don’t even sweat it. Those who have driven manual transmission cars have absolutely no advantage over you. None at all.
Back On The Highway!
The good news is, the improvements just from today are substantial! I’m still having some issues with 5th gear. A couple times I shifted into 7th instead of 5th and also had a grind going into 5th a couple more times. I think I had a grind in 4th gear again too. But during my last turn driving, I really started to get the hang of it. By the end of it all, I was feeling pretty confident. While I was still having a little trouble shifting, I didn’t need any assistance from the instructor getting it in gear. Even if I made a mistake, I was able to correct it. My braking also improved by 1000%. Nice and smooth now.
We were told that everything should actually get easier once they put a trailer on the back. These trucks weren’t designed to drive without a trailer, so the issues we were having with the brakes and some of the gear grinding will be resolved as soon as a trailer is hooked up. I hope he’s right!
All in all, even though I told you about all of my embarrassing mistakes, I think I did very well. Out of the 4 of us, I think I was 2nd best with an award for “best finish.” The guy who I think is better than me didn’t do well his last time out. I did very well and saw a vast improvement in myself. Between myself and the other students, I’m going to have nightmares about those gears grinding. The instructor was actually very patient with us and said it’s all a “part of the learning curve.” Actually, I think he was the calmest one in the truck! On our last trip out, if we’d grind a gear or anything, he’d just take a sip of his coffee or yawn as if saying “ok, whatcha gunna do now??” HA! By that time most of us were able to figure it out and get it into gear. With that said, I’m terrified of going onto public streets!!!
Nothing Hooked Up Yet
Tomorrow, we will spend some time in the classroom in the morning, then hook up a trailer. They plan on bringing us onto public streets already. Now, that’s a scary thought! We’re also going to be in the yard learning how to back up and drive the obstacle course. They don’t waste much time! So I’ll update everybody tomorrow. I’m a bit nervous about driving with a trailer, let alone on public roads. I feel like I already have too much to concentrate on. But I’m sure with a bit of experience, I’ll get better each and every time we take the truck out.
Wish me luck! While I’m having a ton of fun, this is a lot harder than I expected!!!
Until next time, drive safely!
TruckerMike
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Don’t fret man you’ll do great. As long as you keep improving you will be able to come out on top. From what I remember you said this was a four week training so you’ve got three weeks, including this one, to learn what you need to to be a safe professional driver. The school up here near Portland Maine that seems to be the big name, Northeast Tech, is only three weeks. If they think we can do it in three I’m sure you can do it in four. Drive safe and try to have some fun.
Thanks Jim. I just got back from my second day “on the road” and man, what a difference a day makes! I’ll have a new post up shortly. But the short of it is, I’ve improved a ton already. It’s fun being able to see myself improving so quickly. This is getting fun!
Way to go TruckerMike! Great story and it brings back memories. Now that you know more on the shifting, you know exactly what I was telling you about. This is one of those things that is hard to explain, you just have to do it to understand it. You are doing great. One does not just get into a semi and DRIVE it like you can your vehicle or anyones vehicle. So much to know and now it is probably making more sense on why training is so long–or maybe too short. Looking forward to many more of your adventures.
I gotta agree with Rhonda. Even though I didn’t use a school, I still “practiced” in an old shopping center parking lot until I thought my legs were going to shake right off! That’s another blog post coming soon…