How to Drive an 18-Wheeler

By David Beavers

This is a manual that teaches the would be truck driver how to operate a big rig. It familiarizes them, in diagrams and easy read instructions, the standard way of shifting the three most common transmissions used in the trucking industry today - the 9-speed, the 10-speed and the 13-speed, giving them a comfort level conducive to an enjoyable experience from the moment they climb into the driver's seat. It describes how to make both left and right turns in the city, how to back up to park, how to set the trailer against a dock to pick-up a load or drop one off, how to arrange the cargo to avoid overweight tickets, how to drive in the Winter down a long steep grade, how to safely avoid falls and injuries when working around the truck while fueling, and how to avoid breakdowns. It is a 50 page pamphlet derived from thirty years of truck driving filled with practical guidance that anyone can use no matter what country they live in.

• Language: English
• Publisher: David Beavers
• Release date: Aug 21, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311667717

Book preview

How to Drive an 18 Wheeler

By: David Allen Beavers

A manual that explains the skills needed to drive an 18 wheeler by a man who spent thirty years of his life doing so and lived to tell the tale.

Copyright © 2015 David Beavers

All rights reserved.

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Table of Contents

1. To Drive an 18-Wheeler

2. To Begin With

3. The Transmission

4. Starting Your Journey

5. Shifting Gears

6. Shifting a 10-Speed

7. Shifting a 13-Speed

8. Shifting Without the Clutch

9. Getting Used to the Size

10. Squaring the Turn

11. Driving in the Mountains

12. Driving in Winter

13. Adjusting the Weight to Legalize the Load

14. Backing into a Spot Requiring a 90 Degree Angle

15. Air Compressors

16. Good Habits

17. Staying Healthy

18. Tips on Training

19. Something Unexpected

20. Last Words

To Drive an 18-Wheeler

So you want to drive an 18-wheeler. If you are a loner, vagabond, tourist, a soul in search of solitude, or seeking anonymity, if you shun the gregarious lifestyle, seek an existence away from the water cooler and the cluster of desks jammed together across the floors of some building, then life on the open road just might be for you.

And you are not alone.

Today, there are approximately 4 million other folks stricken with white line fever, who are out on the big road seeing the countryside and making good money doing it. The difference between them and you is they know how to operate the machinery used for transferring the manufacture’s product from one point to another, and you don’t.

At least not yet. But if your desire is strong, your will implacable, then perhaps you too can join in the freedom of life on the open road.

Nowadays, there’s a concerted effort to convert the 18-wheeler to automatic transmissions. They are, some say, easier to operate and as such reduce the consumption of fuel by lessening the need to adjust the engine to keep the truck running in a smooth and efficient manner. Fuel consumption is the most expensive aspect of driving a truck and one of the chief reasons behind converting all tractors from the boxlike cabover of yesteryear to the more aerodynamically designed conventional model that you see today. The idea is still in the early stages and few trucks are equipped with them, so until the day comes when all trucks are fitted with an automatic transmission you will need to know how to shift manually, and learning that process can be quite daunting.

I’ve written this manual to help you learn the skills needed to become a good truck driver. The information contained here-in is a primer of what I’ve learned after thirty years of driving an 18-wheeler.

To Begin With

The first and foremost thing you must learn in order to operate an 18-wheeler has nothing to do with getting eight hours of sleep. It is how to shift the transmission. Knowing how to progress through the gears in a smooth and timely manner is paramount, it is the key to your success.