Practicing On A Split 10 - Will It Make It School Harder?

Hi, I'm Shirley. After 20 years at a keyboard, I'm ready for the open road. The kids are grown (school teacher and a Marine, woo!) I've gotten my CDL permit and a scholarship to a nearby community college's truck driving school. I start in about 4 weeks.

I've been practicing my backing pretty regularly, and the split 10 doesn't really make a difference there. However, I did notice driving forward, there's a ton of difference between shifting my 5-speed Mustang and this. I'm having to break some habits, for sure, but I really enjoy it when I get into the rhythm of shift/flip/flip/shift.

Because a split 10 is the only big truck I have access to right now, am I creating other issues for myself by not waiting to drive the school's trucks? Should I just chill on trying to practice up for class? I'm just guessing, but the school trucks will probably not be split 10 AND will be what I test in. Thanks for sharing your experience with this noob!

Shirley

Hi, I'm Shirley. After 20 years at a keyboard, I'm ready for the open road. The kids are grown (school teacher and a Marine, woo!) I've gotten my CDL permit and a scholarship to a nearby community college's truck driving school. I start in about 4 weeks.

I've been practicing my backing pretty regularly, and the split 10 doesn't really make a difference there. However, I did notice driving forward, there's a ton of difference between shifting my 5-speed Mustang and this. I'm having to break some habits, for sure, but I really enjoy it when I get into the rhythm of shift/flip/flip/shift.

Because a split 10 is the only big truck I have access to right now, am I creating other issues for myself by not waiting to drive the school's trucks? Should I just chill on trying to practice up for class? I'm just guessing, but the school trucks will probably not be split 10 AND will be what I test in. Thanks for sharing your experience with this noob!

Shirley

I was raised on a dairy farm, drove all kinds of different vehicles while growing up. From my personal experience, depending on the individual it may or may not cause you issues once you get into school. So you might want to cut back on your practice because it just might cause you issues since it will be very new experience instead of ancient history like in my case (I was 56 when I started). When I got off the farm, I was 18 and going into the military for the first time.

Just my opinion.

Ernie

I was raised on a dairy farm, drove all kinds of different vehicles while growing up. From my personal experience, depending on the individual it may or may not cause you issues once you get into school. So you might want to cut back on your practice because it just might cause you issues since it will be very new experience instead of ancient history like in my case (I was 56 when I started). When I got off the farm, I was 18 and going into the military for the first time.

Just my opinion.

Ernie

Thank you, Ernie. I appreciate the input coming from experience! And thanks for your time in the military!

Ok, I stand corrected. It's a Super 10, not a Split 10. I hope that's the worst mistake I make this week :)

Split 10

Yeah, "Split 10" in the title made me think you were asking about the 10 break split in a "Split Sleeper" strategy.

Shirley, if you can drive a super ten then you can drive a regular ten speed and probably any thing else there is. But the 5 speed mustang and the truck are completely different. I learned on a super ten and when I got in a 9 speed, a 13 speed and an 18 speed they were both a cinch and really easier than the super ten.

Thanks all! I appreciate the input. I'm just hoping to do everything I can to set myself up to do well in the school and get OTR soon. My goal is to be the least memorable student (no issues :) ) and to, at the very least, not make the news in my first 30k miles.