Profile For Michelle L.

Today was a much better day and I did much much better on my downshifting. Thank you for all the help!

I asked around and I am in the better school here, but it is only 2 weeks of school. I had to have my permit and my DOT physical already before they would get me in. It is a private school and I am actually going to drive for my son-in-law, he has his own company, so I won't need a training certificate. I totally understand that I am by no means experienced, qualified, etc. to do much more than drive the trucks, but he is willing to train me and get me going. I will be hauling water from oil wells to dumps, so of course, I have my tanker endorsement. I have driven (with permit) and worked with him before doing this same work, so it's not unfamiliar.

After reading a few threads on here, I think WY is not as stringent on their regulations as other states. Our biggest problem here is getting good reliable people who can pass a drug test and truly want to work!

Just one more thing...

How long are most CDL schools? This one is 2 weeks, with only about 8 hrs of actual drive time and about 8 hrs for skills...

Thank you so much for your reply! Yes, I understand the RPMs and how they synch with the shifting....it's getting that rhythm down I'm having problems with, I think. And road speed. I slow down and then end up going too slow. I just had a really awful day.

And you get an A... awesome explanation!

I am currently in CDL school, I have 3 more days of training and I test on Monday. I am really struggling with downshifting. I have read the tips on adding the speed numbers to equal the gear tip (2+5=7th gear). We are in a 99 International Eagle with a Eaton 10 sp. I think it's been pretty beat up from students and we actually had to have the clutch adjusted yesterday during class. Today another student was jammin' and crammin' because she was struggling and so she was angry, popping the clutch and grinding. I drove after her and struggled to downshift into lower gears. The instructor then drove and had some difficulty also. When we got back to the yard, another instructor drove it and said it was fine, it was all me. I have been having issues with the road speed and trying to get that down, but I am hoping I might get some good tips here.

Thank you!