A 10 Speed Taking Shortcuts

Ok, Ok, so I back dated this post to yesterday as I just didn't get a chance to make one. So no your not crazy.

Today was an interesting day. At dispatch I was informed that I was changing trucks again. This time to a Volvo (Truck #9252) which is a Super 10. It is just like a regular 10 speed but it works a bit different. Each hole (or gear slot) has 2 gear placements just like all other 10 speeds, however with a super 10 instead of having to shift through the 5 speed pattern twice, you only have to do the patter once thanks to a little button. The Hole (slot) for first gear has gears 1 and 2 in it, Hole 2 has gear 3 and 4 in it, and so on. So if you start out in first gear you would accelerate till you are ready to shift to second. Then you slide the switch on the tower (gear shifter) forward to select second gear, let off the accelerator till the gear grabs and your done. No clutching, no moving the shift tower. NICE!!

Now down shifting is pretty much the same as up-shifting, with a catch that is hard to get your brain to let you do. Lets say your in 4th gear (the shift button is in the forward position) and you want to down-shift to 3rd gear. You would slow down till your RPMs get around 1000, slide the shift button backward to the 3rd gear position, then, and here is the trick, you have to accelerate until the transmission catches the lower gear. If I ever thought that bumping the accelerator in a standard 10 speed was a hard thing to get my brain to allow me to do, it has NOTHING on this. It is a scary feeling accelerating while downshifting to a stop light with a car in front of you. Your only instinct is to abandon the downshift and just brake to a stop.

Well needless to say it took the whole morning before both myself and my driving partner got the hang of things and got our check on (means we can drive the vechicle on public roads). But after getting out on the road with this transmission, it is really simple to operate and much less work. Allot less shifting and clutching that my knee really approves of.