[HOW TO DRIVE UP & DOWN HILLS WITH HEAVY VEHICLES]
Hi there Smart Drivers.
Rick, with Smart Drive Test, talking to you today about:
Hills, and the impact that hills are going to have on your driving,
especially for new drivers working towards getting a license.
This is video number five in the VEDA, Video Every Day (in) April, series.
Stick around, we'll be right back with that information.
Hi there Smart Drivers.
Welcome back.
Talking to you to say about: Hills, and the impact that hills are going to have on your driving.
And, this is going to be especially important for new drivers working towards a license,
because it has an impact on your speed, and we're going to show you how to do that.
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Now Hills: New drivers preparing for a license,
know that when you come down hill, you're going to have to apply the brakes,
because your vehicle is going to speed up.
And, for the purposes of a road test, you either need to maintain the posted speed limit,
or the speed of the flow of traffic, whichever is less.
If you go over the speed for any length of time,
more than five miles an hour, five kilometers an hour,
you're probably not going to be successful on your road test.
So, know that.
As well, when you're going up the hill, you're probably going to have to give it more throttle,
especially in an automatic.
If it's an especially steep hill, and you're driving a heavier vehicle,
you may even have to shift down in a manual transmission, so know that.
And, for those of you in Europe, and other places in the world that are driving manual transmissions,
you're probably going to have to do Hill starts.
So, you want to make sure that you practice that.
Finally, for the purposes of a road test,
you want to know how to Hill Park.
And, I'll put a card up in the corner for you, here, on Hill parking,
and how to do that successfully, for the purposes of a road test.
Now for those of you venturing into pulling Trailers:
Boat trailers, utility trailers and recreational trailers,
know that if you're running more than 3,000 pounds you're going to have to brake,
you're probably going to have to gear down, to come down the hill safely, and with control of the vehicle.
And, as well, when you're going uphill, you're probably not going to maintain the posted speed limit.
So, know that, for the purposes of pulling a trailer, any trailer that's going to be heavier.
Now, finally, for CDL drivers,
know that you need to understand grade signs to keep yourself safe.
And, I'll put a card up in the corner here, actually two cards for you.
One on grade signs,
and the other one on how to downhill brake safely, for the purposes of getting a big truck down a hill safely.
Now, just quickly, Grade Signs: if it's less than 10%,
and it doesn't have a distance sign on it, it's probably less than a mile or less than a kilometer,
you can just use your service brakes.
If it's over 10% grade, or It's more than a mile or more than a kilometer,
you definitely want to gear down, and have the retarder on full,
either the engine brake or the driveline retarder,
or whatever kind of retarder your CDL vehicle is going to be equipped with.
And, make sure you have it in the right gear:
Most 13 speed/10 speed transmissions, you want to be in fifth,
and you want to have the splitter in low,
for the purpose of going down the hill.
On a tandem tandem, a truck that weighs less than 80,000 pounds,
approximately 37,000 kilograms,
that's going to get you down the hill safely.
Now, if you're running heavier than that, more than 80,000 pounds,
or you're running a set of Super B's or whatnot,
you're definitely going to have to gear down even more than that.
Just remember the saying:
You can go down the hill a thousand times too slow,
but the one time you go down too fast may be your last.
So, know that for the purposes of getting up and down the hills safely in a big truck.
Question for my Smart Drivers:
Are you taking a road test, or venturing into a heavy vehicle,
and do you have hills that you're going to be contending with,
in and around the areas where you're going to be driving?
Leave a comment, down in the comment section there.
All of that helps out the new drivers, and veteran drivers alike,
who are working to be safer drivers, and passing a road test.
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head over to the Smart Drive Test website, and pick up "Pass your road test, First Time" course for new drivers.
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I'm Rick, with Smart Drive Test, thanks very much for watching.
Good luck in your road test, and remember:
Pick the best answer, not necessarily the right answer.
Have a great day! Bye now.