I used to drive a 16' cattle truck, a '68 Chevy 50 series, with a 2-speed splitter. Not a dump truck but similar in being a bigger truck, at least. I found it easier to drive a stick on this than a car. It seemed more forgiving. Like others have said, you have to realize you are bigger and heavier, so acceleration, braking, and maneuvering occur slower than with a car. I was driving one morning to the gas station for a state inspection so didn't have any cattle on board. Our narrow 2 lane unstriped backroads are hilly and winding. I lost my brakes at the top of a hill and the next curve was a 90 degree. Try as I might, I could not downshift. I went up on the bank a bit to make that turn at about 35mph, but the next problem was a series of curves with houses above and below the road. If I didn't have free rein of the whole road in those curves, it was unlikely that there would be a good outcome. I could not meet an oncoming vehicle or any vehicle on that road. I was still going downhill, but it wasn't as steep. I had to stop that truck before I hit those curves. All this is running through my mind along with split second decisions and still trying to downshift. I decided to put it in a shallow ditch on the slight uphill side on the left. After a lot of bucking und bouncing, the truck came to a stop right before I would've hit the curves and lost the stopping power of that ditch. Whew! I went by a tree while in the ditch and it tore off the left-hand mirror. I wasn't hurt at all except my thumb was a little tweaked after that bank turn and I had slid across the seat. The driver's side seatbelt keeper was missing, so I had to use the one from the passenger's side. My wife was driving behind me and you can imagine how frantic she was wondering what was going on. Bottom line is to know your truck, do the pre-drive checks to make sure fluids are topped up and everything is in working order, and be careful and safe.
