We’ve had a few new out of the box new drivers.
A few from P .
thing is they’ve taken their test in a little W&D and can’t get the reversing right.
Another problem I’ve seen is newbies not having any sense of direction or geographic base knowledge.
They just blindly follow a truck satnav without even looking at a map.
We’ve got drivers that if you ask them how to get from a to b they’ll honestly say they don’t know the little box tells them.
One chap wouldn’t use the bus lane even though it was a Timed lane i.e. 07:30 till 09:30 the guy didn’t understand the sign.
Surely if your living in the U.K. and are driving here for a living should you not have to pass at least the Highway Code test here .
I totally agree that folks are getting far too reliant on sat nav and that the art of simple map reading is becoming a thing of the past.
In response to the comment about passing on w+d and then having problems with an artic, whilst I offer training on w+d, ALL the folks who take this option have the opportunity to practice reversing, coupling/uncoupling and driving on a full size artic subsequently. I cant force people to do this but we encourage it.
Personally, I prefer folk to train on artic and the changes to our fleet over the next few weeks reflect this with our w+d capacity being reduced by two thirds. W+D will still be on offer but I hope will become very much a secondary choice.
Peter Smythe:
I totally agree that folks are getting far too reliant on sat nav and that the art of simple map reading is becoming a thing of the past.
In response to the comment about passing on w+d and then having problems with an artic, whilst I offer training on w+d, ALL the folks who take this option have the opportunity to practice reversing, coupling/uncoupling and driving on a full size artic subsequently. I cant force people to do this but we encourage it.
Personally, I prefer folk to train on artic and the changes to our fleet over the next few weeks reflect this with our w+d capacity being reduced by two thirds. W+D will still be on offer but I hope will become very much a secondary choice.
Pete
Good move IMO Peter especially as most of the UK C+E vehicles are artics
I have also voiced concerns in the past about taking the CE test in a W&D
Peter Smythe:
I totally agree that folks are getting far too reliant on sat nav and that the art of simple map reading is becoming a thing of the past.
In response to the comment about passing on w+d and then having problems with an artic, whilst I offer training on w+d, ALL the folks who take this option have the opportunity to practice reversing, coupling/uncoupling and driving on a full size artic subsequently. I cant force people to do this but we encourage it.
Personally, I prefer folk to train on artic and the changes to our fleet over the next few weeks reflect this with our w+d capacity being reduced by two thirds. W+D will still be on offer but I hope will become very much a secondary choice.
Pete
Good move IMO Peter especially as most of the UK C+E vehicles are artics
I have also voiced concerns in the past about taking the CE test in a W&D
I’ll admit that I did C+E in a W+D at PSTT a few weeks ago as I was advised that it was the easiest way to pass the test. 3rd time pass means that didn’t quite work out as planned but I did go back for the conversion course. That had always been the plan and I view it as money well spent. I would encourage others to do the same as they drive very differently and you don’t want your first go in an arctic to be on an assessment for a job…
I have an assessment next week and when talking to the guy arranging it he asked how I had passed and I was honest and said W+D but that had done a conversion course and he was pleased with this so seems like this is an issue for some. Also regards your sat nav comment, as well as the drive and taco test there is also a map reading test! Looks like some places are aware of the issue and trying to weed it out
Why is reliance on a sat nav a bad thing? I’m of that age where I’ve grown up on technology. I can read a map but I’m more likely to reach for the gadget.
Just trying to understand this as someone learning the lgv world.
IronEddie:
Why is reliance on a sat nav a bad thing? I’m of that age where I’ve grown up on technology. I can read a map but I’m more likely to reach for the gadget.
Just trying to understand this as someone learning the lgv world.
Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk
Not a bad thing but if it goes awry then old fashioned maps are a must
I guarantee you’ll see a sharp upturn in artic use then
A proper wagon n drag.
I used to reverse them onto the bays at Woolies Swindon every now and then now that was a good test of skill, probably make a pigs ear of it now though
I’m old enough to have been brought up reading maps, but young enough to have had the opportunity to embrace technology.
I’m quite content to let the satnav do the hard work, and whilst I have reasonably good geographic knowledge of where the towns and cities are, I appreciate the satnav calculating the optimal route taking into account expected driving times on the different road options, plus current traffic conditions. I am also more relaxed knowing my estimated ETA which helps plan road speeds and break opportunities.
If the satnav fails I might ultimately have to rely on a map and road signs, but I do carry a couple of backup devices (phone and tablet) just to be sure to be sure…
I’m a recent class 2 pass so I can’t comment on the W+D vs Artic part (Although I will be doing my C+E in a traditional Artic at some point in the near future).
One of the first things I did after passing was to buy a Philip’s navigator truckers map of Britain. Now and then I’ll test myself and am now confident I could plan a route using a map should the need ever arise, but a truck sat nav would be my first port of call. I actually rang up about a job a couple of days ago and one of the first things I was asked was whether I could read a map, the lady on the other end of the phone told me they’d had trouble with a 23 year old driver who struggled to read them and didn’t have very good geographical knowledge.
Definitely proves you’re at a disadvantage if you can’t use a map.
I’m 27 and currently doing me class two at casa de smythe, I work in the community at the min driving all day long and navigate mainly using a dog eared A to Z planning on doing me class one as well soon so hopefully won’t be included in ya group of planks !
IronEddie:
Why is reliance on a sat nav a bad thing? I’m of that age where I’ve grown up on technology. I can read a map but I’m more likely to reach for the gadget.
Just trying to understand this as someone learning the lgv world.
Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk
There are a lot of trucks where the ■■■ lighter is broken or missing, they won’t even fit them in cabs soon, sat nav are not infallible and the map is a thing of beauty to me
Ah yes, hadn’t even considered the truck itself might not be able to power a sat nav. Was thinking of issues with the device itself. I used to have one in the car that could never lock to a satellite on anything other than a sunny clear skies day.
I do keep a map book in the car and certainly when I start driving lorries I’ll keep a map with me as a back up.
