Grinding gears didn’t bother me. What bothered me was missing the gear and the anxiety leading up to the shift. I’m stopped at a red light, and I know I have three gears to go through before making my turn. Miss a gear before getting to fifth or sixth and I’m coasting through the intersection focused on finding a gear, not on making my turn.
Driving safely requires attention. It’s easy to broad brush truck driver safety when you’re talking about it—like it’s a given—but safety means keeping 100% of your attention on the road. As a new truck driver who struggled with shifting, my focus was on hitting my gears. When I missed them, panic set in. When I grabbed them, I was still too focused on shifting and not watching my trailer on a turn, and over the curb it went.
It was a challenge. One I wasn’t sure that I’d overcome. Watch the video above to see what happens.
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