Basically, to add to what RS was saying, all cars and light duty pick-ups have synchronizers in the transmission that activate when you push the clutch pedal. The synchronizers align the speed of the gears in the transmission to the speed of the engine and the driveshaft. This was primarily done so that absolute morons with no mechanical aptitude can put on make-up or yap on the cell phone while bearing only a minimal responsibility for the 3000 or 4000 pound piece of machinery they are operating. On heavy trucks, there are no synchronizers, so it is up to the driver to match the RPM's and gear selection with the driveshaft speed. As soon as the driver runs through a gear, the shift to neutral begins a process where the driveshaft speed will increase or decrease with the speed of the vehicle (depending if it is on flat ground, or up/downhill). Also, the gears in the transmission fall out of synch as part of them turn with the engine rpm input speed and others turn with the driveshaft output speed. To get into the next gear, the driver has to select a gear that can bring the two speeds back into synch, and make the final adjustment to complete the match using the engine RPM's. Many drivers will float gears, shifting progressively up or down without using the clutch. This process is accomplished by moving the gear selector to the neutral position at the split second that the drivetrain "slacks" as the driver eases up on the accelerator. As the next gear is selected, the driver brings the engine RPM's to a speed that puts the revolutions of the gears on the input side of the transmission to the speed of the revolutions of the output side of the transmission from the driveshaft. As everything falls into synch, the gear level is eased into the next gear. Think of a farm tractor pulling a wagon hitched together by a pin. When the tractor is pulling, there is tension on the pin. If the tractor slows, the wagon drawbar will ease forward and compress against the pin, but there is a precise moment when the pin is being neither pushed nor pulled. At that exact moment, the pin can be pulled, much like the gear selector when floating gears. Double clutching is often used when a transmission is tight or less forgiving for floating gears. By pushing the clutch when leaving a gear, it eases the tension in the driveline, but it releases the link between engine RPM's and the gears on the input side of the transmission. Releasing the clutch puts power back to the front side of the transmission to keep turning the input gears. By applying the clutch a second time as you select the next gear, it allows the drivetrain some slack again to make matching the next gear a bit easier. Mack transmissions are notoriously tight and not as conducive to floating gears as other transmissions such as Eaton Fullers or Rockwells.