Comments By Lyght

Thank you.

If your thinking about bumper to bumper traffic as I think you are (stop and go traffic or snail speed traffic <5mph) you more than likely won't even be able to use an engine retarder (aka jakebrake) even on a fairly steep grade. Most trucks jakes will shut off under a certain rpm and some do not activate in your lower gears. Older trucks will but if they aren't shut off before the rpms drop to low it is not good for the engine and it can stall the engine.

Typically in the scenario I am imagining in your question you won't have to worry about jaking, what you'll really need to worry about are your knees and leg muscles because there is going to be a lot of clutch work! Let the vehicle in front of you gain some distance, how to take off on hills up or down you will learn later. I wouldn't bother shifting I would just let the vehicle crawl, controlling speed with service (foot) brake as needed. And stop again. rinse repeat. This is still primarily relying on the engine stopping power of the truck (no jakes). Picking the correct gear to be in is the first thing to do, can you use jakes or are they are prohibited for the area you are in needs to be considered. Know the truck you are in, what gears do the jakes work in, what rpm do they kick out. I would never assume that my jakes are going to work, they can malfunction (rare but true). It's like this, in any vehicle when you get off the accelerator, whether you brake or not they slow down. This is what engine stopping power is.

This is reminding me of rotor milling. It's like being stuck in stop and go traffic, except it's just you and the grinder. Uphill/downhill they do both (uphill is worst). All I know is at the end of the day my clutch leg hates me.

Alright that's what I was thinking the slow 5mph mixed with stop and go traffic. I grew up in the Southern Cali high desert and I remember the Cajon Pass. A lot of times on that pass you'll see stop and go traffic going up hill and down hill and unless they have improved it since I moved even when traffic was free flowing it was never what I would call a fun drive and it wouldn't be uncommon to see over heated cars every few miles going up that hill. I haven't driven a truck yet today I'll hopefully be getting my learns permit so I know what the Jake break is but I haven't used one yet so hopefully by the time I need it I'll know how to use it and use it right.

Tomorrow I'm taking my CDL permit test (yes I was suppose to take it before but things beyond my control came up that day and I was unable to take it), so I was brushing up on my CDL Practice Tests and came across two two questions that confused me. I'm likely reading them wrong, but I'm hoping someone can help me understand because I'm sure they'll both come in handy someday.

--First Question-- Q) A tractor trailer traveling 55 mph will travel how far between when the brain perceives a hazard and stopping? A) At least 419 ft (My Answer) 60 feet

From The CDL Manual: At 55 mph it will take about 6 seconds to stop and your vehicle will travel the distance of a football field (60 + 60 + 170 = 290 feet).

-So from the manual shouldn't the answer be only 290 feet not at least 419?

--Second Question-- Q) When parked on the side of a two-lane road carrying traffic in both directions, place warning devices: A) within 10 feet of the front or rear corners to mark the location of the vehicle and 100 feet behind and ahead of the vehicle, on the shoulder or in the lane you are stopped in

From The CDL Manual: On a two-lane road carrying traffic in both directions or on an undivided highway, place warning devices within 10 feet of the front or rear corners to mark the location of the vehicle and 100 feet behind and ahead of the vehicle, on the shoulder or in the lane you are stopped in (see Figure 2-9 on page 28).

-Alright I think see my mistake on this one but I'm going to post anyway to make sure my mistake is that I think it is. You're suppose to carry 3 red reflectors but if you put one in the at the front and rear corners that 2, then one 100 feet behind and ahead of the vehicle that'll be 2 more for a total of four. Having re-read the question while posting it I see "10 feet of the front -or- rear corners" it being or and not and takes it down to just 1 reflector, but if that is the case how do you know when it put it in the front or to put it in the back?

What will you do if you're driving a truck, going on a long or steep downgrade, in bumper to bumper traffic? Going off of the question on the practice test: On a long or steep downgrade, how should vehicle speed be primarily controlled? Through the braking effect of the engine. Will that still work as good in slow bumper to bumper or will that be a case where you need to use the air breaks?

I left the title a little vague so if I have more driving questions I can reuse this thread rather than making a new one each time.

Seems like two different questions. The difference is your following distance. Using just the engine/jake, you have to be hyper-alert for other drivers moving in front of you. You need to have your foot ready to brake all the time.

First is, "How to descend a long steep downgrade?" I use the engine as much as possible. I always felt a bit of pride when I could safely get to the bottom of a hill without needing to use the service brakes. By using the engine and controlling speed at the top of the hill it isn't that difficult. Donner, Cabbage, Siskiyous; just be patient and let the machine do the work.

Second is, "How to descend a long, steep downgrade in bumper to bumper traffic?" This describes every weekend coming into Denver from the West. There really isn't any way to avoid the service brakes. The engine won't bring you to a dead stop. You need to pick a gear that moves along with the flow of the Subarus, or have an automatic.

Remember, you can only go too fast once. If you try to keep pace with every other truck on the road, you'll get into trouble.

I was wondering about that too, how do you shift into a lower gear in an automatic? That likely is a really stupid question but I've never had to do that in a car (and yes I know cars and semi's are different).

What will you do if you're driving a truck, going on a long or steep downgrade, in bumper to bumper traffic? Going off of the question on the practice test: On a long or steep downgrade, how should vehicle speed be primarily controlled? Through the braking effect of the engine. Will that still work as good in slow bumper to bumper or will that be a case where you need to use the air breaks?

I left the title a little vague so if I have more driving questions I can reuse this thread rather than making a new one each time.

I'm using High Road Training, I completely love it. It is slow, each page having a quiz at the end, and at first that put me off to it. However as I kept going, kept using it, every time I passed a quiz it made me feel better about it, and I learned so much from that. When, rather than if, I missed a question I would put the question and the answer in a word file. So between the high road training and the notes I took I feel like I'm ready to take the test. My wife only used the manual and she passed the general knowledge test but failed the air breaks and combination vehicles tests. So I fully suggest using the training on this site. I stopped for a week and stepped right back into it and picked up right where I left off with no problem. Taking a quiz every page might seem annoying but it really does help put it in your long term memory.

Alright last Friday was suppose to be my cdl permit test but due to things outside of my control it had to be pushed back, now it'll be the 10th. Its a bit of a stress issue me and my wife only planned to be out of work for 2-3 weeks so its what we saved for it'll be week five when we finally get to take the permit test. Really excited to take the test though. :)

G-Town thank you for that, I was a bit worried about that.

Tomorrow I go to take my CDL permit test... I am now worried having read XPO Logistics Sells Truckload Shipping Business to TransForce for $558 Million I'm hoping that the job offer is still going to be there. I guess I'll find out tomorrow after I pass the test and give them call.

The double clutch thing is going to be a pain, I've driven a manual car for like past 10 years and everyone tells me its very different in a semi, my wife doesn't know how to drive a manual at all and we're told that might actually make it easier on her than it will be for me because I'll have to re-learn and i already have manual bad habits.

So far the most frustrating part of this has been getting my dot physical. I honestly thought the accident on my driving record would be the hardest part of it, then the studying, then finding someone to keep my cat until we get our truck. Right now however getting my dot physical seems to be proving the hardest, I found a list of people that do it in my area, I call and either the phone just rings and rings, the number is out of order or I get a voice mail box and my calls aren't returned. Looks like I'll go some place and try to get the appointment set up in person, hopefully.

I've been doing CDL Practice Tests on and off all day only gotten below an 90 once and then it was just an 80. Keeping track of the questions I get wrong so I can study them. Feeling good about it so far! Also talked to the wife, this being our last week to study before the permit test (and me not feeling she's working hard enough towards it) we're going to set down and get set studying times for the rest of the week to make sure she is ready come Friday. I also got our absentee voting taken care of, in my own thread I don't mind saying I'm proud to have voted for Hillary even if they say she only has 0.4% chance of winning my state I was still happy to vote for her.