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| May 2 2010, 2:48 AM EDT (current) | TruckerDan | 7809 words added |
| May 2 2010, 2:45 AM EDT | TruckerDan |
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Welcome, Purpose, and Introduction
Welcome to the Semi Truck How-To. My name is Dan, and I've been an over the road trucker for about 5 years. Three of those years were spent as a trainer, teaching other drivers fresh out of CDL school the fine art of driving a semi in real life. I currently hold a Class A CDL with endorsements for tankers, HazMat, and double/triple trailers. I have driven in all 48 contiguous United States and have racked up a little over 600,000 accident-free miles in that time. The purpose of this guide is not to teach you how to be a professional driver; rather its intent is to get you behind the wheel and moving as quickly as possible in a post-apocalyptic situation. In the event this information is required, it could very well prove invaluable as the basic need to move things from where they are to where they are needed will continue despite the complete breakdown of all logistical infrastructure. It will be the job of the survivors, however unskilled they may be, to get these necessary supplies to the people who need them; it is with this document that I intend to ensure that this is possible.
License
This document is hereby released to the public domain by its author, Dan Bowkley <danbowkley@gmail.com>. It may be freely distributed or reprinted, for free or a fee, in any media whatsoever provided that it remain in its entirety including this license. If it is printed, I would request a copy but this is not required.
Disclaimer
There's information here that you could use pre-Zombie to wreak havoc. Don't do it. First, truckers are our life-blood; without us and the transportation we provide, you would starve. Simple as that. Be nice to truckers. Second, stealing a big rig is not only grand theft auto but also interfering with interstate commerce, a federal crime for which you will do federal time. Almost all trucks have some sort of tracking system aboard...you WILL be caught and you WILL go to jail. Third, many truckers (including myself) keep some sort of weapon easily at hand in the truck...I'll put it through your skull if I catch you breaking into my truck, and I'm sure many other drivers out there would do the same. So, this information is to be used only in cases of absolute dire life-threatening emergency or after all applicable laws no longer exist by way of the government ceasing to function.
Background Assumptions
This document assumes that you are a fairly skilled driver and can drive a car with a stickshift relatively well. You can still learn to drive a semi if you've never driven stick before; however, if you've never driven at all I highly recommend you learn in a car first and then progress to larger machines from there.
Fundamental Differences from a Fourwheeler
First and foremost, a semi truck can be incredibly heavy. Your car probably weighs in the neighborhood of 4,000 pounds; a standard over the road truck, with a 53 foot van trailer and a sleeper-equipped tractor, has an empty weight around 33,000 pounds. Fully loaded, they can hit 80,000 pounds legally, and can safely be loaded to about 100,000 pounds. This sounds like a lot, and it is: you're driving a machine that probably weighs more than your house. Things are very different up here; you can't fly around corners like you do in a car, and you can't accelerate or stop as quickly either. Things just take a lot longer to do, that's just the nature of the beast. Take everything you know about cars and multiply it by at least 10, and you're getting close. Other more subtle differences exist as well: we have to double-clutch shifts rather than single-clutch as you would in a car; the transmission has at least double the gears as your car; and of course the sheer number of gauges and switches on the dashboard can be downright flabbergasting at first. Don't let it discourage you though. When you step on the pedal in the middle, it still slows the truck down...it just takes a bit longer to happen. The basics are still the same.
Locating and selecting a suitable truck
Truck stops are your best bets to find a truck that you can actually use. Yeah dealerships have 'em, but the keys are all locked up and they usually don't have a lot of fuel in the tanks. Once you've ensured there's no driver in the truck, or nearby that can lay claim to that truck, the first thing to do is check the fuel tank, make sure it's full or close to it since the power is likely to be out and you'll therefore be unable to pump fuel into your truck. A lot of truckers leave their engines idling while they're parked, and if the driver died with the engine running the tanks will be dry. Other possible locations include highway rest areas, distribution centers/warehouses, and businesses to which trucks have been seen making pickups or deliveries. When selecting your new truck, keep in mind that the trailer can be disconnected from the tractor quite easily; if you want the cargo that's in truck Y's trailer, but you can get truck X started (or just think it's prettier), that's fine; we can swap trailers later. Worry about the tractor for now. Before you get your heart set on a particular truck, do please ensure that there's nobody inside it, or nearby that owns or drives the truck. You don't wanna get mauled by an angry trucker and you don't want to steal his home either. At least I really hope you don't.
Entering without Breaking
Try the door...if it's open you're in luck; if not, there's probably a key hidden somewhere. Common practice is to zip-tie a spare key either to a hose under the hood somewhere, or to the little chain dangling off the back of the fuel tank cap. Dig around a bit, you'll probably find one. If not, you can try using a slim-jim (same process as a car) or use a flat screwdriver to gently work the little window in the front lower corner of the passenger's door out of its gasket and reach through to unlock the door from the inside. Getting it out is a whole lot easier than getting it back in though! (ask me how many times I've locked my keys in my truck, I dare you :D ) You can also try pushing on the wing windows (AKA smoker's windows, the little triangular swiveling thingies just ahead of the main door windows) and see if they're just closed and not latched. As a last ditch, you can try the doors into the sleeper cab, if the truck is equipped with these; often the front doors will be locked but the driver forgot to lock the back door(s).
Many drivers and quite a few large trucking companies employ other anti-theft measures, most notably "air cuffs" and steering column locks. Air cuffs are basically a cover that locks on over the air brake knobs; most of these use a padlock to secure them, and a pair of bolt cutters gets rid of these in a hurry. The other ones are...well, they're a pain in the arse actually. See here: http://www.war-lok.com/images/bg_t5.jpg for one unlocked and the top half removed. If you see one of these, pick another truck. Finally, there may also be a metal tab stuck through the universal joint at the bottom of the steering column just above the pedals; it's locked on with a padlock and the thickness of this tab binds up the u-joint and keeps you from steering the truck. Most of the time it's secured with a beefy Abloy padlock...better bring some hefty cutters or a grinder of some sort for this one.
Pre-Trip Inspection and Startup
Performing a proper, DOT-type pretrip inspection takes around 15 minutes and involves getting rather dirty. This is my method for doing a PTI, and it takes just longer than walking around the rig. Start at the driver's door and walk towards the back of the truck. Kick all 4 drive tires on the left side; if one sounds different it's probably low. Look under the truck here and make sure that the handle on the 5th wheel is all the way in; this is what holds on to the trailer's kingpin. Check the lines going to the front of the trailer: red hose to red, blue to blue, and the green electrical cable should be plugged in and latched. Walk to the trailer tires and look underneath and make sure that there's two big fat steel pins sticking through two of the holes on that track thingie attached to the bottom of the trailer; this is your sliding tandem lock and all hell will break loose if it's not locked. If not, there's a pull handle of some kind you can release and let the pins pop back out. See "sliding trailer tandems" under the "weight distribution" heading for more on this. Kick the trailer tires, and proceed to the back of the trailer. Make sure the door(s) are closed and latched. Go to the other side, kick the trailer tires, check for another two slider lock pins protruding. Walk forward and kick the tractor drive tires. Unhook the right side hood latch, check the right steer tire, go around the front of the tractor, check the left steer tire, and unhook the left hood latch. Now go to the front and lift the hood up (this can be a pain in the rear and require some yanking and wiggling).
Most engines are a bit different from each other, so I leave it to you to find and check the oil dipstick. Check the coolant in the reservoir on top of or right next to the radiator. Now near the left front corner of the engine there will be a smaller reservoir with two hoses; this is your power steering reservoir. The cap is usually a dipstick also; check this level and you're done. Snoop around a bit and make sure nothing looks broken or just generally screwed up, paying special attention to belts and hoses. Drop the hood and relatch it.
OK so you've got a key and are sitting in the driver's seat of a semi truck. Now what? First, make sure the transmission is in neutral by moving the stick left and right; it should have quite a bit of play and a springiness when you move it all the way to the left. That's the detent for low (or first) gear and reverse. Stick the key in and turn it to the right, and try to start it like a regular car. Some trucks have a pushbutton starter rather than using the key for this; if the key goes one click right and stops, look near the ignition switch for a pushbutton. If the engine doesn't crank at all, try holding down the clutch pedal while cranking. Give it up to about 10-20 seconds to get started, sometimes these beasts are a little lazy at first. There will be a bit of a racket from the various alarms at this point; don't worry about them now. DO worry about them if they come back on later. Look around the dashboard for a pair of air pressure gauges; one will be marked P and the other S (there may also be a suspension pressure and a brake application pressure, don't worry about those). Wait until both the P and S (primary and secondary air system) gauges read over 100 PSI. They should stop climbing at around 120 PSI or so, usually accompanied by the truck "sneezing." This is the air dryer purging itself and is normal. You need the air pressure not just to apply the normal "service" brakes but also to release the parking brakes...not going anywhere without air. At this point the alarms should be silent and there shouldn't be any red or amber lights showing on the dash. If this is the case, you're golden.
Basic Control Familiarization
There will be a red octagonal knob next to a yellow diamond-shaped knob somewhere easily accessed by the driver; these are your parking brakes. The red knob supplies air to the trailer parking brakes, the yellow to the tractor parking brakes. Push the red one in (hold it for a sec or it'll pop back out) and let the reservoir in the trailer fill up. When you don't hear air flowing any more, put your foot on the brake pedal to keep the truck from rolling prematurely and press in the yellow knob (usually have to hold this a sec also). The parking brakes are now released and the truck is free to roll. To park, generally you just pull one knob back out and the other one will pop out on its own. Usually when parking I hold the red knob in with my thumb as I use my first two fingers to pull the yellow knob out; this saves me waiting for the trailer reservoir to fill up before I can leave. Don't do this on a hill or when you have questionable traction though, as it only applies the parking brakes to your forward drive axle--and sliding down a hill after you've parked REALLY SUCKS.
The pedals in a semi do exactly the same things as in a car, even though they work somewhat differently. The clutch is on the far left; pressing it about halfway down is enough to disengage the clutch. Pressing it all the way to the floor applies the clutch brake, which stops the transmission mainshaft and lets you get the transmission into gear when the truck is stopped. The brake pedal is in the middle; it works the same as a car but it does take a bit more force to apply the brakes fully than it does in a car. The gas pedal is on the right, and it works just like in a car; however most trucks now use a drive-by-wire system and so there's no mechanical linkage to the engine. This means that there's often a delay of a second or two after you first start the engine during which the engine pretty much just ignores you. Once the ECU has finished its self-check though, it should obey your every command.
Your headlights and parking lights may be on a multi-function stalk with the turn signals, as on most cars, or it may be on the dash if your truck has an old-fashioned "Signalstat" turn signal. If it's on the blinker stalk, it'll work just like your car; otherwise, check around on the dash for a headlight switch. On Peterbilts, at least of 2004 vintage, the parking lights and headlights are two separate switches; turn 'em both on. Personally I prefer to run with my lights on 24/7, but it's up to you...just so long as you know where they're at and can use them. The highbeam is almost always on the turn signal stalk, pull to switch to high and again to low, just like your car. Please don't use your brights if you can see another vehicle anywhere in front of you...heck this goes for all you fourwheelers out there too!
There will probably be three smaller air valves on the dashboard; some trucks may not have all or even any of these though. Often they're cleverly disguised as switches, though usually larger than the rest of the switches on the dash. Generally they're labelled "suspension dump," "power divider (or differential) lock," and "fifth wheel slide." The suspension dump valve lets the air out of the tractor's suspension airbags, which lowers the rear of the tractor so you can get under a low trailer. The power divider locks the differential between the front and rear axles, and should be used only when you have really bad traction (stuck in sand, etc) or you'll burn out the differential and/or wear out your drive tires prematurely. The fifth wheel slide valve unlocks the 5th wheel slider, enabling you to move it forwards or backwards for weight distribution (see that section below for more on this). This must ALWAYS be locked when the truck is moving. If you're just getting into the truck, make sure all three are in the normal position, which is usually pushed to the right.
One other control to know about (and usually not touch at all) is the "trolley valve." Usually it's on the right side of the steering column, looking like the shifter in a car with an automatic, but sometimes it's a T-shaped handle on the dashboard. This valve supplies air to only the trailer brakes, and should *NEVER* be used in normal operation. The only appropriate time to use this is to tug-test the trailer before you roll, to ensure the 5th wheel is properly coupled and that the trailer brakes are working properly. See the section on skid control and jackknifes for more on this.
Basic Indicator Familiarization
There will be at least two and possibly more air pressure gauges on your dashboard. The two important ones are primary and secondary air system pressure; sometimes these are combined into one gauge with two needles. Make sure this doesn't get below about 90 psi or you'll have a hard time stopping; below that and you'll get a buzzer going off at you. Below around 40 psi, the parking brakes will deploy whether you want them to or not. There may also be a pressure gauge for your suspension airbags, which gives you a rough guesstimate at how much weight you have on the drive tires, and a brake application pressure gauge that pretty much tells you how hard you're stepping on the brakes. I still haven't figured out the point of this one.
Critical engine gauges include temperature and oil pressure, just like your car. You might also find a pyrometer, which monitors exhaust temperature; oil temperature; turbo boost pressure; and air cleaner back pressure. Since there are so many different engines, your best bet with these is to watch them and figure out what's "normal" for your truck, and worry about them only if they're not reading normal.
Your voltmeter should read in the neighborhood of 14.2V under normal running conditions. If you're parked and shut down, and it gets below about 10V, you should start the engine and let it idle for a while to charge the batteries back up, or you'll be needing a jump start later.
In addition to the myriad gauges you've now got, there's even more indicator lights. Normally, they should all be off. Important ones to be on the lookout for are "engine shutdown" and "low air pressure." Low air pressure is self-explanatory and accompanied by an alarm; engine shutdown, well, means exactly that also. If you see this light come on, pull over immediately as you've got about 30 seconds until your engine shuts itself down to protect itself from some abnormal condition.
Finally, low oil pressure, high engine temperature, low air pressure, and sometimes low fuel level will all cause an audible alarm. You'll normally have a few of them going off before and during engine start; however, if one comes on while driving, park it and investigate.
Double-Clutching
Clutching a big rig is WAY different from a regular car, because heavy trucks don't have synchromeshed transmissions. Rather than holding the clutch in as you shift, you push the clutch to get it into neutral and then release it a moment, then push it again to get it into the next gear. The timing varies slightly for different trucks, but usually the whole shift takes around 3/4 second. Think "pop, pop" as you shift and you're probably close enough. Practise will teach you the correct timing for your rig.
Range Selector
On the front of the gear shifter knob, there will probably be a small lever; this is your transmission range selector. Moving this lever down selects the low range of the transmission; moving it up selects high range. Always "pre-select" your shifts; that is, if you're shifting from 5th to 6th (on a 10-speed) you move the selector up and then move the shifter while double-clutching. Same applies to downshifting from 6th to 5th: move the selector down, then double-clutch and shift. If you do not have a range selector, your truck has a super-10 transmission; see the special section for that tranny for details as it's just plain goofy (though hard to learn, it's actually easier to drive once you get it figured out). Don't bother with reversing in high range. It won't work, I don't even know why they put it on the shift pattern sticker. Always reverse in low range.
Splitter
On the left side of the shift knob, you may find another little lever. This is the splitter, and it's basically good for half a gear. Huh?! Yeah, you read that right. Back is low, forward is high...shift 2lo single-clutch 2hi double-clutch 3lo single-clutch 3hi and so on. You only have to single-clutch these shifts, rather like you do in a car. Usually though, you can ignore the splitter. Leave it forward and you should be good to go. If you're lucky enough to have found an 18 speed truck...have fun learning it. Seriously they even boggle my brain a little. Even if you do have an 18 speed trans, as I said you can just ignore the splitter and shift it like a regular 9-speed; the only time I'd even consider using the splitter is pulling up a big hill when one gear is a little too high and its neighbor is too low. Unless, of course, you have a super-10.
Shift Patterns
There are seven basic shift patterns that I can think of off the top of my head; therefore I won't go into them all here. The basic principle is almost always the same though: reverse and lowest gear to the left, next two gears in the middle, and high two gears to the right. The addition of range selectors and splitters complicate things, but not by much. Every truck has a decal on or near the dash that gives you basic instructions to shift it, refer to that and you should be golden.
Super-10s, however, deserve a side note here. They're plain goofy. Basically you've got a splitter but no range selector--the gear shifter doesn't move when shifting 1st to 2nd, or 3rd to 4th, etc. You single-clutch the shift when only using the splitter, and double-clutch when using the splitter and the shift lever. It sounds like a pain in the butt...honestly though, it's easier once you get used to it. I learned on one, you can too.
Top2 Operation
Some transmissions have what's known as "Top-2" operation. Basically this automatically shifts the uppermost two gears for you--on a 9T2 for example, you shift the transmission manually into 8th gear and from there it'll automatically shift back and forth between 8th and 9th as needed. This is great as you won't have to shift it yourself until you get below about 40 MPH. However, the cruise control switch must be on (though the cruise doesn't need to be actually set) for this to work. If you turn the cruise off, it'll basically turn a 9T2 into a straight-8, which is useful if you're bobtailing and don't need the extra gear. Functionally, it's a computer-controlled splitter that only works in the top gear which automagically floats the splitter shift for you.
Starting Out
Mash the clutch to the floor, and put the trans into the gear you want to start off in (usually 2nd). If it doesn't want to go in, gently let the clutch out a little bit while gently pressing the shifter towards where you want it; the splines in the transmission will turn slightly and let it line up. As you let off the brakes, gently let the clutch out BUT DO NOT PRESS THE GAS! This is called "idling off," and is important because these big engines make about 1800 ft/lbs of torque and if your foot slips off the clutch it can bow-tie your driveshaft pretty easily. Only after the clutch pedal is out should you gently (see a theme here?) apply some gas.
Upshifting
Upshifting is relatively easy; as you reach the redline (somewhere in the neighborhood of 1700 RPM on the tach) you release the gas as you push the clutch in about halfway to the floor, move the stick into neutral, release the clutch and let the engine slow down a bit, push the clutch back in, move the stick to the next gear, and let the clutch out as you push the gas again. You *WILL* grind the gears for your first month or so...we all did it, you will too, get over it. If it just grinds and won't go in, try revving the engine slightly to get it to mesh, you can feel the grinding through the shift knob and use that to adjust your engine revs to match things up.
Cruising
Somewhere on your dash, steering wheel, or multi-function stalk you'll probably find the cruise control. It works exactly like the one in your car. Don't use it unless you're on the highway and don't expect to have to slow down anytime soon. If you do choose to use it, you must still remain attentive to your gauges and the road--it's a speed control, not an autopilot! At this point though, you should relax a little and maybe put some tunes on. You've earned it.
Rules of the Road
There are a few very important rules to remember when driving one of these beasts; there's a very good reason we have to go to special schools to learn this stuff. It ain't easy folks. First off, these trucks can weigh up to forty tons. They take forever to accelerate and even longer to stop. You should be looking ahead for obstacles and such, about as far ahead as you can see. If you can't see 8 seconds ahead, slow down until you can. Plan where you're gonna go well in advance. SLOW DOWN FOR TURNS, those 20 MPH signs on curves are really dead serious. Flipping one of these things is no fun whatsoever. Watch for low clearance signs if you're off the main highways; most big trucks require 13'6" vertical clearance. That 12' bridge...yeah it's not gonna fit. Really. Do not attempt quick maneouvers in a semi, you'll flip it. If you're gonna hit a deer or whatever, just hit it...trying to avoid it will end up with a squashed deer and a squashed trucker, instead of just a squashed deer. Generally it's a good idea to stay on the biggest road you can possibly take to get to where you're going; specifically, stay off the parkways in NY and NJ and anyplace there's a "no trucks" sign. They're posted that way for a reason; often it's because the roads are too narrow to turn corners worth a damn, or there's a low bridge somewhere ahead. Haircuts in a truck ain't no fun.
Downshifting
Downshifting you basically do the opposite of upshifting: as you approach 700 RPM or so, push the clutch in, move to neutral, let the clutch out, rev the engine up to around 1800 RPM, push the clutch in, and move the shifter to the next lower gear. Let the clutch out and hey presto. Downshifting is hard to learn well; if you're just coming to a stop it's probably easier to slow down to the point where the engine lugs (about 700 RPM usually) and then hold down the clutch pedal as you slow down the rest of the way. However if you're pulling up a hill, you're gonna have to downshift a gear at a time until you find the right gear to pull the hill...or stop and just do it in 1st, which would suck.
Stopping
When coming to a stop from cruising speed (such as at the end of an off-ramp) I generally "triple-down" and then stop from there, rather than downshift one gear at a time to first as they teach in most CDL schools. For example, from tenth gear, I slow down until the engine starts lugging slightly and then shift straight into seventh gear. You have to rev the engine up significantly more than you would for a single downshift, typically to about 1600 RPM or so, but it makes it a lot easier and quicker. Slow the truck until it's at idle again, depress the clutch and then just coast to a stop. Makes things really quite simple and frees you from the hectic rapid downshifting through the whole deck. Once you're parked, just pull out the yellow and red parking brake knobs to set the brakes.
Shutting Down
Though most new engines don't require it, older Diesels required a fairly significant cooldown time after driving before shutting the engine down. Nowadays, however, if you've been cruising all day the manufacturers recommend only 3-5 minutes idling before shutdown. Personally, I let it idle 3 minutes past whenever my temp gauge gets back down to its normal operating temperature if it was above there (just climbed a hill, etc) or just 3 mins if it was at normal temp. Other than that, it's just like a car.
Care and Feeding of your Truck
First off, always ensure you're using #2 Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel, or ULSD. All truck engines made after 2006 absolutely require this, as they have a big filter in the exhaust that gets clogged up by too much sulphur in the fuel. This fuel can be safely stored for bloody ages since it doesn't evaporate; however, it does support algae growth so some kind of algaecide is required for long term storage. The only time you can safely use something other than #2 ULSD is in extreme cold temperatures, when a blend of #2 and #1 Diesel can be used. DO NOT PUT GASOLINE IN A DIESEL ENGINE!!!!! The high compression ratios (better than 30:1) in Diesel engines will cause gasoline to detonate, which will almost always totally destroy the engine. They cost over $30,000 to replace. Seriously, don't even think about it.
As I mentioned in the section on pre-trips, you must routinely check your fluids. Best bet is to do it before starting the truck, when it's still cold; I also do it every time I stop for fuel just to be on the safe side. Just imagine driving this thing with no power steering...yeah it's less fun than it sounds.
When it's below freezing, add a bottle of cold weather additive to your tanks each time you fill them up; I prefer Howe's Diesel Treat personally. This will keep the fuel from gelling to about -20F. Below that point, you'll have to blend your fuel; a mixture of half #2 and half #1 Diesel won't gel until about -60F. Any colder than that and a) you're a masochist and b) never ever shut the engine off. You'll never get it started again. You freakin' penguin you.
In case your batteries are completely dead and you can't get a jump start, it is possible to push or pull start a truck. Turn the ignition on, put the transmission in 5th gear or so, release the brakes, and get it up to 10 or 15 mph before dumping the clutch. It'll almost certainly start.
If it cranks but won't light off, a little *little* squirt of Ether is usually enough to get it going. On the left side of the engine, on or near the intake manifold, you'll find a little pipe plug; remove this and squirt a little bit in there and immediately crank it. It should go. Screw the plug back in tight and you're good to go. Don't do this on Mercedes (they tend to explode) or Caterpillar (they get addicted, believe it or not) engines.
Jump starting a truck is just like a car, only way bigger. The electrical systems are still 12V, so you can even use a car to jump start a truck--I've done it a couple times with my little Saturn, even. It does take an hour or so to get enough of a charge on the truck's batteries just because they're so damn big, but it is doable.
If you have no ignition key, a semi can easily be hotwired...most of the time the ignition switch is on an easily-removed panel and you can just short the terminals together. Usually. International ProStars and LoneStars are the exceptions that I know of. As far as I know, there are no electronic keys in trucks yet.
Emergency Proceedures
When you're in a machine as big and complicated as a semi, something smelly is bound to hit the fan sooner or later. These are the usual suspects, and what to expect when it happens. Drive one long enough, and it really is a "when" and not an "if."
When in areas of reduced traction, such as standing water or snow or ice on the road, you're highly likely to get into a skid. Usually you can correct quickly and go on your way. When a tire begins to skid, it wants to get out in front of the truck; when it's your steer tires (which almost never happens...) this causes absolutely nothing to happen; however, when it's a drive or trailer tire things get interesting. A drive tire skid causes the rear of the tractor to start going sideways; the easy way to correct this is to press the clutch in and let the tires regain traction. Once you've got it back in a straight line, gently slow down so you don't do it again. A trailer skid is, believe it or not, easiest to correct by /speeding up/. It basically pulls the rig straight again. DO NOT USE YOUR TROLLEY VALVE!! The tires are already skidding; hitting the brakes on 'em will just make it worse and lead to a jackknife.
Jackknifes are a trucker's worst nightmare. You MUST keep the rig in a more or less straight line; anything more than about 15 degrees from straight and it's nearly impossible to correct it. Keep on your toes and if you see your trailer trying to pass you or you feel like you're starting to go sideways, take corrective action immediately. I can't tell you how many trucks I've seen "tied up" in the median or on the shoulder, and I guarantee every single one of them was due to a driver simply going too fast for the road conditions. If traction is iffy, SLOW DOWN. If you can't maintain about 30 mph without sliding, park it until the roads clear or put on some tire chains.
Fires can occur for many reasons; the most common of these is forgetting to release the parking brakes, leading to a brake fire. If perchance you do manage to burst into flames, park the truck immediately and try to put it out with your fire extinguisher. If this doesn't work, IMMEDIATELY drop the trailer and pull the tractor away from it. You'll lose one or the other, but not both...yeah it's not great but it's the best you can hope for.
Blowing a tire on the highway sounds like someone shooting at you with a 12 gauge shotgun. It's one helluva bang. If it's a trailer or drive tire, since they're duals you should be okay to drive up to about 100 miles to get it replaced; however, a steer tire is a totally different story. Depending how good your truck's power steering and alignment are, you may not feel it at all, or it may yank the wheel out of your hands and send you flying sideways. This is why keeping a good grip on the wheel is essential. If you do manage to blow a steer, you're pretty much stuck there until you can get it replaced.
If you find that your air pressure isn't coming up to where it should be, or your low air alarm is coming on, there's several possible culprits. Most commonly, your red hose to the trailer came off...just put it back on. Otherwise, you probably have an air leak which you can simply walk around the truck and listen for. Otherwise, it's likely that the air compressor or its governor has packed up and gone home. The compressor is a pain to replace, however the governor (known usually as a D2 governor) is pretty easy. It's a little cylinder on or near the compressor with 3 or 4 hoses coming off it...just put a new one in its place making sure each hose goes to the same port on the new one as it did on the old one.
Finally, your air drier may clog up, especially in colder weather. There are two large hoses running to it...just get a pipe coupler and join these hoses together, bypassing the drier completely, and you'll be okay until you can replace the drier.
How to Properly Drop a Trailer
Unhooking from, or dropping, a trailer is simple. Start by making sure both brake knobs are pulled out. Lower the trailer's landing gear by turning the crank on the side (some go left and some right). If it's going really slowly, push the crank in; this puts it in high gear. Pull out for low. Lower the pads until they just touch the ground and then store the handle back where you found it. Release the fifth wheel by pulling the release handle out; some fifth wheels you have to lift it up and move it forward first (Josts are like this). Then disconnect the red and blue hoses and the electrical cable, put the truck in 1st gear, push in just the yellow knob and pull out from under the trailer.
How to Properly Hook a Trailer
Hooking up to a trailer is almost exactly the reverse of dropping one. Back up to the trailer but not fully under it; set the parking brake and get out and check to make sure the trailer is touching the fifth wheel. If it's too high, lower the front of the trailer with the landing gear crank. Once it's low enough, back the tractor all the way underneath and set the parking brake again. Look to make sure that the fifth wheel handle is back in the latched position, and then crawl under the trailer and look up inside the fifth wheel from behind to see that the locking jaws of the fifth wheel are actually locked around the trailer's kingpin. Then fully retract the landing gear and stow the handle, and connect the trailer air lines and electrical line. Red to red and blue to blue. Finally, get into the tractor, release the parking brakes, hold the trolley valve down and try to pull forward...if you can, something is wrong and you need to check it out. Either the trailer's brakes aren't working or the fifth wheel isn't fully latched.
Caging the Parking Brakes
Very rarely, you may need to release the parking brakes on a tractor that can't for whatever reason do it by air power--it's got a major air leak, or you can't start it. Either way, "caging" them is the answer. On the longer brake chambers, you'll find a hole on the end opposite the pushrod. Into this you insert a bolt with a little T on the end, found on the side of the chamber. Crank down on the nut that came with it to pull the rod out of the chamber, which in turn pulls the pushrod back. This totally disables that chamber, so driving this way is definitely NOT recommended; use it only in emergencies or to move a disabled tractor.
Weight Distribution
Currently, the law restricts not only our Gross Combined Vehicle Weight (GCVW) to 80,000 pounds, but also restricts the weights of individual axles and groups of axles. A pair of dual-tire axles, known as a tandem, can legally handle up to 34,000 pounds and a single dual-tire axle can handle 20,000 pounds. If you're close to these limits, weight distribution becomes essential. Here's how to do it.
Sliding the trailer tandems forward one pin hole moves about 250 pounds (when fully loaded) from the tractor and onto the trailer tandems. The other way does the opposite. To slide the trailer tandems, park the truck and walk to the left side of the trailer tandems. Either on the front of this sliding assembly or in the middle of the left side, there will be a pull handle. Pull it out and lock it in place. Get back in the truck and hold the trolley valve down while moving the tractor forwards or backwards. Once you've got it where you want it (which often takes a few tries) you'll release the locking handle, get back in the truck, and "jiggle" the trailer back and forth until the pins drop into their holes.
In addition to the legal restrictions, you should be mindful of the manufacturer's weight ratings of your steer tires. Most steer axles can handle a total of 12,350 pounds...if you're over that, and maxed out on your trailer tandems, you'll have to slide the fifth wheel to the rear. To do this, you'll have to lower the trailer landing gear far enough to take most of the weight off the fifth wheel, then get in the truck and hit the fifth wheel slide release valve on the dashboard. Move the tractor forward one hole (the fifth wheel goes back one hole) to take about 500 pounds off the steer axle if fully loaded. Once you get the fifth wheel where you want it, move the slide valve back to the locked position and "jiggle" the tractor until the pins lock into place. Raise the trailer's landing gear and you're done.
Exceeding legal limits post-Z isn't gonna make any difference at all, but overloading your steer tires past their design limits will certainly wreck your day. Though I wouldn't sweat a thousand pounds on either of your tandems, I would certainly worry about being that far over on your steers. Fix it.
Using Compressed Air for Other Things
Aside from releasing the parking brakes and applying the service brakes, there's lots of neat stuff you can use the truck's air system for. The easy way to access this is to get a shop-type air hose with a quick connect female fitting on one end and a glad hand on the other. Hook the glad hand to the red trailer air hose, push in the red parking brake valve, and hook whatever you like to the business end of the hose. I do highly recommend keeping such a setup, along with a dual-foot air chuck, with you at all times just to keep your tires filled up. You can also use it to run an air drill or die grinder (great for chopping padlocks!) and all manner of other air tools. Raid a Harbor Freight store for everything you need except the glad hand (which can be had at any truck stop). Bear in mind that this little hose isn't big enough to run something like a big impact wrench, which you'd need to change a tire.
What can you actually DO with a semi? Strengths and weaknesses.
Semis are designed to do one thing and do it really well: economically haul a bunch of crap over long distances. Pound for pound, they burn less than 1/10th as much fuel as a Toyota Prius...even when the Prius isn't randomly exploding. :D However, this is about all they do well. They're tough to drive well, tough to park, expensive as all hell to fill up and maintain (300 gallons fuel capacity folks...yeah it adds up!) and impossible to navigate through small towns and such. If you need to move a bunch of stuff from here to someplace else far away, a semi is the right tool for the job. Otherwise, you're just using a sledgehammer to drive a thumbtack. Post-Z, one could also make an excellent case for using one as a mobile base from which to attack (think amphib assault ship on wheels) or a home or workshop on wheels, or even as a raiding vehicle. But please don't use one as your "daily driver."
Taking it Further
If you're interested in learning more about driving trucks, there's plenty of information out there. First off, I highly recommend you browse the CDL Handbook, available here: http://cdn.nationalsafetycommission.com/handbooks/2009/florida_cdl_english_2009.pdf . To handle a semi, you'll need to study at least the general knowledge, air brakes, and combination vehicles sections. I also recommend at least browsing the doubles, tanker, and hazmat sections just in case.
If you reeeeally wanna know more, there's no better way than to go to school and get your CDL. Then you'll be legal, and heck you might even get a job doing it--something highly prized in this economy! Driving a school bus, city transit or Greyhound bus, local delivery truck, or long-haul semi all require a CDL and most of these sectors are hiring even now.
Becoming a trucker isn't for everyone. Minimum requirements are 21 years or older, no felonies or DUIs, and the ability to put up with an incredible amount of BS and only going home once a month. But hey, you'll take home around a thousand bucks a week. Drop me a message if you're interested and I'll point you towards more information in this vein. Your family will hate you, this I promise, but you'll have a good job and see the country doing it. I usually tell folks that if I won the lottery tomorrow, I'd buy myself a nice new truck (a 2010 LoneStar Harley-Davidson edition, if you're wondering) and keep right on driving. And I mean it.
I highly recommend finding a nice stretch of highway or a giant parking lot you can play in for a while before trying to go someplace you'd actually need to know what you're doing. Practice is invaluable here, and the danger of killing yourself or others is pretty extreme until you get that practice. Keep it slow for a while, it's easier to stop when you screw up. And I guarantee you will; even the students I trained after they got their CDLs made a mess of things for the first month or so. I did too, it's nothing to worry about. With time, you'll get it.
Suggestions, comments, and edits always welcome
Dan
Welcome to the Semi Truck How-To. My name is Dan, and I've been an over the road trucker for about 5 years. Three of those years were spent as a trainer, teaching other drivers fresh out of CDL school the fine art of driving a semi in real life. I currently hold a Class A CDL with endorsements for tankers, HazMat, and double/triple trailers. I have driven in all 48 contiguous United States and have racked up a little over 600,000 accident-free miles in that time. The purpose of this guide is not to teach you how to be a professional driver; rather its intent is to get you behind the wheel and moving as quickly as possible in a post-apocalyptic situation. In the event this information is required, it could very well prove invaluable as the basic need to move things from where they are to where they are needed will continue despite the complete breakdown of all logistical infrastructure. It will be the job of the survivors, however unskilled they may be, to get these necessary supplies to the people who need them; it is with this document that I intend to ensure that this is possible.
License
This document is hereby released to the public domain by its author, Dan Bowkley <danbowkley@gmail.com>. It may be freely distributed or reprinted, for free or a fee, in any media whatsoever provided that it remain in its entirety including this license. If it is printed, I would request a copy but this is not required.
Disclaimer
There's information here that you could use pre-Zombie to wreak havoc. Don't do it. First, truckers are our life-blood; without us and the transportation we provide, you would starve. Simple as that. Be nice to truckers. Second, stealing a big rig is not only grand theft auto but also interfering with interstate commerce, a federal crime for which you will do federal time. Almost all trucks have some sort of tracking system aboard...you WILL be caught and you WILL go to jail. Third, many truckers (including myself) keep some sort of weapon easily at hand in the truck...I'll put it through your skull if I catch you breaking into my truck, and I'm sure many other drivers out there would do the same. So, this information is to be used only in cases of absolute dire life-threatening emergency or after all applicable laws no longer exist by way of the government ceasing to function.
Background Assumptions
This document assumes that you are a fairly skilled driver and can drive a car with a stickshift relatively well. You can still learn to drive a semi if you've never driven stick before; however, if you've never driven at all I highly recommend you learn in a car first and then progress to larger machines from there.
Fundamental Differences from a Fourwheeler
First and foremost, a semi truck can be incredibly heavy. Your car probably weighs in the neighborhood of 4,000 pounds; a standard over the road truck, with a 53 foot van trailer and a sleeper-equipped tractor, has an empty weight around 33,000 pounds. Fully loaded, they can hit 80,000 pounds legally, and can safely be loaded to about 100,000 pounds. This sounds like a lot, and it is: you're driving a machine that probably weighs more than your house. Things are very different up here; you can't fly around corners like you do in a car, and you can't accelerate or stop as quickly either. Things just take a lot longer to do, that's just the nature of the beast. Take everything you know about cars and multiply it by at least 10, and you're getting close. Other more subtle differences exist as well: we have to double-clutch shifts rather than single-clutch as you would in a car; the transmission has at least double the gears as your car; and of course the sheer number of gauges and switches on the dashboard can be downright flabbergasting at first. Don't let it discourage you though. When you step on the pedal in the middle, it still slows the truck down...it just takes a bit longer to happen. The basics are still the same.
Locating and selecting a suitable truck
Truck stops are your best bets to find a truck that you can actually use. Yeah dealerships have 'em, but the keys are all locked up and they usually don't have a lot of fuel in the tanks. Once you've ensured there's no driver in the truck, or nearby that can lay claim to that truck, the first thing to do is check the fuel tank, make sure it's full or close to it since the power is likely to be out and you'll therefore be unable to pump fuel into your truck. A lot of truckers leave their engines idling while they're parked, and if the driver died with the engine running the tanks will be dry. Other possible locations include highway rest areas, distribution centers/warehouses, and businesses to which trucks have been seen making pickups or deliveries. When selecting your new truck, keep in mind that the trailer can be disconnected from the tractor quite easily; if you want the cargo that's in truck Y's trailer, but you can get truck X started (or just think it's prettier), that's fine; we can swap trailers later. Worry about the tractor for now. Before you get your heart set on a particular truck, do please ensure that there's nobody inside it, or nearby that owns or drives the truck. You don't wanna get mauled by an angry trucker and you don't want to steal his home either. At least I really hope you don't.
Entering without Breaking
Try the door...if it's open you're in luck; if not, there's probably a key hidden somewhere. Common practice is to zip-tie a spare key either to a hose under the hood somewhere, or to the little chain dangling off the back of the fuel tank cap. Dig around a bit, you'll probably find one. If not, you can try using a slim-jim (same process as a car) or use a flat screwdriver to gently work the little window in the front lower corner of the passenger's door out of its gasket and reach through to unlock the door from the inside. Getting it out is a whole lot easier than getting it back in though! (ask me how many times I've locked my keys in my truck, I dare you :D ) You can also try pushing on the wing windows (AKA smoker's windows, the little triangular swiveling thingies just ahead of the main door windows) and see if they're just closed and not latched. As a last ditch, you can try the doors into the sleeper cab, if the truck is equipped with these; often the front doors will be locked but the driver forgot to lock the back door(s).
Many drivers and quite a few large trucking companies employ other anti-theft measures, most notably "air cuffs" and steering column locks. Air cuffs are basically a cover that locks on over the air brake knobs; most of these use a padlock to secure them, and a pair of bolt cutters gets rid of these in a hurry. The other ones are...well, they're a pain in the arse actually. See here: http://www.war-lok.com/images/bg_t5.jpg for one unlocked and the top half removed. If you see one of these, pick another truck. Finally, there may also be a metal tab stuck through the universal joint at the bottom of the steering column just above the pedals; it's locked on with a padlock and the thickness of this tab binds up the u-joint and keeps you from steering the truck. Most of the time it's secured with a beefy Abloy padlock...better bring some hefty cutters or a grinder of some sort for this one.
Pre-Trip Inspection and Startup
Performing a proper, DOT-type pretrip inspection takes around 15 minutes and involves getting rather dirty. This is my method for doing a PTI, and it takes just longer than walking around the rig. Start at the driver's door and walk towards the back of the truck. Kick all 4 drive tires on the left side; if one sounds different it's probably low. Look under the truck here and make sure that the handle on the 5th wheel is all the way in; this is what holds on to the trailer's kingpin. Check the lines going to the front of the trailer: red hose to red, blue to blue, and the green electrical cable should be plugged in and latched. Walk to the trailer tires and look underneath and make sure that there's two big fat steel pins sticking through two of the holes on that track thingie attached to the bottom of the trailer; this is your sliding tandem lock and all hell will break loose if it's not locked. If not, there's a pull handle of some kind you can release and let the pins pop back out. See "sliding trailer tandems" under the "weight distribution" heading for more on this. Kick the trailer tires, and proceed to the back of the trailer. Make sure the door(s) are closed and latched. Go to the other side, kick the trailer tires, check for another two slider lock pins protruding. Walk forward and kick the tractor drive tires. Unhook the right side hood latch, check the right steer tire, go around the front of the tractor, check the left steer tire, and unhook the left hood latch. Now go to the front and lift the hood up (this can be a pain in the rear and require some yanking and wiggling).
Most engines are a bit different from each other, so I leave it to you to find and check the oil dipstick. Check the coolant in the reservoir on top of or right next to the radiator. Now near the left front corner of the engine there will be a smaller reservoir with two hoses; this is your power steering reservoir. The cap is usually a dipstick also; check this level and you're done. Snoop around a bit and make sure nothing looks broken or just generally screwed up, paying special attention to belts and hoses. Drop the hood and relatch it.
OK so you've got a key and are sitting in the driver's seat of a semi truck. Now what? First, make sure the transmission is in neutral by moving the stick left and right; it should have quite a bit of play and a springiness when you move it all the way to the left. That's the detent for low (or first) gear and reverse. Stick the key in and turn it to the right, and try to start it like a regular car. Some trucks have a pushbutton starter rather than using the key for this; if the key goes one click right and stops, look near the ignition switch for a pushbutton. If the engine doesn't crank at all, try holding down the clutch pedal while cranking. Give it up to about 10-20 seconds to get started, sometimes these beasts are a little lazy at first. There will be a bit of a racket from the various alarms at this point; don't worry about them now. DO worry about them if they come back on later. Look around the dashboard for a pair of air pressure gauges; one will be marked P and the other S (there may also be a suspension pressure and a brake application pressure, don't worry about those). Wait until both the P and S (primary and secondary air system) gauges read over 100 PSI. They should stop climbing at around 120 PSI or so, usually accompanied by the truck "sneezing." This is the air dryer purging itself and is normal. You need the air pressure not just to apply the normal "service" brakes but also to release the parking brakes...not going anywhere without air. At this point the alarms should be silent and there shouldn't be any red or amber lights showing on the dash. If this is the case, you're golden.
Basic Control Familiarization
There will be a red octagonal knob next to a yellow diamond-shaped knob somewhere easily accessed by the driver; these are your parking brakes. The red knob supplies air to the trailer parking brakes, the yellow to the tractor parking brakes. Push the red one in (hold it for a sec or it'll pop back out) and let the reservoir in the trailer fill up. When you don't hear air flowing any more, put your foot on the brake pedal to keep the truck from rolling prematurely and press in the yellow knob (usually have to hold this a sec also). The parking brakes are now released and the truck is free to roll. To park, generally you just pull one knob back out and the other one will pop out on its own. Usually when parking I hold the red knob in with my thumb as I use my first two fingers to pull the yellow knob out; this saves me waiting for the trailer reservoir to fill up before I can leave. Don't do this on a hill or when you have questionable traction though, as it only applies the parking brakes to your forward drive axle--and sliding down a hill after you've parked REALLY SUCKS.
The pedals in a semi do exactly the same things as in a car, even though they work somewhat differently. The clutch is on the far left; pressing it about halfway down is enough to disengage the clutch. Pressing it all the way to the floor applies the clutch brake, which stops the transmission mainshaft and lets you get the transmission into gear when the truck is stopped. The brake pedal is in the middle; it works the same as a car but it does take a bit more force to apply the brakes fully than it does in a car. The gas pedal is on the right, and it works just like in a car; however most trucks now use a drive-by-wire system and so there's no mechanical linkage to the engine. This means that there's often a delay of a second or two after you first start the engine during which the engine pretty much just ignores you. Once the ECU has finished its self-check though, it should obey your every command.
Your headlights and parking lights may be on a multi-function stalk with the turn signals, as on most cars, or it may be on the dash if your truck has an old-fashioned "Signalstat" turn signal. If it's on the blinker stalk, it'll work just like your car; otherwise, check around on the dash for a headlight switch. On Peterbilts, at least of 2004 vintage, the parking lights and headlights are two separate switches; turn 'em both on. Personally I prefer to run with my lights on 24/7, but it's up to you...just so long as you know where they're at and can use them. The highbeam is almost always on the turn signal stalk, pull to switch to high and again to low, just like your car. Please don't use your brights if you can see another vehicle anywhere in front of you...heck this goes for all you fourwheelers out there too!
There will probably be three smaller air valves on the dashboard; some trucks may not have all or even any of these though. Often they're cleverly disguised as switches, though usually larger than the rest of the switches on the dash. Generally they're labelled "suspension dump," "power divider (or differential) lock," and "fifth wheel slide." The suspension dump valve lets the air out of the tractor's suspension airbags, which lowers the rear of the tractor so you can get under a low trailer. The power divider locks the differential between the front and rear axles, and should be used only when you have really bad traction (stuck in sand, etc) or you'll burn out the differential and/or wear out your drive tires prematurely. The fifth wheel slide valve unlocks the 5th wheel slider, enabling you to move it forwards or backwards for weight distribution (see that section below for more on this). This must ALWAYS be locked when the truck is moving. If you're just getting into the truck, make sure all three are in the normal position, which is usually pushed to the right.
One other control to know about (and usually not touch at all) is the "trolley valve." Usually it's on the right side of the steering column, looking like the shifter in a car with an automatic, but sometimes it's a T-shaped handle on the dashboard. This valve supplies air to only the trailer brakes, and should *NEVER* be used in normal operation. The only appropriate time to use this is to tug-test the trailer before you roll, to ensure the 5th wheel is properly coupled and that the trailer brakes are working properly. See the section on skid control and jackknifes for more on this.
Basic Indicator Familiarization
There will be at least two and possibly more air pressure gauges on your dashboard. The two important ones are primary and secondary air system pressure; sometimes these are combined into one gauge with two needles. Make sure this doesn't get below about 90 psi or you'll have a hard time stopping; below that and you'll get a buzzer going off at you. Below around 40 psi, the parking brakes will deploy whether you want them to or not. There may also be a pressure gauge for your suspension airbags, which gives you a rough guesstimate at how much weight you have on the drive tires, and a brake application pressure gauge that pretty much tells you how hard you're stepping on the brakes. I still haven't figured out the point of this one.
Critical engine gauges include temperature and oil pressure, just like your car. You might also find a pyrometer, which monitors exhaust temperature; oil temperature; turbo boost pressure; and air cleaner back pressure. Since there are so many different engines, your best bet with these is to watch them and figure out what's "normal" for your truck, and worry about them only if they're not reading normal.
Your voltmeter should read in the neighborhood of 14.2V under normal running conditions. If you're parked and shut down, and it gets below about 10V, you should start the engine and let it idle for a while to charge the batteries back up, or you'll be needing a jump start later.
In addition to the myriad gauges you've now got, there's even more indicator lights. Normally, they should all be off. Important ones to be on the lookout for are "engine shutdown" and "low air pressure." Low air pressure is self-explanatory and accompanied by an alarm; engine shutdown, well, means exactly that also. If you see this light come on, pull over immediately as you've got about 30 seconds until your engine shuts itself down to protect itself from some abnormal condition.
Finally, low oil pressure, high engine temperature, low air pressure, and sometimes low fuel level will all cause an audible alarm. You'll normally have a few of them going off before and during engine start; however, if one comes on while driving, park it and investigate.
Double-Clutching
Clutching a big rig is WAY different from a regular car, because heavy trucks don't have synchromeshed transmissions. Rather than holding the clutch in as you shift, you push the clutch to get it into neutral and then release it a moment, then push it again to get it into the next gear. The timing varies slightly for different trucks, but usually the whole shift takes around 3/4 second. Think "pop, pop" as you shift and you're probably close enough. Practise will teach you the correct timing for your rig.
Range Selector
On the front of the gear shifter knob, there will probably be a small lever; this is your transmission range selector. Moving this lever down selects the low range of the transmission; moving it up selects high range. Always "pre-select" your shifts; that is, if you're shifting from 5th to 6th (on a 10-speed) you move the selector up and then move the shifter while double-clutching. Same applies to downshifting from 6th to 5th: move the selector down, then double-clutch and shift. If you do not have a range selector, your truck has a super-10 transmission; see the special section for that tranny for details as it's just plain goofy (though hard to learn, it's actually easier to drive once you get it figured out). Don't bother with reversing in high range. It won't work, I don't even know why they put it on the shift pattern sticker. Always reverse in low range.
Splitter
On the left side of the shift knob, you may find another little lever. This is the splitter, and it's basically good for half a gear. Huh?! Yeah, you read that right. Back is low, forward is high...shift 2lo single-clutch 2hi double-clutch 3lo single-clutch 3hi and so on. You only have to single-clutch these shifts, rather like you do in a car. Usually though, you can ignore the splitter. Leave it forward and you should be good to go. If you're lucky enough to have found an 18 speed truck...have fun learning it. Seriously they even boggle my brain a little. Even if you do have an 18 speed trans, as I said you can just ignore the splitter and shift it like a regular 9-speed; the only time I'd even consider using the splitter is pulling up a big hill when one gear is a little too high and its neighbor is too low. Unless, of course, you have a super-10.
Shift Patterns
There are seven basic shift patterns that I can think of off the top of my head; therefore I won't go into them all here. The basic principle is almost always the same though: reverse and lowest gear to the left, next two gears in the middle, and high two gears to the right. The addition of range selectors and splitters complicate things, but not by much. Every truck has a decal on or near the dash that gives you basic instructions to shift it, refer to that and you should be golden.
Super-10s, however, deserve a side note here. They're plain goofy. Basically you've got a splitter but no range selector--the gear shifter doesn't move when shifting 1st to 2nd, or 3rd to 4th, etc. You single-clutch the shift when only using the splitter, and double-clutch when using the splitter and the shift lever. It sounds like a pain in the butt...honestly though, it's easier once you get used to it. I learned on one, you can too.
Top2 Operation
Some transmissions have what's known as "Top-2" operation. Basically this automatically shifts the uppermost two gears for you--on a 9T2 for example, you shift the transmission manually into 8th gear and from there it'll automatically shift back and forth between 8th and 9th as needed. This is great as you won't have to shift it yourself until you get below about 40 MPH. However, the cruise control switch must be on (though the cruise doesn't need to be actually set) for this to work. If you turn the cruise off, it'll basically turn a 9T2 into a straight-8, which is useful if you're bobtailing and don't need the extra gear. Functionally, it's a computer-controlled splitter that only works in the top gear which automagically floats the splitter shift for you.
Starting Out
Mash the clutch to the floor, and put the trans into the gear you want to start off in (usually 2nd). If it doesn't want to go in, gently let the clutch out a little bit while gently pressing the shifter towards where you want it; the splines in the transmission will turn slightly and let it line up. As you let off the brakes, gently let the clutch out BUT DO NOT PRESS THE GAS! This is called "idling off," and is important because these big engines make about 1800 ft/lbs of torque and if your foot slips off the clutch it can bow-tie your driveshaft pretty easily. Only after the clutch pedal is out should you gently (see a theme here?) apply some gas.
Upshifting
Upshifting is relatively easy; as you reach the redline (somewhere in the neighborhood of 1700 RPM on the tach) you release the gas as you push the clutch in about halfway to the floor, move the stick into neutral, release the clutch and let the engine slow down a bit, push the clutch back in, move the stick to the next gear, and let the clutch out as you push the gas again. You *WILL* grind the gears for your first month or so...we all did it, you will too, get over it. If it just grinds and won't go in, try revving the engine slightly to get it to mesh, you can feel the grinding through the shift knob and use that to adjust your engine revs to match things up.
Cruising
Somewhere on your dash, steering wheel, or multi-function stalk you'll probably find the cruise control. It works exactly like the one in your car. Don't use it unless you're on the highway and don't expect to have to slow down anytime soon. If you do choose to use it, you must still remain attentive to your gauges and the road--it's a speed control, not an autopilot! At this point though, you should relax a little and maybe put some tunes on. You've earned it.
Rules of the Road
There are a few very important rules to remember when driving one of these beasts; there's a very good reason we have to go to special schools to learn this stuff. It ain't easy folks. First off, these trucks can weigh up to forty tons. They take forever to accelerate and even longer to stop. You should be looking ahead for obstacles and such, about as far ahead as you can see. If you can't see 8 seconds ahead, slow down until you can. Plan where you're gonna go well in advance. SLOW DOWN FOR TURNS, those 20 MPH signs on curves are really dead serious. Flipping one of these things is no fun whatsoever. Watch for low clearance signs if you're off the main highways; most big trucks require 13'6" vertical clearance. That 12' bridge...yeah it's not gonna fit. Really. Do not attempt quick maneouvers in a semi, you'll flip it. If you're gonna hit a deer or whatever, just hit it...trying to avoid it will end up with a squashed deer and a squashed trucker, instead of just a squashed deer. Generally it's a good idea to stay on the biggest road you can possibly take to get to where you're going; specifically, stay off the parkways in NY and NJ and anyplace there's a "no trucks" sign. They're posted that way for a reason; often it's because the roads are too narrow to turn corners worth a damn, or there's a low bridge somewhere ahead. Haircuts in a truck ain't no fun.
Downshifting
Downshifting you basically do the opposite of upshifting: as you approach 700 RPM or so, push the clutch in, move to neutral, let the clutch out, rev the engine up to around 1800 RPM, push the clutch in, and move the shifter to the next lower gear. Let the clutch out and hey presto. Downshifting is hard to learn well; if you're just coming to a stop it's probably easier to slow down to the point where the engine lugs (about 700 RPM usually) and then hold down the clutch pedal as you slow down the rest of the way. However if you're pulling up a hill, you're gonna have to downshift a gear at a time until you find the right gear to pull the hill...or stop and just do it in 1st, which would suck.
Stopping
When coming to a stop from cruising speed (such as at the end of an off-ramp) I generally "triple-down" and then stop from there, rather than downshift one gear at a time to first as they teach in most CDL schools. For example, from tenth gear, I slow down until the engine starts lugging slightly and then shift straight into seventh gear. You have to rev the engine up significantly more than you would for a single downshift, typically to about 1600 RPM or so, but it makes it a lot easier and quicker. Slow the truck until it's at idle again, depress the clutch and then just coast to a stop. Makes things really quite simple and frees you from the hectic rapid downshifting through the whole deck. Once you're parked, just pull out the yellow and red parking brake knobs to set the brakes.
Shutting Down
Though most new engines don't require it, older Diesels required a fairly significant cooldown time after driving before shutting the engine down. Nowadays, however, if you've been cruising all day the manufacturers recommend only 3-5 minutes idling before shutdown. Personally, I let it idle 3 minutes past whenever my temp gauge gets back down to its normal operating temperature if it was above there (just climbed a hill, etc) or just 3 mins if it was at normal temp. Other than that, it's just like a car.
Care and Feeding of your Truck
First off, always ensure you're using #2 Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel, or ULSD. All truck engines made after 2006 absolutely require this, as they have a big filter in the exhaust that gets clogged up by too much sulphur in the fuel. This fuel can be safely stored for bloody ages since it doesn't evaporate; however, it does support algae growth so some kind of algaecide is required for long term storage. The only time you can safely use something other than #2 ULSD is in extreme cold temperatures, when a blend of #2 and #1 Diesel can be used. DO NOT PUT GASOLINE IN A DIESEL ENGINE!!!!! The high compression ratios (better than 30:1) in Diesel engines will cause gasoline to detonate, which will almost always totally destroy the engine. They cost over $30,000 to replace. Seriously, don't even think about it.
As I mentioned in the section on pre-trips, you must routinely check your fluids. Best bet is to do it before starting the truck, when it's still cold; I also do it every time I stop for fuel just to be on the safe side. Just imagine driving this thing with no power steering...yeah it's less fun than it sounds.
When it's below freezing, add a bottle of cold weather additive to your tanks each time you fill them up; I prefer Howe's Diesel Treat personally. This will keep the fuel from gelling to about -20F. Below that point, you'll have to blend your fuel; a mixture of half #2 and half #1 Diesel won't gel until about -60F. Any colder than that and a) you're a masochist and b) never ever shut the engine off. You'll never get it started again. You freakin' penguin you.
In case your batteries are completely dead and you can't get a jump start, it is possible to push or pull start a truck. Turn the ignition on, put the transmission in 5th gear or so, release the brakes, and get it up to 10 or 15 mph before dumping the clutch. It'll almost certainly start.
If it cranks but won't light off, a little *little* squirt of Ether is usually enough to get it going. On the left side of the engine, on or near the intake manifold, you'll find a little pipe plug; remove this and squirt a little bit in there and immediately crank it. It should go. Screw the plug back in tight and you're good to go. Don't do this on Mercedes (they tend to explode) or Caterpillar (they get addicted, believe it or not) engines.
Jump starting a truck is just like a car, only way bigger. The electrical systems are still 12V, so you can even use a car to jump start a truck--I've done it a couple times with my little Saturn, even. It does take an hour or so to get enough of a charge on the truck's batteries just because they're so damn big, but it is doable.
If you have no ignition key, a semi can easily be hotwired...most of the time the ignition switch is on an easily-removed panel and you can just short the terminals together. Usually. International ProStars and LoneStars are the exceptions that I know of. As far as I know, there are no electronic keys in trucks yet.
Emergency Proceedures
When you're in a machine as big and complicated as a semi, something smelly is bound to hit the fan sooner or later. These are the usual suspects, and what to expect when it happens. Drive one long enough, and it really is a "when" and not an "if."
When in areas of reduced traction, such as standing water or snow or ice on the road, you're highly likely to get into a skid. Usually you can correct quickly and go on your way. When a tire begins to skid, it wants to get out in front of the truck; when it's your steer tires (which almost never happens...) this causes absolutely nothing to happen; however, when it's a drive or trailer tire things get interesting. A drive tire skid causes the rear of the tractor to start going sideways; the easy way to correct this is to press the clutch in and let the tires regain traction. Once you've got it back in a straight line, gently slow down so you don't do it again. A trailer skid is, believe it or not, easiest to correct by /speeding up/. It basically pulls the rig straight again. DO NOT USE YOUR TROLLEY VALVE!! The tires are already skidding; hitting the brakes on 'em will just make it worse and lead to a jackknife.
Jackknifes are a trucker's worst nightmare. You MUST keep the rig in a more or less straight line; anything more than about 15 degrees from straight and it's nearly impossible to correct it. Keep on your toes and if you see your trailer trying to pass you or you feel like you're starting to go sideways, take corrective action immediately. I can't tell you how many trucks I've seen "tied up" in the median or on the shoulder, and I guarantee every single one of them was due to a driver simply going too fast for the road conditions. If traction is iffy, SLOW DOWN. If you can't maintain about 30 mph without sliding, park it until the roads clear or put on some tire chains.
Fires can occur for many reasons; the most common of these is forgetting to release the parking brakes, leading to a brake fire. If perchance you do manage to burst into flames, park the truck immediately and try to put it out with your fire extinguisher. If this doesn't work, IMMEDIATELY drop the trailer and pull the tractor away from it. You'll lose one or the other, but not both...yeah it's not great but it's the best you can hope for.
Blowing a tire on the highway sounds like someone shooting at you with a 12 gauge shotgun. It's one helluva bang. If it's a trailer or drive tire, since they're duals you should be okay to drive up to about 100 miles to get it replaced; however, a steer tire is a totally different story. Depending how good your truck's power steering and alignment are, you may not feel it at all, or it may yank the wheel out of your hands and send you flying sideways. This is why keeping a good grip on the wheel is essential. If you do manage to blow a steer, you're pretty much stuck there until you can get it replaced.
If you find that your air pressure isn't coming up to where it should be, or your low air alarm is coming on, there's several possible culprits. Most commonly, your red hose to the trailer came off...just put it back on. Otherwise, you probably have an air leak which you can simply walk around the truck and listen for. Otherwise, it's likely that the air compressor or its governor has packed up and gone home. The compressor is a pain to replace, however the governor (known usually as a D2 governor) is pretty easy. It's a little cylinder on or near the compressor with 3 or 4 hoses coming off it...just put a new one in its place making sure each hose goes to the same port on the new one as it did on the old one.
Finally, your air drier may clog up, especially in colder weather. There are two large hoses running to it...just get a pipe coupler and join these hoses together, bypassing the drier completely, and you'll be okay until you can replace the drier.
How to Properly Drop a Trailer
Unhooking from, or dropping, a trailer is simple. Start by making sure both brake knobs are pulled out. Lower the trailer's landing gear by turning the crank on the side (some go left and some right). If it's going really slowly, push the crank in; this puts it in high gear. Pull out for low. Lower the pads until they just touch the ground and then store the handle back where you found it. Release the fifth wheel by pulling the release handle out; some fifth wheels you have to lift it up and move it forward first (Josts are like this). Then disconnect the red and blue hoses and the electrical cable, put the truck in 1st gear, push in just the yellow knob and pull out from under the trailer.
How to Properly Hook a Trailer
Hooking up to a trailer is almost exactly the reverse of dropping one. Back up to the trailer but not fully under it; set the parking brake and get out and check to make sure the trailer is touching the fifth wheel. If it's too high, lower the front of the trailer with the landing gear crank. Once it's low enough, back the tractor all the way underneath and set the parking brake again. Look to make sure that the fifth wheel handle is back in the latched position, and then crawl under the trailer and look up inside the fifth wheel from behind to see that the locking jaws of the fifth wheel are actually locked around the trailer's kingpin. Then fully retract the landing gear and stow the handle, and connect the trailer air lines and electrical line. Red to red and blue to blue. Finally, get into the tractor, release the parking brakes, hold the trolley valve down and try to pull forward...if you can, something is wrong and you need to check it out. Either the trailer's brakes aren't working or the fifth wheel isn't fully latched.
Caging the Parking Brakes
Very rarely, you may need to release the parking brakes on a tractor that can't for whatever reason do it by air power--it's got a major air leak, or you can't start it. Either way, "caging" them is the answer. On the longer brake chambers, you'll find a hole on the end opposite the pushrod. Into this you insert a bolt with a little T on the end, found on the side of the chamber. Crank down on the nut that came with it to pull the rod out of the chamber, which in turn pulls the pushrod back. This totally disables that chamber, so driving this way is definitely NOT recommended; use it only in emergencies or to move a disabled tractor.
Weight Distribution
Currently, the law restricts not only our Gross Combined Vehicle Weight (GCVW) to 80,000 pounds, but also restricts the weights of individual axles and groups of axles. A pair of dual-tire axles, known as a tandem, can legally handle up to 34,000 pounds and a single dual-tire axle can handle 20,000 pounds. If you're close to these limits, weight distribution becomes essential. Here's how to do it.
Sliding the trailer tandems forward one pin hole moves about 250 pounds (when fully loaded) from the tractor and onto the trailer tandems. The other way does the opposite. To slide the trailer tandems, park the truck and walk to the left side of the trailer tandems. Either on the front of this sliding assembly or in the middle of the left side, there will be a pull handle. Pull it out and lock it in place. Get back in the truck and hold the trolley valve down while moving the tractor forwards or backwards. Once you've got it where you want it (which often takes a few tries) you'll release the locking handle, get back in the truck, and "jiggle" the trailer back and forth until the pins drop into their holes.
In addition to the legal restrictions, you should be mindful of the manufacturer's weight ratings of your steer tires. Most steer axles can handle a total of 12,350 pounds...if you're over that, and maxed out on your trailer tandems, you'll have to slide the fifth wheel to the rear. To do this, you'll have to lower the trailer landing gear far enough to take most of the weight off the fifth wheel, then get in the truck and hit the fifth wheel slide release valve on the dashboard. Move the tractor forward one hole (the fifth wheel goes back one hole) to take about 500 pounds off the steer axle if fully loaded. Once you get the fifth wheel where you want it, move the slide valve back to the locked position and "jiggle" the tractor until the pins lock into place. Raise the trailer's landing gear and you're done.
Exceeding legal limits post-Z isn't gonna make any difference at all, but overloading your steer tires past their design limits will certainly wreck your day. Though I wouldn't sweat a thousand pounds on either of your tandems, I would certainly worry about being that far over on your steers. Fix it.
Using Compressed Air for Other Things
Aside from releasing the parking brakes and applying the service brakes, there's lots of neat stuff you can use the truck's air system for. The easy way to access this is to get a shop-type air hose with a quick connect female fitting on one end and a glad hand on the other. Hook the glad hand to the red trailer air hose, push in the red parking brake valve, and hook whatever you like to the business end of the hose. I do highly recommend keeping such a setup, along with a dual-foot air chuck, with you at all times just to keep your tires filled up. You can also use it to run an air drill or die grinder (great for chopping padlocks!) and all manner of other air tools. Raid a Harbor Freight store for everything you need except the glad hand (which can be had at any truck stop). Bear in mind that this little hose isn't big enough to run something like a big impact wrench, which you'd need to change a tire.
What can you actually DO with a semi? Strengths and weaknesses.
Semis are designed to do one thing and do it really well: economically haul a bunch of crap over long distances. Pound for pound, they burn less than 1/10th as much fuel as a Toyota Prius...even when the Prius isn't randomly exploding. :D However, this is about all they do well. They're tough to drive well, tough to park, expensive as all hell to fill up and maintain (300 gallons fuel capacity folks...yeah it adds up!) and impossible to navigate through small towns and such. If you need to move a bunch of stuff from here to someplace else far away, a semi is the right tool for the job. Otherwise, you're just using a sledgehammer to drive a thumbtack. Post-Z, one could also make an excellent case for using one as a mobile base from which to attack (think amphib assault ship on wheels) or a home or workshop on wheels, or even as a raiding vehicle. But please don't use one as your "daily driver."
Taking it Further
If you're interested in learning more about driving trucks, there's plenty of information out there. First off, I highly recommend you browse the CDL Handbook, available here: http://cdn.nationalsafetycommission.com/handbooks/2009/florida_cdl_english_2009.pdf . To handle a semi, you'll need to study at least the general knowledge, air brakes, and combination vehicles sections. I also recommend at least browsing the doubles, tanker, and hazmat sections just in case.
If you reeeeally wanna know more, there's no better way than to go to school and get your CDL. Then you'll be legal, and heck you might even get a job doing it--something highly prized in this economy! Driving a school bus, city transit or Greyhound bus, local delivery truck, or long-haul semi all require a CDL and most of these sectors are hiring even now.
Becoming a trucker isn't for everyone. Minimum requirements are 21 years or older, no felonies or DUIs, and the ability to put up with an incredible amount of BS and only going home once a month. But hey, you'll take home around a thousand bucks a week. Drop me a message if you're interested and I'll point you towards more information in this vein. Your family will hate you, this I promise, but you'll have a good job and see the country doing it. I usually tell folks that if I won the lottery tomorrow, I'd buy myself a nice new truck (a 2010 LoneStar Harley-Davidson edition, if you're wondering) and keep right on driving. And I mean it.
I highly recommend finding a nice stretch of highway or a giant parking lot you can play in for a while before trying to go someplace you'd actually need to know what you're doing. Practice is invaluable here, and the danger of killing yourself or others is pretty extreme until you get that practice. Keep it slow for a while, it's easier to stop when you screw up. And I guarantee you will; even the students I trained after they got their CDLs made a mess of things for the first month or so. I did too, it's nothing to worry about. With time, you'll get it.
Suggestions, comments, and edits always welcome
Dan
