Why You May Need to Change Your Habits If You Want to Drive a Big Truck
If you want to get a truck licence to drive a heavy-duty truck so that you can look for more opportunities and earn more money, then you need to get into a very different frame of mind. You may be used to driving a car and have held a licence for five or 10 years, but not all of your habits will transfer well to this type of vehicle. What do you need to think about as you get more experience and move up to this next level?
Smooth and Steady
Before you can get your licence, you will need to undergo a strict test and be certified as competent by the official. They will be looking for capability and general safety, and it's very important that you are able to drive this type of vehicle smoothly.
Clutch Action
If you have a manually operated car at home, then you may be used to the act of changing gear, but the action itself is far more critical when you are driving this larger truck. For example, you can change gear on a car at your leisure without affecting its general safety, by depressing the clutch pedal ahead of time, shifting the gear and then letting the clutch back out. However, if you were to do this with a larger vehicle when driving downhill towards a roundabout, then you would disengage the exhaust brake and could severely affect your stopping power. You have to be very precise when you operate the clutch on a large truck and make sure that you can change gear smoothly as well.
To do this, you will need to focus on the correct engine revolutions and may need to double-declutch to get it "just right." If you don't change gear at the proper range, then you could cause damage to the transmission, and you would probably get a fail during the test.
Mirror, Mirror
You must also get used to using your mirrors. Car drivers tend to use the one on their side of the vehicle only and very rarely look at the other. You need to be much more aware of your surroundings when driving a heavy and more dangerous vehicle, and the tester will certainly be looking at you carefully, to see if you make use of both mirrors.
Getting Ready
You should get a lot of experience before applying for your actual test and schedule some lessons at a recognised driving school. This will help you to shortcut the entire process so that you can get behind the wheel of a paying job as soon as you can.
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