I have been practicing and driving my semi tractor almost every day
recently. Not much time every day, but I usually manage to find at
least some time every day. At my age and after 17 years of driving
auto transmission, the skills to drive a truck with an unsynchronized
manual transmission do not come easily, but I am making progress. I
can now shift up and down, and by now, it works well most of the time.

I will soon try to pass a theoretical exam to get a CDL learner's
permit.

i

Ignoramus6107 wrote:

I have been practicing and driving my semi tractor almost every day
recently. Not much time every day, but I usually manage to find at
least some time every day. At my age and after 17 years of driving
auto transmission, the skills to drive a truck with an unsynchronized
manual transmission do not come easily, but I am making progress. I
can now shift up and down, and by now, it works well most of the time.

I will soon try to pass a theoretical exam to get a CDL learner's
permit.

i

I'd recommend tracking down one of the "rent our truck for your CDL
test" places that has a semi with one of the automatic (really
semi-automatic) transmissions for your road test. They will have the
proper insurance for everything and having the auto truck will make
things less stressful as well as giving you more points available to
potentially miss on the test and still pass. You can't grind gears (or
run over curbs) on the test, but once you have your license you can
grind the gears on your truck all you want (and everyone runs over curbs
it seems). The test truck rental places also know the test routes and
will guide you through the actual test route for practice before you
take the test. It's well worth the $500 or so they typically charge for
what is typically half a day of their truck and driver's time.

On 2012-03-02, Pete C. wrote:

Ignoramus6107 wrote:

I have been practicing and driving my semi tractor almost every day
recently. Not much time every day, but I usually manage to find at
least some time every day. At my age and after 17 years of driving
auto transmission, the skills to drive a truck with an unsynchronized
manual transmission do not come easily, but I am making progress. I
can now shift up and down, and by now, it works well most of the time.

I will soon try to pass a theoretical exam to get a CDL learner's
permit.

i

I'd recommend tracking down one of the "rent our truck for your CDL
test" places that has a semi with one of the automatic (really
semi-automatic) transmissions for your road test. They will have the
proper insurance for everything and having the auto truck will make
things less stressful as well as giving you more points available to
potentially miss on the test and still pass. You can't grind gears (or
run over curbs) on the test, but once you have your license you can
grind the gears on your truck all you want (and everyone runs over curbs
it seems). The test truck rental places also know the test routes and
will guide you through the actual test route for practice before you
take the test. It's well worth the $500 or so they typically charge for
what is typically half a day of their truck and driver's time.

Pete, what are those semi-automatic transmissions, exactly?

I do agree with you, as a matter of fact, about renting something like
that.

i

Ignoramus22470 wrote:

On 2012-03-02, Pete C. wrote:

Ignoramus6107 wrote:

I have been practicing and driving my semi tractor almost every day
recently. Not much time every day, but I usually manage to find at
least some time every day. At my age and after 17 years of driving
auto transmission, the skills to drive a truck with an unsynchronized
manual transmission do not come easily, but I am making progress. I
can now shift up and down, and by now, it works well most of the time.

I will soon try to pass a theoretical exam to get a CDL learner's
permit.

i

I'd recommend tracking down one of the "rent our truck for your CDL
test" places that has a semi with one of the automatic (really
semi-automatic) transmissions for your road test. They will have the
proper insurance for everything and having the auto truck will make
things less stressful as well as giving you more points available to
potentially miss on the test and still pass. You can't grind gears (or
run over curbs) on the test, but once you have your license you can
grind the gears on your truck all you want (and everyone runs over curbs
it seems). The test truck rental places also know the test routes and
will guide you through the actual test route for practice before you
take the test. It's well worth the $500 or so they typically charge for
what is typically half a day of their truck and driver's time.

Pete, what are those semi-automatic transmissions, exactly?

I do agree with you, as a matter of fact, about renting something like
that.

i

I only have direct knowledge of the Eaton that was on the Kenworth T2000
I tested on, but essentially they are a regular manual semi transmission
(like 14+ gears) that is under computer control.

There is a clutch that you use when starting and stopping the truck, but
outside of that the computer handles the shifting. There is a
transmission shift that looks a bit like an automatic, but has no PARK
mode and has up/down buttons on the handle as well. Park is handled with
the normal air brake controls which is why there is no PARK on the
shift.

Basically you press in the clutch and shift the lever to D (drive). The
computer will clunk the transmission into gear for you (normally second
gear) and you start moving with the clutch and accelerator like normal.
After you have let the clutch out you just forget about it until you are
coming to a stop. The computer will cut power (electronic throttle) and
power shift for you as you accelerate. There is a display that shows the
current gear it's in. The up down buttons on the shift lever can be used
to force it up or down much like some "sport" cars with automatics.

When you are coming to a stop you brake normally and let the computer
downshift for you as you slow down. When it is down to low gear (second)
you finally push in the clutch as you come to a stop and hold the clutch
down as normal if waiting at a light, or if you are parking you shift to
N (neutral) and set your air brake park control.

They are really quite nice and remove that extra bit of distraction
while trying to merge into traffic on an entrance or exit ramp.
Certainly after you have been driving a manual for a few years that
isn't much distraction, but it is still some and certainly more for new
drivers. From what I read the autos are becoming more common in the big
fleets too.

On 2012-03-02, Pete C. wrote:

Ignoramus22470 wrote:

On 2012-03-02, Pete C. wrote:

Ignoramus6107 wrote:

I have been practicing and driving my semi tractor almost every day
recently. Not much time every day, but I usually manage to find at
least some time every day. At my age and after 17 years of driving
auto transmission, the skills to drive a truck with an unsynchronized
manual transmission do not come easily, but I am making progress. I
can now shift up and down, and by now, it works well most of the time.

I will soon try to pass a theoretical exam to get a CDL learner's
permit.

i

I'd recommend tracking down one of the "rent our truck for your CDL
test" places that has a semi with one of the automatic (really
semi-automatic) transmissions for your road test. They will have the
proper insurance for everything and having the auto truck will make
things less stressful as well as giving you more points available to
potentially miss on the test and still pass. You can't grind gears (or
run over curbs) on the test, but once you have your license you can
grind the gears on your truck all you want (and everyone runs over curbs
it seems). The test truck rental places also know the test routes and
will guide you through the actual test route for practice before you
take the test. It's well worth the $500 or so they typically charge for
what is typically half a day of their truck and driver's time.

Pete, what are those semi-automatic transmissions, exactly?

I do agree with you, as a matter of fact, about renting something like
that.

i

I only have direct knowledge of the Eaton that was on the Kenworth T2000
I tested on, but essentially they are a regular manual semi transmission
(like 14+ gears) that is under computer control.

There is a clutch that you use when starting and stopping the truck, but
outside of that the computer handles the shifting. There is a
transmission shift that looks a bit like an automatic, but has no PARK
mode and has up/down buttons on the handle as well. Park is handled with
the normal air brake controls which is why there is no PARK on the
shift.

Basically you press in the clutch and shift the lever to D (drive). The
computer will clunk the transmission into gear for you (normally second
gear) and you start moving with the clutch and accelerator like normal.
After you have let the clutch out you just forget about it until you are
coming to a stop. The computer will cut power (electronic throttle) and
power shift for you as you accelerate. There is a display that shows the
current gear it's in. The up down buttons on the shift lever can be used
to force it up or down much like some "sport" cars with automatics.

When you are coming to a stop you brake normally and let the computer
downshift for you as you slow down. When it is down to low gear (second)
you finally push in the clutch as you come to a stop and hold the clutch
down as normal if waiting at a light, or if you are parking you shift to
N (neutral) and set your air brake park control.

They are really quite nice and remove that extra bit of distraction
while trying to merge into traffic on an entrance or exit ramp.
Certainly after you have been driving a manual for a few years that
isn't much distraction, but it is still some and certainly more for new
drivers. From what I read the autos are becoming more common in the big
fleets too.

Just about time, I would say. Thanks for a great explanation.

i

Ignoramus22470 wrote:
On 2012-03-02, Pete C. wrote:
Ignoramus6107 wrote:
I have been practicing and driving my semi tractor almost every day
recently. Not much time every day, but I usually manage to find at
least some time every day. At my age and after 17 years of driving
auto transmission, the skills to drive a truck with an unsynchronized
manual transmission do not come easily, but I am making progress. I
can now shift up and down, and by now, it works well most of the time.

I will soon try to pass a theoretical exam to get a CDL learner's
permit.

i
I'd recommend tracking down one of the "rent our truck for your CDL
test" places that has a semi with one of the automatic (really
semi-automatic) transmissions for your road test. They will have the
proper insurance for everything and having the auto truck will make
things less stressful as well as giving you more points available to
potentially miss on the test and still pass. You can't grind gears (or
run over curbs) on the test, but once you have your license you can
grind the gears on your truck all you want (and everyone runs over curbs
it seems). The test truck rental places also know the test routes and
will guide you through the actual test route for practice before you
take the test. It's well worth the $500 or so they typically charge for
what is typically half a day of their truck and driver's time.

Pete, what are those semi-automatic transmissions, exactly?

I do agree with you, as a matter of fact, about renting something like
that.

i

Just check VERY carefully. Many states put restrictions on for various
items (glasses, hand controls and such) I know one of those used to be
Automatic transmission ONLY. IE if you couldn't drive a stick you got a
restriction saying that you could only drive automatics.

--
Steve W.

On 2012-03-02, Steve W. wrote:
Ignoramus22470 wrote:
On 2012-03-02, Pete C. wrote:
Ignoramus6107 wrote:
I have been practicing and driving my semi tractor almost every day
recently. Not much time every day, but I usually manage to find at
least some time every day. At my age and after 17 years of driving
auto transmission, the skills to drive a truck with an unsynchronized
manual transmission do not come easily, but I am making progress. I
can now shift up and down, and by now, it works well most of the time.

I will soon try to pass a theoretical exam to get a CDL learner's
permit.

i
I'd recommend tracking down one of the "rent our truck for your CDL
test" places that has a semi with one of the automatic (really
semi-automatic) transmissions for your road test. They will have the
proper insurance for everything and having the auto truck will make
things less stressful as well as giving you more points available to
potentially miss on the test and still pass. You can't grind gears (or
run over curbs) on the test, but once you have your license you can
grind the gears on your truck all you want (and everyone runs over curbs
it seems). The test truck rental places also know the test routes and
will guide you through the actual test route for practice before you
take the test. It's well worth the $500 or so they typically charge for
what is typically half a day of their truck and driver's time.

Pete, what are those semi-automatic transmissions, exactly?

I do agree with you, as a matter of fact, about renting something like
that.

i

Just check VERY carefully. Many states put restrictions on for various
items (glasses, hand controls and such) I know one of those used to be
Automatic transmission ONLY. IE if you couldn't drive a stick you got a
restriction saying that you could only drive automatics.


As far as I know, it only applies to air brakes.

i

On Thu, 01 Mar 2012 23:03:30 -0600, Ignoramus6107
wrote:

I have been practicing and driving my semi tractor almost every day
recently. Not much time every day, but I usually manage to find at
least some time every day. At my age and after 17 years of driving
auto transmission, the skills to drive a truck with an unsynchronized
manual transmission do not come easily, but I am making progress. I
can now shift up and down, and by now, it works well most of the time.

I will soon try to pass a theoretical exam to get a CDL learner's
permit.

i

You're learning at a better age than myself. I started driving
truckloads of wheat to the elevator at 14. Dad told me to never go on
the highway. Of course, I ignored that. I forgot to down shift at the
top of pleasant grove hill. When the brakes wore out, I tried to down
shift and missed it. That old truck was doing 80 at the bottom of the
hill. I was lucky to see 15. But, I've never forgot to down shift
again.

Karl

On 2012-03-02, Karl Townsend wrote:
On Thu, 01 Mar 2012 23:03:30 -0600, Ignoramus6107
wrote:

I have been practicing and driving my semi tractor almost every day
recently. Not much time every day, but I usually manage to find at
least some time every day. At my age and after 17 years of driving
auto transmission, the skills to drive a truck with an unsynchronized
manual transmission do not come easily, but I am making progress. I
can now shift up and down, and by now, it works well most of the time.

I will soon try to pass a theoretical exam to get a CDL learner's
permit.

i

You're learning at a better age than myself. I started driving
truckloads of wheat to the elevator at 14. Dad told me to never go on
the highway. Of course, I ignored that. I forgot to down shift at the
top of pleasant grove hill. When the brakes wore out, I tried to down
shift and missed it. That old truck was doing 80 at the bottom of the
hill. I was lucky to see 15. But, I've never forgot to down shift
again.


I have found a golden guy, an honest mobile mechanic, I will have him
check my brakes out.

i

On Fri, 02 Mar 2012 21:28:21 -0600, Ignoramus22470
wrote:

On 2012-03-02, Karl Townsend wrote:
On Thu, 01 Mar 2012 23:03:30 -0600, Ignoramus6107
wrote:

I have been practicing and driving my semi tractor almost every day
recently. Not much time every day, but I usually manage to find at
least some time every day. At my age and after 17 years of driving
auto transmission, the skills to drive a truck with an unsynchronized
manual transmission do not come easily, but I am making progress. I
can now shift up and down, and by now, it works well most of the time.

I will soon try to pass a theoretical exam to get a CDL learner's
permit.

i

You're learning at a better age than myself. I started driving
truckloads of wheat to the elevator at 14. Dad told me to never go on
the highway. Of course, I ignored that. I forgot to down shift at the
top of pleasant grove hill. When the brakes wore out, I tried to down
shift and missed it. That old truck was doing 80 at the bottom of the
hill. I was lucky to see 15. But, I've never forgot to down shift
again.


I have found a golden guy, an honest mobile mechanic, I will have him
check my brakes out.

i

Iggy, just in case you don't alread know, NEVER go down a hill in a
gear higher than you go up it. Downshift at the top. No matter how
good the brakes are, it won't stop 80,000 lbs. I just told you how i
learned this.

Karl

On Fri, 02 Mar 2012 22:19:17 -0600, Karl Townsend
wrote:
On Fri, 02 Mar 2012 21:28:21 -0600, Ignoramus22470
wrote:
On 2012-03-02, Karl Townsend wrote:
On Thu, 01 Mar 2012 23:03:30 -0600, Ignoramus6107
wrote:

I have been practicing and driving my semi tractor almost every day
recently. Not much time every day, but I usually manage to find at
least some time every day. At my age and after 17 years of driving
auto transmission, the skills to drive a truck with an unsynchronized
manual transmission do not come easily, but I am making progress. I
can now shift up and down, and by now, it works well most of the time.

I will soon try to pass a theoretical exam to get a CDL learner's
permit.

You're learning at a better age than myself. I started driving
truckloads of wheat to the elevator at 14. Dad told me to never go on
the highway. Of course, I ignored that. I forgot to down shift at the
top of pleasant grove hill. When the brakes wore out, I tried to down
shift and missed it. That old truck was doing 80 at the bottom of the
hill. I was lucky to see 15. But, I've never forgot to down shift
again.

I have found a golden guy, an honest mobile mechanic, I will have him
check my brakes out.

Iggy, just in case you don't alread know, NEVER go down a hill in a
gear higher than you go up it. Downshift at the top. No matter how
good the brakes are, it won't stop 80,000 lbs. I just told you how i
learned this.

And the same lesson will kill you in a car, too. I ALWAYS downshift
one notch on hills and stay off the brakes as much as possible, even
if I'm not overloaded or towing and the brakes are minty-fresh.

You have to keep the brakes cool enough to get stopped when you need
to. If you were riding them down the hill to scrub off speed there
may not be enough reserve brake power left to get stopped before they
heat-fade into nothing-ness - then you are well and truly screwed.

Young dumb kid in a 1962 International Scout 4X4 (maybe a half-ton)
with the 152-CID Four and the stock Girling drum brakes towing WAY too
much unbraked trailer over a moderate canyon grade - Malibu Canyon
from US-101 to Pacific Coast Highway.

Got way dicey getting it stopped going down the hill, and that's with
pulling over several times for the brakes to cool down after I could
feel them fading away - more than once with Both Feet mashing that one
poor little pedal Fred Flintstone style.

Couldn't get enough engine braking out of it in Second without
grenading the engine, and I had a line of honking cars behind me when
I tried it in First. And that was the flattest route to the beach.

The trip home was after dark and traffic was lighter. First gear all
the way down the backside and SCREW 'EM - Honk all you want, I'm
getting this rig back to the barn in one piece and Never Again. I'll
hug the shoulder, you go around.

If I'd have tried that same trick on Kanan Road (and this was long
before they put in the Runaway Truck gravel pit in the median) there
wouldn't be any graceful recovery - I'd have been a splat on the
Hillside at the Tee intersection with Pacific Coast Hwy...

.... For about two seconds max, then *(if by some miracle I made it
across the intersection unscathed the first time) I'd get T-Boned by
the 4-lane 55-MPH through traffic on PCH. If one didn't kill ya, the
other one certainly would.

-- Bruce --

On 2012-03-03, Karl Townsend wrote:
On Fri, 02 Mar 2012 21:28:21 -0600, Ignoramus22470
wrote:

On 2012-03-02, Karl Townsend wrote:
On Thu, 01 Mar 2012 23:03:30 -0600, Ignoramus6107
wrote:

I have been practicing and driving my semi tractor almost every day
recently. Not much time every day, but I usually manage to find at
least some time every day. At my age and after 17 years of driving
auto transmission, the skills to drive a truck with an unsynchronized
manual transmission do not come easily, but I am making progress. I
can now shift up and down, and by now, it works well most of the time.

I will soon try to pass a theoretical exam to get a CDL learner's
permit.

i

You're learning at a better age than myself. I started driving
truckloads of wheat to the elevator at 14. Dad told me to never go on
the highway. Of course, I ignored that. I forgot to down shift at the
top of pleasant grove hill. When the brakes wore out, I tried to down
shift and missed it. That old truck was doing 80 at the bottom of the
hill. I was lucky to see 15. But, I've never forgot to down shift
again.


I have found a golden guy, an honest mobile mechanic, I will have him
check my brakes out.

i

Iggy, just in case you don't alread know, NEVER go down a hill in a
gear higher than you go up it. Downshift at the top. No matter how
good the brakes are, it won't stop 80,000 lbs. I just told you how i
learned this.

Karl


Karl, I am aware of this, yes. I think that proper brakes are enough
to slow down downhill and to switch to low gear, but I am aware of the
brake fade phenomenon.

I am studying that stuff and will take theoretical CDL exam as soon as
practicable.

I will use this dump truck and the 15k trailer, in lieu of a bigger
semi tractor/trailer setup, since I already have this dump truck and a
15k trailer, and do not yet have a suitable semi trailer.

i

i

Ignoramus20398 wrote:

On 2012-03-03, Karl Townsend wrote:
On Fri, 02 Mar 2012 21:28:21 -0600, Ignoramus22470
wrote:

On 2012-03-02, Karl Townsend wrote:
On Thu, 01 Mar 2012 23:03:30 -0600, Ignoramus6107
wrote:

I have been practicing and driving my semi tractor almost every day
recently. Not much time every day, but I usually manage to find at
least some time every day. At my age and after 17 years of driving
auto transmission, the skills to drive a truck with an unsynchronized
manual transmission do not come easily, but I am making progress. I
can now shift up and down, and by now, it works well most of the time.

I will soon try to pass a theoretical exam to get a CDL learner's
permit.

i

You're learning at a better age than myself. I started driving
truckloads of wheat to the elevator at 14. Dad told me to never go on
the highway. Of course, I ignored that. I forgot to down shift at the
top of pleasant grove hill. When the brakes wore out, I tried to down
shift and missed it. That old truck was doing 80 at the bottom of the
hill. I was lucky to see 15. But, I've never forgot to down shift
again.


I have found a golden guy, an honest mobile mechanic, I will have him
check my brakes out.

i

Iggy, just in case you don't alread know, NEVER go down a hill in a
gear higher than you go up it. Downshift at the top. No matter how
good the brakes are, it won't stop 80,000 lbs. I just told you how i
learned this.

Karl


Karl, I am aware of this, yes. I think that proper brakes are enough
to slow down downhill and to switch to low gear, but I am aware of the
brake fade phenomenon.

The problem is not the brake fade, the problem is if you do not do your
downshift before you go over the crest of the hill, you have very poor
odds of being able to successfully complete the downshift on the
downgrade. What happens is you get it out of gear and then you are
unable to get it into the lower gear and often you can't get it back
into the previous gear as well. This leaves you on a downgrade in
neutral with *no* engine braking at all and your service brakes won't do
the job. It's runaway truck ramp time if you are lucky enough to find
one.

Ignoramus6107 wrote:
I have been practicing and driving my semi tractor almost every day
recently. Not much time every day, but I usually manage to find at
least some time every day. At my age and after 17 years of driving
auto transmission, the skills to drive a truck with an unsynchronized
manual transmission do not come easily, but I am making progress. I
can now shift up and down, and by now, it works well most of the time.

I will soon try to pass a theoretical exam to get a CDL learner's
permit.

i

Here's the rig you need for practice... But it doesn't have a 2 speed
rear axle to add to the fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mf6AUbjT-s
--
Steve W.