Hi Everybody. We Just Started KLLM Driving Academy Last Yhursday
Topic 29830 | Page 1
A hearty welcome to both of you, and thanks so much for introducing yourselves to us!
Double clutching is awkward at first. There's two things to it that have to be done right. One is the timing. It helped me to think of it as the snapping fingers in The Adam's Family theme song. You know the part where they snap their fingers twice. La Da Da Daah - SNAP SNAP. That is very similar to how you want to tap that clutch pedal - just TAP TAP. The other is do not be trying to push the clutch to the floor like you would in a car. These big truck transmissions work completely different than a standard automobile's transmission. There are no synchronizers. That's the whole reason you are double clutching anyway. You only need to depress the clutch maybe an inch or two at the most. Just sort of learn to tap it twice while you are switching gears. It will be awkward, but all you need it for is to pass your test. You will be driving an auto shift transmission later.
Double Clutch:
To engage and then disengage the clutch twice for every gear change.
When double clutching you will push in the clutch, take the gearshift out of gear, release the clutch, press the clutch in again, shift the gearshift into the next gear, then release the clutch.
This is done on standard transmissions which do not have synchronizers in them, like those found in almost all Class A trucks.
Double Clutching:
To engage and then disengage the clutch twice for every gear change.
When double clutching you will push in the clutch, take the gearshift out of gear, release the clutch, press the clutch in again, shift the gearshift into the next gear, then release the clutch.
This is done on standard transmissions which do not have synchronizers in them, like those found in almost all Class A trucks.
TWIC:
Transportation Worker Identification Credential
Truck drivers who regularly pick up from or deliver to the shipping ports will often be required to carry a TWIC card.
Your TWIC is a tamper-resistant biometric card which acts as both your identification in secure areas, as well as an indicator of you having passed the necessary security clearance. TWIC cards are valid for five years. The issuance of TWIC cards is overseen by the Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.
Good luck at KLLM to you both.
Don't get suckered into a lease program sales pitch!
We’re training in manual transmissions so we won’t get a restricted CDL. y
I started on Monday. Today though, we started out on the range practicing straight backing but all the trucks were automatics. Do they have manual trucks for road time or did they recently move to automatics?
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Also forgot to ask. Did you go to the school in Lancaster? That's where I'm at.
From what I understand most of the larger carriers are converting to automatics.
We’re training in manual transmissions so we won’t get a restricted CDL. y
I started on Monday. Today though, we started out on the range practicing straight backing but all the trucks were automatics. Do they have manual trucks for road time or did they recently move to automatics?
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
From what I understand most of the larger carriers are converting to automatics.
Most of the smaller companies are also. I left a company with 45 trucks, all automatics and the company I'm with now has 30 trucks...all automatics. Most of the Idaho companies are automatics. Now, if I were to change jobs, I'd go to Crete, even tho their trucks are governed at 62, but they have manuals :-D Well, I might have to think more on that...I prefer to drive faster ;-)
Laura
From what I understand most of the larger carriers are converting to automatics.
Most of the smaller companies are also. I left a company with 45 trucks, all automatics and the company I'm with now has 30 trucks...all automatics. Most of the Idaho companies are automatics. Now, if I were to change jobs, I'd go to Crete, even tho their trucks are governed at 62, but they have manuals :-D Well, I might have to think more on that...I prefer to drive faster ;-)
Laura
Our trucks have SOEED LIMITERS set at 65 mph on cruise, then 62 mph on the pedal. I rarely use cruise, so I'm puttering along at 62 in the Granny Lane.
Hi, All the trucks we’ve trained on are 10 speed manual. There is a guy training that is in an automatic but he’s FFE. Which apparently was bought by KLLM. But I feel like I got the shifting down pretty well. I do have an ocassional mishap with the splitter, but I’m getting there. I am embarrassed to report that I’ve failed the CDL test twice though. KLLM gives you three chances so I’m pretty nervous about my retest on Friday. I keep failing on the parallel parking. I get in there a bit crooked and then it all goes down hill from there. My wife passed on her first try! Very proud of her. Please let the trucking Gods smile on me Friday!
From what I understand most of the larger carriers are converting to automatics.
We’re training in manual transmissions so we won’t get a restricted CDL. y
I started on Monday. Today though, we started out on the range practicing straight backing but all the trucks were automatics. Do they have manual trucks for road time or did they recently move to automatics?
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
TWIC:
Transportation Worker Identification Credential
Truck drivers who regularly pick up from or deliver to the shipping ports will often be required to carry a TWIC card.
Your TWIC is a tamper-resistant biometric card which acts as both your identification in secure areas, as well as an indicator of you having passed the necessary security clearance. TWIC cards are valid for five years. The issuance of TWIC cards is overseen by the Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.
From what I understand most of the larger carriers are converting to automatics.
Most of the smaller companies are also. I left a company with 45 trucks, all automatics and the company I'm with now has 30 trucks...all automatics. Most of the Idaho companies are automatics. Now, if I were to change jobs, I'd go to Crete, even tho their trucks are governed at 62, but they have manuals :-D Well, I might have to think more on that...I prefer to drive faster ;-)
Laura
If you weren't in Idaho the USPS contractor I work for now is all manuals. :P (and basically all the trucks run up to 70)
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Hi there. My wife and I decided to take the plunge and go OTR with KLLM. I was in IT and got so sick of cubicle life that I couldn’t stand it anymore. My wife was a restaurant manager and she was done with it as well. So here we are. We went and got our permits before applying to try and get a leg up. So we started trucking school a week ago. We practiced straight backing for a couple of days, and then we moved on to offset parking. Three days ago, they took us out around town. We’re training in manual transmissions so we won’t get a restricted CDL. But they said we’ll be getting an automatic once training is over. I gotta say, the double clutch is really throwing me for a loop. The Mrs. is struggling with it too. Me being 50 and my wife is 43, we thought we knew how to drive. Not! Wow, there’s so much to keep track of. Kind of hard not to be overwhelmed. But we’ll keep plugging and trying our best. Just wanted to take a minute to introduce myself. All the best Larry
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
Double Clutch:
To engage and then disengage the clutch twice for every gear change.
When double clutching you will push in the clutch, take the gearshift out of gear, release the clutch, press the clutch in again, shift the gearshift into the next gear, then release the clutch.
This is done on standard transmissions which do not have synchronizers in them, like those found in almost all Class A trucks.
OWI:
Operating While Intoxicated