02-01-2017, 12:21 AM
wave rider wrote:
[quote=JoeH]
[quote=rz]
I always use my parking brake, even when not parked on an incline. Just habit, i guess.
I had a manual transmission car first back in the '70's, got used to putting on the parking brake. Then when I went through training to drive buses, it was emphasized. Of course leaving your bus parked on just the transmission in Park was a fireable offense....
Cannot remember if the buses I drove had a park position on the transmission, but that air parking brake knob got pulled first. I once pushed a 35' Jimmy just enough by myself to get it rolling so I could pull into a stop and not block traffic. Pushed from the front stairwell, have been eternally grateful I did not slip and let the empty bus careen down the hill. That would have been a firable offence for sure...
Quite surprised I could move that 16 ton vehicle by myself...
Oh yeah, it can be surprising how little it takes to get one moving. As for a Park position, it depended on the bus. I drove some old '69 GMC "fishbowls" one year that just had two forward gear positions and reverse and neutral between. Some of the newer buses did have a Park position.
Other buses I drove had manual transmissions, school bus bodies and an old GMC highway coach. The school buses had a big lever to set the parking brake.