I Suck At Double Clutching.

I was taught in school that downshifting was not that important. The reason being that if you have to stop at a stop sign, there is no need to downshift. The key is knowing the rpms in relation to speed. Instead of coming off the highway onto an exit ramp and trying to downshift through the gears, just slow the truck down to the appropriate speed for the exit and clutch in the gear you need. Same goes for timing traffic lights, let off the fuel, apply brakes as needed, and when light turns, clutch in the gear you need. The less you shift, the fewer mistakes you can make. Especially if you miss a gear and coast for more than 7 seconds while testing out.

I was taught in school that downshifting was not that important

In school they'll teach you how to do things by the book to make sure you know how to do various things the "strict, safe, and proper" way. But of course in the real world everyone develops their own way of doing things. So a lot of the things they teach in school won't be used often once you're out on the road.

I was taught in school that downshifting was not that important. The reason being that if you have to stop at a stop sign, there is no need to downshift. The key is knowing the rpms in relation to speed. Instead of coming off the highway onto an exit ramp and trying to downshift through the gears, just slow the truck down to the appropriate speed for the exit and clutch in the gear you need. Same goes for timing traffic lights, let off the fuel, apply brakes as needed, and when light turns, clutch in the gear you need. The less you shift, the fewer mistakes you can make. Especially if you miss a gear and coast for more than 7 seconds while testing out.

Yeah, we are trained to downshift from 8 to 4 on an 8-speed, and it's good practice, but in reality I'm going to skip gears so that I'm in the one I actually want.

I was taught in school that downshifting was not that important. The reason being that if you have to stop at a stop sign, there is no need to downshift. The key is knowing the rpms in relation to speed. Instead of coming off the highway onto an exit ramp and trying to downshift through the gears, just slow the truck down to the appropriate speed for the exit and clutch in the gear you need. Same goes for timing traffic lights, let off the fuel, apply brakes as needed, and when light turns, clutch in the gear you need. The less you shift, the fewer mistakes you can make. Especially if you miss a gear and coast for more than 7 seconds while testing out.

i have been told that if i coast more then a truck length DMV will fail me.

That's what it says in the cdl manual

I was taught in school that downshifting was not that important. The reason being that if you have to stop at a stop sign, there is no need to downshift. The key is knowing the rpms in relation to speed. Instead of coming off the highway onto an exit ramp and trying to downshift through the gears, just slow the truck down to the appropriate speed for the exit and clutch in the gear you need. Same goes for timing traffic lights, let off the fuel, apply brakes as needed, and when light turns, clutch in the gear you need. The less you shift, the fewer mistakes you can make. Especially if you miss a gear and coast for more than 7 seconds while testing out.

i have been told that if i coast more then a truck length DMV will fail me.

this is true. If you are out of gear for more than the length of the truck you are considered out of control.

I'm in training still.. I'm a total noob when it comes to what kind of truck I'm driving. But I'm top of my class with shifting. Where I can't back the best I make up for great upshifting and downshifting. I take pride in that since I've never touched a manual transmission in my life!!!

Its an Eaton Fuller 10 speed... Upshifting is great. Don't overthink it, keep the rpm's in the green sweet spot. clutch, neutral, clutch shift!

Downshifting can be crazy. Especially on those exit ramps that are super short. I downshift to 9th around 55mph, slow down to 35 then downshift to 8th, slow down to 25 and downshift to 7th, slowdown to 15ish and hit 6th gear.

1-5 is alien to me... we're not allowed to use those gears yet.

Of course I'm training with a college that uses an empty trailer!!! so I hope I can still shift like this when I get a job.

The rule the instructor told us to follow was... if your going 25mph.. add 2+5 and you get 7.. so get to 7th gear. If you're going 35mph.. add 3+5 and you get 8.. so you go to 8th gear LOL anything below 25 you're ready for 6th.

Hope I don't get anyone too upset. I know how experienced folk can become when they see the student doing stuff like this. One day I'll be shifting without looking at my tachometer and floating the gears!

My main instructor said, "people that have no experience with manual tranny's in auto's are way ahead of the game when it comes to shifting tractor rigs." It's a completely different game without synchro's , it seems.

I will find out soon enough... like maybe Today!

...good stuff in this thread :)