Use of sim for CDL test practice

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VTXcnME
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Joined: 04 Jun 2021 12:53

Re: Use of sim for CDL test practice

#11 Post by VTXcnME » 06 Dec 2021 15:51

No doubt.

MSFS is a better shot at actual simulation though. Someone mentioned MS flight sim as a means to train... MSFS does a better job at emulating the actual process of things. They are a bit off on the actual dynamics of flight but you get muscle memory practice on the walk through of it.

American Truck simulator misses out on a lot of parts of truck driving/truck operation. As such, it's not a good way to build skills or practice tasks. You don't actually do your own hooks ups, inspections, you don't go through a process of starting rigs/waiting for air pressures to build/etc. There's a lot that just happens automatically when you press the 'start engine' button in this game.

That was my only point. ATS should not be compared to MSFS as a 'simulator'. It's a game.

And my flight school (along with a lot of others) does in fact allow use of MSFS2020 for some training hours. You can't say the same for ATS.
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bobgrey1997
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Re: Use of sim for CDL test practice

#12 Post by bobgrey1997 » 06 Dec 2021 16:53

Speaking as someone who has played ATS for thousands of hours and now driving these trucks in reality, I can say ATS can be very useful for backing.
It won't be a true replacement, but it can definitely help.
My first day ever backing a truck and trailer in reality, we were given 3 backing manuevers and shown a step-by-step process to each, before being told to attempt on our own from there.
First time, I got all 3 almost perfect.
Other than the occasional boat trailer behind a Dodge Ram, ATS was my only experience.

ATS has no inspections, and hooking is a simple key press. However, hooking in reality is very simple:
Back under the trailer, straight and centered (which can be simulated in-game via tye advanced hooking option) until the kingpin latch automatically engages (which you can hear from the cab in reality, especially if you have the window open), then try to pull forward slightly to test the latch and the trailer brakes (if the truck begins moving away from the trailer, the latch did not fully engage, if the trailer moves with you, the trailer brakes are bad). Once you are latched, get out and push your green electrical cable into the only socket that matches, then attach the air lines. This is simple, but sounds complicated. You have two air lines: the red emergency system, and the blue service system. The trailer has two ports: red and blue. Red goes to red, blue goes to blue. Take the red, rotate it 90-degrees toward you to unlatch it from its storage, then press it against the red port on the trailer (these are called gladhands, by the way) at a 90 degree angle to the lines in the trailer, and rotate it into place. Do the same with the blue.
Then, crank the landing gear up away from the ground.

This is a very simple and quick process, and they will teach you how to do it in detail at your training.
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