Title has been altered to reflect the direction of the thread…
Looking at taking my cat C in the new year, does anyone have any recommendations for training providers, and any comments on them?
I know about transafe training, done a few courses with them, not overly impressed with them.
Anyone know anything about Lindsey driving school? Denby? Any others?
Thanks
Are there any listed near you in the recommended list contained within the link in my signature below ?
Pete is not too far away. At least you will have a bit of peace of mind with him.
Go for Pete’s Training. If you living to far away you get even free accomendation.
Keep your eyes peeled for the Christmas Offer which will be announced over the weekend!
Pete 
Gonna sound like a broken record and I swear he isn’t paying me. But you won’t find better than Peter Smythe.
Whereabouts in Lincolnshire, me granddad lived near Scunthorpe until he passed.
Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
Bit of a long winded long over due update.
I started this thread about 3days before alphatrans’ sale to DFDS was announced, I’m still with the old alphatrans operation at the old H+L Merc dealer on the A160. We’re now known as DFDS logistics special cargo B.V. stuff has changed, but that’s not for here.
I wanted my HGV as a plan B (currently a trailer fitter/2nd man/■■■■■■ driver), in case it all went south.
I got my medical and theory tests passed early 2018, and started looking at various company’s. I was recommended to look at a J.M trucking. And i soon passed my MOD2 and MOD4 cpc tests using the training material supplied to me by JMT. That was about June/July 2018. I also placed a deposit for my CAT C training around that time aswell.
August, I emailed to pay the balance of the training fee, and to book my training, was given 1st-5th October.
August bank holiday, was driving back from Lincoln steam rally on the Saturday night, when I was involved in a head on collision on the A15 about a mile north of caenby corner
Won’t bore you with all the details, I was heading north, 50mph mainbeam on. When a vehicle heading south attempted an overtake on a brow of a hill on a solid white line.
I some how walked away from it.
I’m normally quite a mild person. And I’ll let stuff slide with idiot moves, but it changed me, I found my self reducing a woman to tears after she nearly hit me on a pedestrian crossing while she was on the phone.
My normal response would of been, make eye contact, roll my eyes and shake my head.
It’s still changed me, but I’m nearly back to “normal” what ever that is…
Training, long story short, it was extremely hard, and took it’s toll on me. I was still dealing with the after effects on me, insurance calls, police statements, dr’s appoitments. Took my test on the Friday morning and failed miserably. 14minors and 1 dangerous. It hurt, and I kicked my self for it. The examiner really shook me up as he didnt say anything to responded to anything i said.
It took a bit of encouragement from my work mates to try again (in the mean time, I’m shunting trailers around the yard putting them in places I never thought in could.) But I’m still driving the truck properly, push pull steering, mirror checks, doing everything by the book. I was still driving my car like a truck, waiting for the bigger gaps, holding back more.
Went to rebook my test, was initially given 9/10th of January. I declined that for personal reasons. (10th annerversary of my dad passing) and I was glad I did. It wasn’t the best day.
Rebooked for the 4/5th of February, and I’ll be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to it. I was nervous. And if only told a few people at work, as I needed to take leave for it. Not even my immediate family knew. The way i saw it, the less people knew the less I’d have to tell if I’d failed.
Got in the truck on the Monday morning, had a chat with my instructor. Practised the reverse a few times, all good and got out on the road, it went well, few issues with forward planning and approaching hazards. But I soon got it mostly under control. I was.
Did about 7hrs behind the wheel. A long day, but I was looking forward to the test.
Test day, got to the yard, did some more driving around Grimsby, and cleethorpes. And went to the test centre. I had the same examiner again. But I was prepared for it this time. Carried out the reverse and went out for a drive. I can’t remember half the test route, but I remember a couple of things, going up the A1243 past the hospital I saw an ambulance racing up behind me on blue lights, road was clear both ways in front of me, so I dropped down to 25mph, and as the ambulance appcoached I indicated left and slowed a little more, by this point I think the examiner was going a little WTF at me, lifted up the clipboard and then put it down once he saw it pass me.
2nd and 3rd, incidents,
I’d turned right on to pywipe road heading to birchin way roundabout, asked to take the 2nd exit on to the A180. The road up to the roundabout was clear, and traffic flowing freely around it. Got to it, and there was nothing. No traffic in sight. I couldn’t believe it I rolled straight on to the roundabout with no traffic anywhere. I was shocked. I’d never done that in the 7yrs I’ve lived in Grimsby. And it couldn’t of happened at a better moment!
The final incident was at gilbey road roundabout, was asked to take the 4th exit off, moved over to the right lane, got a 3rd of the way around, when thump. I had a bird strike drivers side of the cab, we both watched the bird go from the top right of the wind screen to the bottom left and fly off, I made the comment of, “nearly had lunch there” and carried on as if nothing had happened, drove back to the test centre, with no issues apart from hitting a level crossing a bit quick… and pulled back in to the test centre. I wasn’t sure how I’d done, but it was announced that it met the standards required and passed.
One very happy person who is absolute over the moon!.
As for JM TRUCKING.
He can do just about anything you need.
Full hgv training packages.
Cpc courses.
Medicals
I can’t recommend him enough, and will be going back to him for my C+E training.
Sorry for the long winded post!
JM TRUCKING LGV SCHOOL added to members recommended list
So… soon after passing my CAT C thoughts turned to my C+E as we don’t have any CAT C vehicles at our depot.
The boss offered to put me through my artic lessons and test, and I took him up on the offer.
Got my lesson and test dates through and also learnt that I would be doing this through transafe training, who is now a part of modal training.
Was given 3rd of April start with my test on the 10th, during the school holidays. Lessons went well, but the biggest issue I was having was the roundabouts, as it was the holidays, it was quiet on the roads which was brilliant, we were able to do a lap of Grimsby and cleethorpes in about 45/50 -mins instead of it taking an hr. But due tp everything moving faster, the gaps were not appearing and people were flying on to the roundabouts…
Test date rolled around, reverse was straight forward, the roundabouts weren’t. I didn’t see a car on a roundabout and pulled out from in front of it.
And I used a truck as a blocker on another roundabout and misjudged how quick it went around… I didn’t realise how quick a Renault T460 was from a standing start with a fully loaded fridge trailer compared to a man tgx440 with 8t on it…
I said to the examiner on the way back to the test centre (was at the end of the test anyway) that I knew I had failed, and it’s been a complete disaster of a test. He said something along the lines of, it’s far from a complete disaster, it’s been one of the better drives this week. And you know where you want wrong which is the most important part.
Got to the test centre, he asked if I wanted to to the trailer change, I said yes, just so I know I can do it. That went smoothly. Got told the results, 6 minors and 2 serious’
It just wasn’t ment to be.
6wks go by. In that time I’ve been all over the country with work on ■■■■■■ duty’s learnt how to work the specialist glass/concrete carriers.
Get given a retest date and a lesson the day before,
Lesson went well. And I passed the test with 4minors.
Got back to the yard and they ask me if I want to shunt one to the docks… I’m like yeah!
So I couldn’t quite believe it I was finally driving trucks on the road, it was an amazing feeling after being sat in the passenger seat all these years.
Following day they want me to shunt another down the docks… this time it doesn’t go so well…
Yep. Less than 24hrs after passing my test, I get pulled by DVSA…
You really couldn’t make it up!
Everything came back good and the let me go.
Late in the day, I was asked to shunt his trailer down the docks as he was out of time, and it was kind of special to me as it’s the 1 truck in the yard I wanted to drive, it’s the final alphatrans liveried Volvo in the UK and it’s being restickered next week.
And then today I had my first proper shunt, not empty trailers etc, but machinery. That I had to resecure before it went anywhere.
So in the space of 4days I’ve driven 4 different trucks, 3 different types of trailer and been pulled by DVSA already!
philgor:
soon after passing my CAT C thoughts turned to my C+E
I passed the test
They just wanted to congratulate you on passing. 
Do they sit down by the docks these days waiting for the foreign trucks or were you just unlucky?
trevHCS:
They just wanted to congratulate you on passing.Do they sit down by the docks these days waiting for the foreign trucks or were you just unlucky?
Zhey wait quite often around HST (Humber Sea Terminal) and around the A 160 or Bartneby Top on the A180.
That‘s all the places where I see them and they even sometimes pull an UK Truck.
Congrats mate. Have to say from reading your posts you seem like a genuinely nice bloke. Hope you are over the accident and it’s all good now.
I also got stopped early on after passing my class 2. Folk on here didn’t believe it. I had a load of paperwork from them about the state of the truck (but they let me drive it away), and the operator got prosecuted for running without an o licence. You can imagine my feelings inside wondering how much trouble I was in when they were going over it after reading about vosa on here. Fortunately they are not the monsters some make them out to be and were pretty pleasant.
trevHCS:
They just wanted to congratulate you on passing.Do they sit down by the docks these days waiting for the foreign trucks or were you just unlucky?
I was unlucky. I left our yard on the a160, and truck produced a bit of blue smoke and the officer that pulled me was going the other way.
Tipperdipper1:
trevHCS:
They just wanted to congratulate you on passing.Do they sit down by the docks these days waiting for the foreign trucks or were you just unlucky?
Zhey wait quite often around HST (Humber Sea Terminal) and around the A 160 or Bartneby Top on the A180.
That‘s all the places where I see them and they even sometimes pull an UK Truck.
They were nice enough, they did say they do get more load security issues than anything else.
Don’t see them much at barnetby top, but they sit in the laybys before the lights with eastfield road, and at humber sea terminal. With on on the roundabout at the site as well.
