Pre Departure Check.

You MUST do one of these before driving any heavy vehicle to make sure the truck is roadworthy and meets all legal requirements.

You will be required to demonstrate this task to achieve a  truck license in Tasmania

Reverse Left Heavy Combination.

Anyone hoping to gain employment driving a Heavy Combination Truck must be able to demonstrate that they can reverse a Heavy Combination Truck to the blind side, thats the left side here in Australia.

This film is a very mechanical way to reverse around the corner to the left, but it does give you a idea on which way and when to turn the steering and also about how far you can bend the truck. The type of prime mover and trailer and the difference in corners will give variations in angles and steering on the truck you use.

Reverse Straight Heavy Combination

This is one of the easier things you will learn. If you are observant and look in both mirrors, minimum steering is required to keep straight.

Unhitch And Hitch Heavy Combination.

One of the most important things you will learn is how to hitch and unhitch the trailer from the prime mover.
To drop a trailer is unforgivable, expensive and probably give your company lots of unwelcome publicity and could cost you your job.

Unhitch and hitch with air bag suspension

A few more things to consider… Unhitch with airbag suspension

Double clutch

This may be the hardest thing to get you head across after years of driving a manual car.
The clutch only is pushed to the floor to move off from a stationary position.
Once rolling there is no need to to push the clutch more than half way.

Shifting Gears With A Eaton Fuller Road Ranger Gearbox
(Crash Box)

A common mistake new truck drivers make is to over rev the engine on the lower gears 1 to 4.
This makes the drive jerky and uncomfortable.
Lower gears are designed to get the load moving, not to catch up with other road user’s.
The correct way to shift gears is to move progressively through the gears, that is if you move off in first gear bring the revs to 1000rpm before shifting to second,
then bring the revs to 1200rpm before shifting to third gear,
then 1300rpm before shifting to fourth, fifth gear 1500rpm, sixth gear 1600rpm, seventh gear 1700 rpm and so on.
By progressively shifting gears this way you we get to the speed limit fastest. Watch the rev counter in the u tube film and watch how easy the gears are shifted.
The correct use of the clutch is one of the hardest tasks that a new truck driver must master. Years of pushing a car clutch to the floor is a almost impossible habit to break.Once the truck is moving only a quarter to half depression of the clutch is needed to shift gear’s. A common statement often made to me is ” my mate doesn’t use a clutch to change gears”. Yes you can drive the truck without it but if you use the clutch and make a mistake it will reduce the damage to the gearbox.

Splitting Gears With A 18 Speed Road Ranger Gearbox
(Crash Box)

The splitter is used to move the load uphill, or for heavy loads where a full gear will cause the next gear to labor the engine.

When you first sit in the drivers seat of a truck with a Eaton fuller road ranger gearbox have a look at the splitter to see what colour it is. A grey splitter means that you can split gears low and 1 to 8 which equals 18 gears .A red splitter means you can only split gears 5 to 8 which is a 13 speed and a blue splitter means gears low and 1 to 5 can be split which is a 15 speed gearbox.

If you like these videos – head on over to G & L to see more of their videos.

(content and videos reproduced with permission from G & L Heavy Vehicle Driving Centre” )