Student Driver

So far my trainers been saying I got everything down as far as driving shifting go but I'm having troubles with stopping and starting sometimes I stall out and other times when I'm taking a turn I tend to take it slow and my trainers saying that I can't take it at that speed I usually take it in 2nd but he says I need to be at least 3rd or 4th and I'm 14 days in I'm just not trying to stall out or have the cabin jump by letting off my clutc to fast any advice in this area?

One thing I've had trouble with is getting the seat adjusted for the best clutch control, seriously. If I get it right everything goes great but sometimes it's a rocky ride until that happens and it affects my ability to find the gears as well. I'm getting better at it but I switch between two different but similar Freightliners and of course share the them with several other different sized people. Just some food for thought.

Thanks will consider it I do take the turns in 2nd and my trainers telling me not to but it's just distance and perception I feel if I couldn't get it up to third I'd just take it in second because theirs only so much space

One thing I've had trouble with is getting the seat adjusted for the best clutch control, seriously. If I get it right everything goes great but sometimes it's a rocky ride until that happens and it affects my ability to find the gears as well. I'm getting better at it but I switch between two different but similar Freightliners and of course share the them with several other different sized people. Just some food for thought.

Thanks will consider it I do take the turns in 2nd and my trainers telling me not to but it's just distance and perception I feel if I couldn't get it up to third I'd just take it in second because theirs only so much space

One thing I've had trouble with is getting the seat adjusted for the best clutch control, seriously. If I get it right everything goes great but sometimes it's a rocky ride until that happens and it affects my ability to find the gears as well. I'm getting better at it but I switch between two different but similar Freightliners and of course share the them with several other different sized people. Just some food for thought.

I don't think I've ever downshifted into 2d. Can it even be done? I would think you'd have to come to a complete stop first before putting into 2d.

Not saying you can't, just saying I've never done it :)

Auggie69 wrote:

I don't think I've ever downshifted into 2d. Can it even be done? I would think you'd have to come to a complete stop first before putting into 2d.

It most definitely can be done. During school one of the instructors there was an old school driver who insisted we go all the way down into second when downshifting. Repetitively...real stickler.

So yes it can be done...the need for doing it? School was the last time I ever did that.

As far as stalling it when getting going from a complete stop, an awful lot of experienced drivers seem to obsess about starting in the highest gear possible. We've had quite a few students come in here over the years telling us they keep stalling it but the trainers insist they start in 3rd or even 4th gear. There is absolutely no reason to start in a gear so high that you really have to be gentle and feather the clutch or it will stall. In my opinion, that's just dumb.

Start in 2nd gear and you can quickly grab a gear or two once you're rolling. You can start in second, grab 3rd, and then grab 4th in probably 20 feet. The gear ratios are so close together that low in the range that you barely have to rev the motor before upshifting. You can get rolling in 2nd, rev to maybe 1,200, grab 3rd, rev to 1,200, and grab 4th. You'll just have to feel it out a time or two in order to find a comfortable RPM to shift at. But anywhere in that range should be plenty. You might not even need to get to 1,200.

If he says he wants you to start in a higher gear, ask him kindly why he feels that's important, and more importantly, what would be the downside to starting in 2nd? Because there is no downside to it. It's easier on the equipment and it's easier on you.

Drivers often obsess about the tiniest things, and they're mostly trivial. Someone in another thread just mentioned that they used to be in a truck that only ran 63, but now they can run 65, as if that's going to ever make any sort of a noticeable difference at all. That's just nitpicking at nothing.

The same goes with starting out in higher gears. It's not going to do anything other than wear out your clutch leg and wear out your clutch, not to mention stressing you out.

Honestly, I usually start in 3rd and skip to 5th. It's more efficient. If I'm on any kind of an uphill grade or am loaded on the heavy side, I might start in 2nd and then go through my gears and not skip 4th gear. I don't lug the engine in 3rd, and I have enough experience to know when it would need to be in 2nd to start without lugging. This comes with time. As a new driver, you're finding your way, and you want to do things the easiest way possible and without damaging the equipment. I wondered if I'd ever learn to float gears. Now I don't use the clutch for downshifting either. I only use the clutch when starting or coming to a complete stop. I'm not saying this to contradict advice given, just to exemplify that with time it does get easier and you'll learn to shift with ease.

Not sure if I've ever downshifted to 2nd either, outside of school.

Yeah, there's a lot of habits you pick up with experience, and there's a lot of things you'll do once you have experience that the schools wouldn't teach or would tell you flat out that you should never do. But as a brand new driver you should be starting in 2nd gear, at least for quite a while. If you do that for a while and you get very comfortable and consistent with it, and then you want to try starting out in 3rd sometime when you're empty, give it a shot and see how it goes.

But starting in higher gears when you're brand new is just adding a lot of stress and strain to both the driver and the equipment.

I usually start in 3rd and skip to 5th. It's more efficient.

Oh heck yeah. I'd be willing to bet you save yourself at least 1/4 of a second, maybe even 1/2 of a second in ideal conditions. Wooo hoooo! Now that's gettin some work done right there, eh?

Like I said, it's nitpicking at nuthin. That's what happens sometimes when people have all day to sit behind the wheel and think. You start going off on tangents and believing that silly little things matter.

Like I said, it's nitpicking at nuthin. That's what happens sometimes when people have all day to sit behind the wheel and think. You start going off on tangents and believing that silly little things matter.

In fact, one of my favorites is the "state line" thing. I lost count how many people have given my lists of Interstates they don't like to run because you spend too much time in one state!

I mean, what the heck difference does that make?

"I hate I-81 in Virginia, and I won't even run I-10 in Texas. I'm not spending two days in Texas! Makes you feel like you're not getting anywhere!"

I wish I was kidding about that. Heard it probably 100 times over the years, especially the I-10 in Texas thing.

Yeah, there's a lot of habits you pick up with experience, and there's a lot of things you'll do once you have experience that the schools wouldn't teach or would tell you flat out that you should never do. But as a brand new driver you should be starting in 2nd gear, at least for quite a while. If you do that for a while and you get very comfortable and consistent with it, and then you want to try starting out in 3rd sometime when you're empty, give it a shot and see how it goes.

But starting in higher gears when you're brand new is just adding a lot of stress and strain to both the driver and the equipment.

I usually start in 3rd and skip to 5th. It's more efficient.

Oh heck yeah. I'd be willing to bet you save yourself at least 1/4 of a second, maybe even 1/2 of a second in ideal conditions. Wooo hoooo! Now that's gettin some work done right there, eh?

Like I said, it's nitpicking at nuthin. That's what happens sometimes when people have all day to sit behind the wheel and think. You start going off on tangents and believing that silly little things matter.

Put the coffee down brother. I never made claims that I'm saving a bunch of time. And I did state I'm not advocating this for rookies. I brought it up to show that things change and get easier with experience, and the small stuff you sweat as a rookie eventually goes away.