Question:
Have read several posts on shifting up and down, and backing, but nothing on braking.
How do you stop a Big rig? I would imagine that one gears down, then put it in neutral, then use the brake to stop.
Can a driver use the brake pedal when the Rig is in gear?
Thanks
Do it in the Snow, packed Snow, Glazed over Snow, Deep
Snow, Crusty Snow, Ice, Black Ice and frosty roads for the same pay as Drivers in warm Climates..

Answer:
I would imagine that one gears down, then put it in neutral, then use the brake to stop.
NEVER put that tranny in neutral.......you lose the benefit of using engine compression to aid in slowing down.

Answer:
Originally posted by Oden:
Can a driver use the brake pedal when the Rig is in gear?
I don't know whether to laugh or cry!
************************************
Indiana RoadRunner
A legend in his own mind!

Answer:
Originally posted by Oden: I would imagine that one gears down, then put it in neutral, then use the brake to stop.
Can a driver use the brake pedal when the Rig is in gear?
My rule is that you are Always in gear on a roadway.
Yes you Downshift to help cut speed. Braking all the while. I rarely downshift to the lowest gears . I DO leave it in gear as I come to a stop. Using the clutch to keep drive from working against the brakes.
Also note, Do not hold a trucks clutch pedal to the floor. This will activate the transmission brake and it will wear out quickly with misuse like that. Just engage the clutch enough to slip and remove drive.The Transmission brake stops the gears from spinning while in neutral to facilate engaging a gear without grinding while at a STOP.
I always leave the truck in gear stopped at a light. Its easier to select the the gear I need to start rolling again and in gear you can always move if something comes up.
Putting a truck in neutral while rolling is considered a loss of control(AT least to Me) as you will have a hard time catching a gear to start accelerating or downshifting more if needed.
Trucks don't have the synco mesh gears that autos do. That is why so much time is spent teaching to match engine RPM's to ground speed.
Hopefully someone will jump in here and either explain it more clearly and/or add what I neglected to mention!
Heck, Starkman is in a great school and can probably explain it better as the needed langauge is fresh to Him. I just do what I do without having to put alot of thought into it. I also have been off the road for 6 months now.
Have you checked out CDL schools in your area yet?

Answer:
that'll stop ya.
If at first you don't suceed, get a bigger hammer

Answer:
IRR
"I don't know whether to laugh or cry! "
or maybe consider that many young people today have never been in a car with a manuel transmission and haven't the slightest idea,thus the question
Wyle E. Coyote
Supergenius!

Answer:
It was great to get ONE good answer to my question from Mr. Skiffman.
Have drove manual trannys for 40 years now..
Was told that Truck braking is a lot different???
So from Mr. Skiffmans excellent response I understand that a driver gears down, while braking some at the same time, and when the rig stops at a light.....the clutch brake is used to hold it in place ? ? ? (pushing in all the way on the brake pedal = Clutch brake)
Do it in the Snow, packed Snow, Glazed over Snow, Deep
Snow, Crusty Snow, Ice, Black Ice and frosty roads for the same pay as Drivers in warm Climates..

Answer:
Originally posted by Oden:
It was great to get ONE good answer to my question from Mr. Skiffman.
.....the clutch brake is used to hold it in place ? ? ? (pushing in all the way on the brake pedal = Clutch brake)
All the 'clutch brake' does is.....keep the gears from grinding as you slip the tranny into gear from a dead stop.
As for the rest....Skiffman pretty much hit the nail right on the head with his answers.
~

Answer:
Hey Oden, I'll jump in here. I'm not driving professionally yet, but man, I've had a great instructor, that's for sure. I'll share with you something of what I've learned.
(Was it BigJ who said, "find a big thick wall,
that'll stop ya."
OUCH! Boy, that's braking!)
First, the clutch brake:
Unlike a clutch in a manual transmission in a car or small truck, which has no clutch brake, big rigs are fitted with a clutch brake, because there's the need to stop the gears, even though you're at a stop, in order to get the rig into gear. Here's how it works.
Say you just got in the rig, or you're at a stop at a light, and you're ready to put it into gear (doesn't matter if it's 1st, 2nd, 3rd or what have you). You put the clutch in ALL THE WAY. Then as you barely attempt to put the stick into a gear, you'll feel the gears flutter until they stop. That's what the clutch brake is doing: stopping those gears you feel so you can get it into gear. Remember: this is only to be done when you're at a complete stop. You HAVE to get into the habit when you're shifting with the rig already moving to only disengage enough to allow you to shift and not push the clutch in all the way. I repeat: don't push the clutch all the way down unless you're at a full stop to get the rig into gear. You'll wear-and-tear the clutch brake if you do otherwise.
Now for braking in general:
The idea is to get to become skilled enough to where you need as little foot-braking as possible to achieve stopping power. What do I mean by this? I mean that you should already have slowed down before coming to stop signs and lights by having geared-down well before you need to use heavy braking with your foot. Sure there's those, "Oh crap" times, but good observational and "looking ahead" skills help to minimize the "Oh crap" times. And most importantly . . . MOST importantly (in my opinion) is speed management. If you're doing the correct speed, and you're doing it consistantly in all your driving, nasty hard braking is far less needed. It's really that important to have that rig under speed management control: driving the proper speed in the first place!
Further, as you've read, you never want to be taking a rig out of neutral to brake, or for that matter for any reason, really. Neutral's dangerous when a rig's moving, unless there's some very, very special emergency--and I can't think of one, but maybe someone else can--where you'd need the rig in neutral.
Down hill braking:
With older engines, the norm is to stay in the same gear going downhill in which you went up the hill. However, today's engines are pretty powerfull, and you don't want to be in the same gear you were in going up hill; you want to drop down a gear or two. if there wasn't a hill to gauge the gear you need to be in, but you're coming to a downill, then you must ALREADY be at the speed you should be at and the gear should in (speed management again!: Your speed and gear combination should put the rpms at about 1500-1600. What this does is allow you to go down the hill, reach about 5 miles an hour more than the speed you started in, and then use the brakes just enough to bring the rpms back down to 1500-1600. You simply repeat this process until you're down the hill. You'll avoid overheating your bakes, and you use the engine's peek performance to control the speed . . . IF (and I mean if) YOU WERE ALREADY AT THE PROPER SPEED IN THE FIRST PLACE. Man, I can't emphasise this enough. It's been so crammed into my head: "Speed management: it's your greatest defense." That's my instructor for you.
Hope this helps!
***********************************************
Look before, during, and after when making those right-hand turns!
Starkman

Answer:
Braking while in gear.......yes you can.
Braking out of gear........yes you can.
Braking in curves.......better to downshift but ok to brake, be careful when doing this with an empty trailer.
Never brake in a jacknkife.

Answer:
You goofs catch that eh!!
A little respect, HA!
Zig, this isnt a spring chicken, He has 3, as in THREE retirements !!
Only 7 years older than Me, "Young people who have never driven a manuel transmission"
Now theres a ego stroke for the both of us Oden!!
Actually, it pains Me to admit I have never driven a manuel transmission (Must be a Mexican make ), but I have stirred the gears in a number of manual trannies
Don't worry John, I'm a phonetic speller too!!
Have fun all TC

Answer:
"by having geared-down well before you need to use heavy braking with your foot."
Doing all that gearing down when you come to a stop is tottaly unnecessary. No need to gear down at all. When I first started driving I did a lot of gearing down until a trainer explained it's far more important to concentrate on stopping instead of gearing. I have no idea why he might of said that. After a while and from riding with other drivers I learned that gearing down simply is not needed when stopping.
The truck can come close to being stopped before you have to push the clutch in to keep from lugging it. Slowing down in advance of coming to a stop by even braking is the best. Gearing down takes time, concentration and to much work. Of course if your slowing down for a turn or the light changes etc. you'll need to gear down to keep it rolling but otherwise slow down well in advance.
The clutck brake of course is used with the clutch and applied with the clutch pedal. As far as truck brakes being different from other systems, they are different. Their old and outdated. Truck brakes number one are air brakes and number 2 they open like a jaw. Just cup your hands and put them together then open and close your fingers leaving your palms in contact. That is basically how truck brakes operate.
"Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of all who threaten it"
[This message was edited by Stuffiu on November 24, 2002 at 08:58.]

Answer:
gearing down also uses more fuel.
i always thought brakes are cheaper than transmissions. puts strain on the tranny & the driveline to gear down .

Answer:
Stuffiu said:
"When I first started driving I did a lot of gearing down until a trainer explained it's far more important to concentrate on stopping instead of gearing. I have no idea why he might of said that. After a while and from riding with other drivers I learned that gearing down simply is not needed when stopping.
The truck can come close to being stopped before you have to push the clutch in to keep from lugging it. Slowing down in advance of coming to a stop by even braking is the best. Gearing down takes time, concentration and to much work. Of course if your slowing down for a turn or the light changes etc. you'll need to gear down to keep it rolling but otherwise slow down well in advance.
Well, my instructor was as diesel/truck mechanic for 12 years as well as a driver for many. He also owns two companies. (He's the one who taught us this.)
When I mentioned gearing down to stop, I should have been more specific and expressed the fact that slowing down was the real issue. Hek, you may not gear down at all, depending on what gear you're in and how fast you're going. The point was that you should not have to use brakes alone to stop, unless it's really called for. I don't loose that much concentration at all when I'm slowing down--rmp or gear-down--IF, and this is the big one, IF I do it well ahead of time so that I'm not caught having to do everything (get in the right gear, right position and preperation for, say, a turn) all at once.
In class, I've seen too many drivers using excessive braking to stop the trucks. I've watched my instructor be well ahead of the game when he's both in downtown and rural areas; he uses the brakes only enough to get the job done. But he's already used the rpms and gears to do most of the work. (He emphasises also, I should add, that you shouldn't be shifting the last 100 feet before, say, a light or stop sign; concentrate on positioning and what's going on around you. I should have included this in my former post.)
Again, I'm not saying that there aren't times when you have to use the brakes and only the brakes, but I think it's way too much wear and tear to heavy-foot the brakes as a practice. But, that's just my thoughts on the subject as I've been trained.
***********************************************
Look before, during, and after when making those right-hand turns!
Starkman

Answer:
Transmissions and clutches are designed to move
the equipment forward. Brakes are used to stop.
Anyone that gears down to stop is in reality causeing undue stress/wear on the drivetrain,
specificly the clutch discs. Gearing down to reduce speed will eventually cost more than
using just the brakes.
Mike