C+E training course this week at Peter Smythe

[bamberg]

Evening All

So after doing my class 2 with a local training company in my area and feeling like I had paid them lots of money for very little in the way of instruction , I have taken the plunge and booked with Peters place to do my C+E course this week . I have been driving class 2 for 6 months and decided to upgrade to class 1, after Pete had the recent open day I had a chat with him via personal message on here and we came up with a deal on training and test etc . I have just driven down from the north west and I am currently enjoying the delights of the free B+B that was included in the package and can honestly say the place is friendly clean and tidy and seems to be surrounded with enough stuff close by to keep you busy when your not training.

Training starts tomorrow at 8 am with my instructor Chris Mc according to the very useful information that I was sent by email after I rang and spoke to Tracey to book everything .

3 days training ( 16 hours) and then test is what's planned so lets see how all this goes !!

very nervous and apprehensive as most people probably are when about to do something like this and will update this after each days training with the highs and probably lows of my attempt to pass class 1

here's to a good start tomorrow

[Well-Jell]

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All i can say is you won't regret your decision.

I done my class 2 training and test with Chris MC at Peter Smythe Training 2 years ago and received the free accommodation as i had travelled 170 miles there and 170 miles back.

The training was outstanding, second to none, the vehicles and equipment is what I'd call new but i know pete doesn't like to call a 3 year old vehicle new.

Chris MC is an amazing teacher and you'll be in very good hands.

If you get hungry while at the B&B there is a McDonald's 3 minutes drive down the road, and in the opposite direction a string of takeaway shops.

I'll not hesitate to return to do my class 1 with Pete, i was even lucky enough to meet the man himself back in 2017 and went for a drive with him, a genuinely really nice guy and easily likeable.
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[albion]

Good luck with the test bamberg!

[hotpress]

Booked my class 2 for October with these guys. I've been a pain in the backside for them the last year or so with endless questions and visits, yet they still let me book on!!!!

Can't wait now, they've been absolutely brilliant. I have no doubt they will give me the best possible chance of passing.

Good luck

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[dead.duck]

I'm also going there in October. 600 miles or so one way

[Peter Smythe]

Best of luck to all you guys. We have a massive reputation to live up to but it's a pleasure to do just that.

Anything I can do to help, you know where I am ............. on here!

Pete

[bamberg]

So quick summary of day 1

Got to Pete’s place super early as I wasn’t sure how bad traffic would be first thing in the morning and found that I got there in super quick time and was met by a line of people all clambering to complete their dcpc !
Made my way in and checked in at reception and was issued with my high vis and gloves I would need and my licence was checked I took a seat awaiting chris’s Arrival .
Chris came in and introduced himself and we walked out to look at the beast of an orange wagon I would be using for my training .

Chris introduced me to the controls and explained the outline of the day we had a bit of a chat till the reversing area came clear as someone was on test this morning and once cleared we moved over and started to look at how the reverse worked in straight line reversing and then after a while the actual reverse manoeuvre needed for the test .at this point I thought my brain would explode as I struggled to get to grips with the reverse .
It’s surprising how quick it can get away from you and how what seems like a simple exercise can mess with your head !!

After a while Chris decided it was time for us to go out on the road and he drove to an industrial area giving me an example of the slow and steady standard of driving required to pass the test .

Then it was my turn to show Chris what I could do . We drove around various types of roads in the area with some differing degrees of turns and road conditions and the thing I picked up was the need to get myself further forward on turns into junctions and slow down my approach .
The impulse to rush the turn took over a couple of times instead of slow and steady till I got to grips with where I needed to be to make most of the space available .

Had quite a good drive round and then back to the yard for more reversing practice .
Did loads of uncoupling and coupling and parallel parking etc and seem to have that all sussed nicely .

Then came the dreaded reversing again !! I seem to have flashes of it clicking then not clicking at the moment and a challenge is to not think I’m reversing a rigid that I do all day long and concentrate on the fact it’s a bendy wagon !!

Day 1 was good fun with a load of stuff taken in and tomorrow is another day of trying to polish up on the small bits I messed up

Chris didn’t look too badly shaken up by the time I handed him over to his next student who was doing his class 2 so I’m sure he will be back in tomorrow for round 2 of the journey to getting me away with a shiny new pass certificate


Gaz

[Peter Smythe]

Sounds like a normal first day with fair progress being made. (I had a sneaky word with Chris this afternoon and he confirmed to me that this was the case - so that's good).

Try to get a good night's sleep; best of luck for tomorrow.

Pete

[bamberg]

Cheers Pete

Always hard to judge where you should be at on a first day , Chris is confident so I’m sure with a few hours tomorrow I can iron out the bits that are annoying me


Gaz

[abzyyy]

Cheers Pete

Always hard to judge where you should be at on a first day , Chris is confident so I’m sure with a few hours tomorrow I can iron out the bits that are annoying me


Gaz

Good luck mate. I did my Class 1 & 2 in 2017 with PSTT - I drive arctic double deckers for Royal Mail, best decision ever.


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[bamberg]

So update from day 2 and 3

Day 2

Reversing C+E is officially rubbish !! Really struggled with this on day 2 and couldn’t for the life of me get my head around it the more I tried the worse I got and had a complete brain melt down

One minute everything I did worked fine the next it all went to pot !

The drive out for the day went really well had a bit of a should I stay or should I go moment with a set of traffic lights that on any normal day and without a trainer in the cab I would have just gone through on the change to amber but today I decided to overthink it and stopped .

Stopped in a poor position to see the lights so was a challenge to get going again and round the turn but managed it and then later sampled the delights of the country lanes at the back of sports direct warehousing that have an interesting little bridge half way up followed by tight left and right turns

Also got to meet the man himself mr Peter Smythe

Day 3

8 am start and did a couple of uncoupling and recoupling exercises that went with no issues then off for a drive around . Drive went really well with no issues and had built in any points that Chris has mentioned on previous drives so felt pretty confident on that .

Back to the yard and the reversing area again and finally managed to get this sorted , mentally had prepared myself to get it as far as I can then get out and have a look and take a shunt if it gets me lined up better . Pretty much sussed this now and the penny has finally started to drop on what I need to do to get that bit done and I can see in the future that I will be a shunters nightmare for a while .


So tomorrow is an early start and the dreaded test day ! Hopefully if I drive like today I will be on here again saying it’s all gone well and waiting for my fireworks from Rog if not I will be back for a re-test soon

Gaz


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[Peter Smythe]

Really good that the reversing penny has started to drop! Let's hope it drops completely before the test. But I remember mentioning to you the wisdom of taking a major shunt if you find you're lost or struggling. So pleased that's been taken on board.

Fingers crossed for tomorrow!

Pete

[bamberg]

yeah sound advice Pete and I'm happy to take the biggest shunt in test history if it gets me lined up ready to go in that box ..... by hook or by crook its getting in there tomorrow


off for a good nights sleep ready to tackle the test tomorrow


Gaz

[dead.duck]

I am reading all these and dreading the fact that my training is in 3 weeks... I booked with pass protection though;)

Good luck with your test!

[bamberg]

So test day then !!

Here’s a brief summary of how it all went !

Test day nerves struck as my morning drive felt rubbish but Chris said it was ok .

Onto the test itself and I did the couple and uncouple no issues at all as got that sussed I actually managed the reverse exercise on test with a small shunt just to straighten up and was feeling well impressed with my self as it was the best I had managed it all week .

Then out we go for the drive and that’s when after what seemed like about 10 to 15 mins in I hit a kerb on a tight left hand turn , I had pulled into the turn when a car came towards me and took the space I needed to make the turn fully . If I had waited till it was clear I could have used more space and got round but too late I had already run over the kerb .
Head went for 5 mins before I decided that I might as well just enjoy the drive anyway now as I knew I had failed .
So nice easy drive round and a grand total of 4 minors

If your testing around the area keep an eye on the 7.5 tonne areas as one missed sign and you end up in the wrong lane and have to correct it

Any hoo back in October for the rematch so see what happens then half time score is DVSA 1 Gaz 0

[Peter Smythe]

I was gutted when I found out that it hadn't come right for you today. The positive to take from this is that you completely understand what you got wrong and what to do about it next time.

Pleased the reverse went well; next time it will all come together.

Best of luck with it,

Pete

[HYG]

Good luck for the October retest and thank you for the write-up.

[bamberg]

Thanks Pete

Yeah will definitely nail it next time

HYG - no problem hope this helps people who are going through the same journey and lets them see people don’t just jump into a 40 odd ft artic and drive it like a pro straight away lol


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[bamberg]

So tomorrow is retest day !!

Two hours revision training then test so let’s see what happens tomorrow , weather forecasts is for rain all morning so see how that affects traffic tomorrow .

Show me tell me questions revised and ready , process for couple and uncouple gone through in my head step by step so I don’t forget anything

Just need to make sure I nail the reverse again and stay away from kerbs on tight corners


Any advise welcome !!

Gaz

[Peter Smythe]

Hi Gaz. Reversing: dont be afraid to take a shunt - or two. If you shunt, make it count. You can, as you know, go all the way forward to the end of the reversing area. If there's any chance of the trailer or unit getting too close to the left hand perimeter line (the one in front of the workshop), go forward. Imagine your car is parked there and figure out if you'd go forward or just risk it!

In the rain: you already know this. But double your separation distance between you and the vehicle ahead. Work a bit harder on the approach to green traffic lights - - if they change it'll take longer to stop.

All the very best with it; stay cool and you'll be fine.

Pete

[abzyyy]

Hi Gaz. Reversing: dont be afraid to take a shunt - or two. If you shunt, make it count. You can, as you know, go all the way forward to the end of the reversing area. If there's any chance of the trailer or unit getting too close to the left hand perimeter line (the one in front of the workshop), go forward. Imagine your car is parked there and figure out if you'd go forward or just risk it!

In the rain: you already know this. But double your separation distance between you and the vehicle ahead. Work a bit harder on the approach to green traffic lights - - if they change it'll take longer to stop.

All the very best with it; stay cool and you'll be fine.

Pete

I agree with Pete - make your shunt count if you need it.
I can’t remember if your allowed to get out and check your positioning - but I would - as that’s what you do in the real world. If in doubt get out!
Good luck mate.


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[mark1284]

Just remember if your getting too close to a cone steer towards it good luck


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[mark1284]

And if your getting further away from it.. steer away from it lol


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[bamberg]

So two tests done and the thing I had problems with “reverse “ exercise I have nailed both times

Today I failed on a left turn feeder lane turn ! Apparently I should have straddled the lane prior to the turn

[Peter Smythe]

Firstly, really sorry it wasn't your day.

The turn that went wrong is the infamous Burger King turn. The approach is a narrow lane (first set of alarm bells) with railings to the left (more alarm bells). There is a bollard on your right (yet more alarm bells) and it's clearly a tight turn (final set of alarm bells!) With all this going on, the instinct needs to be to straddle the lanes. I suspect that, if the next lane had been clear, you might well have done this. But there was traffic there held by a red light whilst your left turn only lane was showing a green filter. So the temptation is to squeeze into the lane. Sadly, it's virtually impossible to complete the turn from that position.

We all make mistakes. Hopefully you'll get it next time.

Pete

[bamberg]

Cheers Pete I will check that out on google maps , yeah I’m disappointed in the fail but feel that the quality of my drive this morning before the test and during the test was miles better than the first time .

I have successfully Nailed the reverse which was my only stress point on both tests now which at one time I would have thought that would be my fail point before I even got out on the road !!

Back for try no 3 soon as it’s all booked in with Tracey already so I’m looking forward to that

Please pass on my thanks to Paul who took me out for a couple of hours this morning what a credit he is to you , learnt a few bits that helped today and really helped get me up to speed again

Gaz

[bamberg]

Google mapped that Pete and doesn’t look like the same area , was defo town centre but I remember railing on the left and also on the right as the rd curved round to the left

[Omega]

Hi

Just a quick question, do you think your experience Ona rigid has hampered you in any way?

I’m sure it’s been a massive help in some ways as well.

[crazyplay]

Hey Gaze, where in northwest are you from, I am from Warringron and I went with Pete smyth myself, Best of luck and keep us updated as to how you got on.

[Peter Smythe]

Google mapped that Pete and doesn’t look like the same area , was defo town centre but I remember railing on the left and also on the right as the rd curved round to the left
bamberg

Hi. The turn is the junction of Belvedere Street and St. Peter's Way, Mansfield.

All test centres have a tricky turn or two - and this is ours! It is tricky but nowhere near as evil as some I know.

Pete