Things Are Moving Along Nicely

Well....I'm starting week 4 of CDL school this week. The first two were dedicated to CDL permit testing. Thanks to this site, I was well prepared and ahead of the curve. With that being said I decided to take ALL the endorsement tests while I was at DMV including New York's Metal Coils endorsement test. Passed them all with flying colors.

The last week or so have been a mix of classroom and yard time. Main focus was on drop/hook, straight line backing, and pre-trip. All fairly basic but like everything else, practice makes perfect. Pre-trip was made alot easier thanks to Daniel B's Pre-Trip inspection thread from awhile back. Gave me some easy terminology to put together which helped with flow and much easier to memorize.

Today was my first road ride. Nervous? Me? Hell yeah I was. You'd think at 54 and having gone around the block a few times I would have been cool as can be. Anyway...it went pretty good for the first one. Granted, I missed some gears a couple times. More due to my lack of timing between the foot and the hand, but nailed quite a few...both up and down. Turns went good too. Considering I was in downtown Buffalo...once I got the feel it was much easier.

I do have one question....what tips can you veteran guys/gals give me on what to do in the event I miss a gear. There was one moment where I had a daydreaming pedestrian cross the street directly in front of me...never even looked up. I had to slow quicly...and once I slowed I completely lost track of what damn gear I was in! Needless to say...recovery was not easy. Sooo...any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I'm glad my thread was able to help you!

Firstly, keep reminding yourself in your head what gear you're in. During my test, I would say what gear I was in to myself as a reminder and that caused me to never get lost.

I don't know how your truck operates but try to memorize what speed you're at in the gears. For example, on my 10 speed I know that 15mph is 6th gear. So if I get slightly lower than 15mph I know to put it into 5th gear.

But the #1 rule to prevent coasting because of a failed shift is to put it back in the gear that you took it out of. The first second you realize you failed to upshift put it back in the gear you took it out of to prevent a failed exam because you coasted too much.

If you tried to upshift and failed but you forgot what gear you took it out of then make your best educated decision. But honestly, practice is also what perfects this skill.

I'm glad my thread was able to help you!

Firstly, keep reminding yourself in your head what year you're in. During my test, I would say what gear I was in to myself as a reminder and that caused me to never get lost.

I don't know how your truck operates but try to memorize what speed you're at in the gears. For example, on my 10 speed I know that 15mph is 6th gear. So if I get slightly lower than 15mph I know to put it into 5th gear.

But the #1 rule to prevent coasting because of a failed shift is to put it back in the gear that you took it out of. The first second you realize you failed to upshift put it back in the gear you took it out of to prevent a failed exam because you coasted too much.

If you tried to upshift and failed but you forgot what gear you took it out of then make your best educated decision. But honestly, practice is also what perfects this skill.

Great advice....especially the part of putting it back into the gear you just came out of. I'll be honest...I was so busy watching traffic today that I never really got the opportunity to really watch my road speed and the gear I was in. I was keeping my eyes on the road and the tach most of the time. I'll be sure to try that tomorrow....thanks Daniel!

A lot of people add the numbers together for the speed you're going and it's pretty close to the gear you need to be in....

15mph.....1 + 5 = 6th gear - Daniel's example

25mph ... 2 + 5 = 7th gear

Test that out on the truck you're in and see how close it is. It's pretty close on most trucks. That will at least give you a good starting point when you're completely unsure of what gear to put it in.

The only thing I can add to what these fine gentlemam have said is yes add the numbers to find your gear as in Bretts example and then look at your tac. If your close to 10 go to the gear lower and if you are close to 15 go to the higher gear. Everyone misses a gear but its your ability to recover the gear that counts.