Downshifting

So i heard when you actually get in the real world and by real world i mean when u go solo with a comapany you dont have to downshift that most people dont downshift is that true?

I think you heard wrong. Most people float the gears once they go solo and don't double clutch but yes you will down shift. Especially in traffic. How are you going to climb a mountain if you don't down shift?

Whoever you are listening to you might want to stop. They are sure telling you wrong.

No i mean if your coming to a stoplight or stopsign

No i mean if your coming to a stoplight or stopsign

My trainer has told me that also, but I'm not sure either. My school said always try to down shift........

If it's a red light then you must downshift. Try to "play" the light so you won't have to come to a complete stop.

As for the stop sign. You technically don't have to downshift but I still like to. For example, you don't have to downshift 10th to 2nd but I like to downshift to 6th before stepping fully on the brakes. It's a lot easier on the brakes and more smooth for me. That's what's great about being solo, you drive how you want!

No i mean if your coming to a stoplight or stopsign

My trainer has told me that also, but I'm not sure either. My school said always try to down shift........

Yeh at school they want you to downshift all the way so you can get used to shifting thats why they have you shift all the way down

I downshift often, usually down tp 3rd on stops. I tend to go down to 1st on fuel island approach. Just depends.

In my limited experience alot depends on how might weight I have on and how far away the stop is. If I got a good distance and I am heavy I will go though all the gears, if I am empty I do not down shift as much. It's one of the things I am learning whole out with my mentor. Ever situation is different there are no hard rules.

I think the issue here is the idea that you're taught you're "out of control" if you coast in neutral longer than the length of your truck. I've said before I'm pretty sure I've coasted at least 500 miles over the years. It was pretty common for me to kick it out of gear and let it coast in neutral if I was coming to a long, slow stop or something. I'm not suggesting you do it, but that's what I did quite a bit.

Daniel's way is something I used to do quite a bit also. I would slow a bit and then downshift once to either 6th or 7th and let it slow down a bit in that gear while I was preparing for the stop ahead. If I was coming to a complete stop I'd kick it out of gear as the RPM's got pretty low and coast in neutral to the stop. That's not at all how they teach it in school but you'll develop your own way of doing things out there.