24 Kentucky Trucker Now, I can drive a stick shift car with the best of them, but doubleclutching a ten-speed was a bit more difficult than I had ever imagined. to the parking lot due to the driver being incapacitated, but I never moved the truck out of first gear. And it would have been within a somewhat controlled environment. I’m not admitting to anything, but back then, cameras were not widespread like they are now. Was it legal? Probably not, but we were trying to save the carrier $1,000 to $1,200 for a wrecker to pull the truck out of the inspection barn 300 feet into the parking lot! Again, this was 20+ years ago, so I’m pretty sure if that had occurred, I would now be well beyond the statute of limitations for any transgression. Wink-wink. On to I-65 we go, the instructor confident; me, not so much. What had I gotten myself into? This was real, and it took all of about 60 seconds to realize a professional truck driver is a very skilled individual. I mean, there are a ton of things to remember. Your speed, distance to the car in front of you, the car in the lane next to you; check your mirrors, the roadway; check your mirrors, construction, motorcyclist; check your mirrors, shifting gears (on which I will elaborate later), watch your speed, check the gauges, watch the trailer placement in the lane, and check your mirrors again. Talk about wash, rinse, and repeat; this is it, in a big truck, and this was just a practice drive with no freight and really no time pressure. The shifting! Ha! I have always considered myself a “car guy” and was confident about driving a manual transmission truck. Boy, that was a mistake. I did not realize the transmission in a truck is not synchronized like that of a car. Most seriously, that was probably the hardest lesson. Double continued from page 23 clutching, both upshifting and especially downshifting, is like a ballet lesson. I’m a terrible dancer. No, that is not exactly true; I can’t dance at all. Now, I can drive a stick shift car with the best of them, but double-clutching a ten-speed was a bit more difficult than I had ever imagined. With guidance from my instructor, I was getting it, but it was humbling. What I thought would be a short, quick drive ended up being a four-hour round trip, down the interstate in traffic, to Hodgenville, then over to Fort Knox, and finally back north to Louisville. My instructor was brave. The only difference between a 7-year-old and me at this point was merely the gray in my hair. I grew up with “Smokey and the Bandit,” “BJ & the Bear,” “Convoy,” and “Movin On.” If you are not familiar with any of those references, there is nothing wrong with you; it just means you were most likely born after 1980. Just to prove that I am a humble, down-to-earth person, you’ll love this next part. On one Thursday, Dale was not available, and after I practiced my skills on the range, another instructor, “JD,” said he would take me out for a short practice trip. I again explained my situation and even admitted I was not exactly a “gear jammer.” Oh, I could grind the gears, but clearly, I was not yet accomplished at the art of “double clutching.” Which brings me to my funniest story to date when it comes to driving a truck. You must keep in mind this was only the second time I had driven a truck outside the confines of a parking lot in live traffic. I was doing pretty decent for only the second time out, and JD and I came to a stop sign in this industrial park. I was building my confidence with the gear shifting thing. However, upon stopping, I forgot to put the truck back into low range, and when I let out on the clutch, we were not in 5th gear, we were in 10th. It did not go well. The truck stalled, and here I am trying to keep it rolling, turn it without hitting anything, and JD says, “Go ahead and start it.” Well, it was, of course, a natural reaction, and I was already ahead of his instruction. The only problem was, the seat belt tensioner had already locked due to the slight downgrade, and I could not lean far enough forward
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTU2Mjk4Mw==