Professional Driver Day One

I thought I knew everything about trucks, boy was I wrong. I had to do a road test with the new boss on my first day. It started with a pre-trip inspection, "A what?". That's how much I knew, so being humbled, not put down, I proceeded to learn about Over the Road Trucking. Good thing I found a boss who was a people builder.
After a long classroom session came the introduction to a real truck. In this case it was a !936 International kitted to a 1948 KW. That included a 220 Cummins Engine, 5 and 4 transmissions and brass drive gears. What was I to do with two shift levers? Needless to say, I had a lot to learn.
After fumbling through a road test and satisfying my boss that I was trainable, my assignment included introduction to a "real pro". Marvin was that and more. He could make a truck hum. Gear changes were so smooth you would only hear the change in the engine RPM, like a fine tuned instrument. This was a needed thing to master because in those days syncro-mesh transmissions were years away. Engine speed and road speed had to be matched with the correct gear selection. So the only way to master this art was practice, practice and more practice.
The driver had to become an extension of the truck and operate as a unit. After hours of on the job training, and humbling stops with missed shifts on grades, it began to come to me. Think through the drive train process, engine speed, gear match to road speed and how it related. I finally got it. Thank the Lord, I was a driver, greenhorn but going on to be a veteran.