I often park at Delhi, Louisiana’s lone truck stop, close to the SAPA factory where I work as a dedicated driver. This little town’s economy is based on agriculture, and most local truck drivers are owners/operators transporting grain and other similar agricultural and timber goods. You can see the kind of company I keep at this truck stop in the image at the top of the post. Many of the drivers around here are independent contractors.
A gorgeous Glider-Kit Peterbilt rig recently pulled up next to me as I was spending the night here, gleaming and reflecting the several running lights on his rig from his large Texas Blade bumper and chrome sun visor. When he sat down next to me, I saw that he had what looked to be a nearly five-foot-tall shifter, complete with a chrome skull for the ball and a tongue that he could flick up or down to activate the splitter.
This truck screamed, “Hey, look at me, I am a Real Trucker,” from every angle. I quickly looked at the 5-inch-long I-shift shifter on my Volvo’s automatic gearbox. It has four options and is mounted to the side of my driver’s seat. R N D M (Reverse, Neutral Drive & Manual) (Reverse, Neutral, Drive, and Manual) I resembled the acne-prone young man going on a first date who had to borrow his father’s station wagon to take his date to a drive-in movie. The high school’s top quarterback drives up in his rumbling GTO & parks next to him after finding a spot at the event with some hot-looking chick curled up right next to him! I felt humiliated!
That made me consider how many new truck drivers begin their careers in automatic vehicles. Does this make them any less qualified to be truck drivers than those macho guys who jam their gears and are well-versed in double clutching and floating gears?
The response is a resounding no, of course! And I want to outline everything for you right now.
A True Talent Is Not Shifting Gears
Let us first get this idea out of the way. It is not truly a talent to change gears. You are not losing out on a vital skill necessary to become a professional truck driver if you begin your career with an automatic limitation on your license.
Almost everything you put me in, I can drive. One of the first vehicles I ever operated was a long-nosed Pete with an 18-speed gearbox and a 600-horsepower Cummins engine. I am well aware of how to handle such situations. Because they struggle so hard to get the hang of it all, most novice truck drivers see changing gears as a serious ability. Talent is not necessary to be a “Real Truck Driver” only because it takes a little time to master it.
Autoshift Transmissions Will Continue to Exist
Back when I was a rookie driver, I would have advised them to attempt to avoid getting the mechanical limitation on their CDL. These days, I do not give it much thought. Of course, it would be wise to avoid the limitation, but it is no longer significant. Nowadays, people are switching their fleets to automatic gearboxes wherever they look. The automatic shift, in my opinion, is here to stay. They have now perfected it to the point where it performs admirably and endures as it should.
I want to stress that these new auto-shift gearboxes still have the same fundamental, very reliable design as manual shift transmissions. They still have a clutch that sends power to the drive shaft, but they are conventional gearboxes.
Since they can not see a clutch pedal, several people are perplexed when I tell them they have a clutch. I am merely pointing out that there is not a torque converter as in cars’ automatic gearboxes. With the exception that they automatically change gears while disengaging and/or engaging the clutch and ensuring the RPMs are at the right level, these sturdy gearboxes utilized in these huge rigs are essentially the same standard transmissions as they have always been. They are reliable and effective and have proven to be a useful approach to reducing fuel use.
The trucking industry, which deals in commodities, has very slim profit margins of only cents on the dollar. When trucking firms can find a way to reduce their operating costs by a small amount, they typically jump on board with both feet, and the development of the contemporary car shift gearbox has made that feasible.
I apologize to the doubters, but automatic shift gearboxes will never disappear.
Not Only Driving Skills Are Necessary.
As freshmen in truck driving school, we often get preoccupied with the basics of operating a large vehicle. We agonize over the specifics of synchronizing our RPM with our road speed and choose the optimal time to shift gears based on what seems to be complex data like that.
Then we make problems worse by obsessing about when to use the double gripping beat so that everything goes according to plan. Trying to keep all that straight while simultaneously doing our best to keep that huge, old vehicle inside the lines drives us mad. We are backing up to a loading dock while keeping a close eye on our mirrors, swinging wide on those tight right-hand bends, and driving ourselves crazy to ensure we are appropriately turning the wheel.
At first, it is the basics of driving that drive us crazy, and we allow that crippling tension convinces us that the only way to become truly effective truck drivers is to somehow master all these duties that appear challenging. As he got behind the wheel, I recall one of the other students in the truck driving school with me having perspiration just flowing off his face. He was immediately overcome with uneasiness; it was too much for him.
After operating a large vehicle for a few weeks, the basics usually click into place, and we stop paying attention to them. While to complete newbies, such things seem to be enormous obstacles, they eventually become more or less “muscle memory.” It is unlikely that any new driver would cite his lack of shifting experience if you sat him down after his first four or five months of driving alone and asked him what he believes are the problems preventing him from succeeding as a truck driver. He is unlikely to bring up anything somewhat connected to operating the vehicle. The qualities that define us as “genuine truck drivers” often depend on how we approach our work.
The Other Vital Competencies And Qualities They Fail To Teach
The social, time-management, and character attribute specific to our profession, rather than the physical abilities we acquire, make us effective as “real truck drivers,” or Top Tier Drivers as we like to call them.
Here is a list of a few items that, in my opinion, are essential for success in the trucking sector. While this list is not comprehensive, it should give you a general notion of the things that will make you successful in this line of work.
- Trip Planning
- Communication
- Fixing problems
- Getting Along With People
- Time Management
- Stress Management
- Conflict Resolution
- Staying Calm Under Pressure
- Prudent Decision Making
- Patience
- Strong Commitment
None of those topics are taught in truck driving school.
But, none of these skills are taught to us at truck driving school, although they are all crucial to success in this profession. You may learn a little about trip planning if you are lucky.
Why is that?
So, the main purpose of education is to ensure that we can safely drive a large rig and that we are aware of the regulations that apply to commercial drivers. Completing the truck driving school will ensure you get your CDL. Even while that alone is a good achievement, it is one that just about everyone can achieve.
When someone can maintain the dedication required to see this work through day in and day out, you start to see the “Real Truck Drivers” rising to the top. The trucking industry is competitive, and many people who have acquired their CDL have never found success.
I just came across a statistic concerning the lack of drivers that questioned whether there was a shortage. They contrasted the figures provided by the industry concerning driver shortages to the rise in new CDL holders over the previous five years. What is this? The study indicates that there should not be any kind of driver shortage. It overlooked that many newly obtained CDL holders lacked the necessary abilities to be “genuine truck drivers.” The figure is concerning.
Trucking Success Requires Commitment
Being a successful truck driver requires much more than what you learn in class or even something as simple and monotonous as changing gears. Those that are dedicated to seeing things through will succeed in trucking. This is a profession that distinguishes between doers and dreamers. The kind of individuals that learn to thrive in this industry is those who do not mind getting right down into it and mixing it up with the finest of the best so they can learn how to be the greatest at what they do.
To eke out a little additional time in my day to make something beneficial happen for me out here on the road, I will make all sorts of sacrifices that others won’t. At one work site, a different driver approached me and shook my hand, telling me he had picked up a new skill from me that day. I laughed but could not understand what he meant.
He said he arrived at the employment site early, anticipating being the first person through the gate, having left the truck stop early. I was there, as it turned out. He never thought of taking a nap at the gate! In my opinion, there was a straightforward answer to any possible issues. He was putting time on his fourteen-hour clock while I was still off duty since we had to wait a long time for the crane that was due to arrive at eight that morning.
My friends, I simply do not believe it is that big of a concern nowadays if you begin your job with an automatic limitation on your license. Undoubtedly, it would be good, but it is not a deal-breaker. There is no need for you to feel less confident about yourself as a truck driver if you are operating an automatic transmission truck.
I own one, and I love it. It easily and efficiently manages all the many scenarios we run into, such as steep downgrades and slippery roads. With that automatic gearbox, you will learn how to control your vehicle completely, and your left leg will grow to cherish those excursions through congested areas.