Can't Seem To Be Consistent Shifting On The Road.

Today is the beginning of my final week in school. I am scheduled to test out next Tuesday. I have been on the road for a total of 8 hours driving time. Some days I'm am decent at shifting and others I am grinding and missing and just not getting it. Seems like it's getting worse the closer I get to testing. I am super frustrated.

Today is the beginning of my final week in school. I am scheduled to test out next Tuesday. I have been on the road for a total of 8 hours driving time. Some days I'm am decent at shifting and others I am grinding and missing and just not getting it. Seems like it's getting worse the closer I get to testing. I am super frustrated.

What does your instructor think you are doing wrong? What do you think you are doing wrong?

Without observing, it's difficult to make any suggestions, except relax, don't try to rush your shifts or force the gear to mesh, use a "one--two" count to match shifting and clutching. You might also be too heavy on the clutch, pushing it in to the point where you begin to engage the clutch break which will foul your shift.

Hey Danny - it's not a problem!

I was inconsistent for a full year!

You are going to be fine. If you ever had to ride in the trucks with a tester who is passing or failing new truck drivers you would be very surprised at some of the ones who pass. Those folks understand that you are brand new at this and they realize you only have had a short few hours behind the wheel. They are looking for confidence, a safety consciousness, and a mininal basic understanding of how to operate a commercial vehicle.

What you are experiencing is perfectly normal and is one of the chief reasons we encourage people to stick with their first trucking job for a full year. There is so much to learn about being a truck driver, and to be honest with you, shifting gears, although high on the list of everyone's concerns, is one of the minor details to this job.

Don't let your anxiety get the best of you. It will all come together - you'll have that shiny new CDL shortly.

Today is the beginning of my final week in school. I am scheduled to test out next Tuesday. I have been on the road for a total of 8 hours driving time. Some days I'm am decent at shifting and others I am grinding and missing and just not getting it. Seems like it's getting worse the closer I get to testing. I am super frustrated.

I was told they only take a total of 5 points for grinding. They dit expect you to be perfect as long as you can fix iT. Part of my problem was stopping at traffic lights...I would stall. To fix it I slow down to a full stop then put it in 3rd to creep up. At that point I'm set up to take off So if the light turns green I'm ready to go instead of still downshifting then needing to go up again. Hope I explained that right.

G Instructor says I'm not clutching and matching my speed to gear. I think if I don't get it in right away I panic because I don't want to be out if gear.

OS Thank you so much for the positivity! You are all so very helpful and positive and honest. I am doing my best to try and relax when I get behind the wheel and depending on the instructor I usually am. I have been with 5 different instructors. Most are very patient and relaxed and there are two older guys that are very intimidating and impatient. I do pretty well for the most part and feel pretty confident. Just think I was having a rough one today.

Rainy Thanks for the advice!!

The biggest piece of advice I can give is to relax! The fact that you have your good days shows that you know how to do it. Consistency will come with practice. If you do miss the gear, it's not a big deal. At the worst you just have to give it a rev and shift back down to the gear you were in to begin with. After that you get to try again.