Training day 1
Wake up in a panic, training starts at 8 o-clock and its already daylight it must be after 7 already, I´m going to be late on my first day. Look at watch, I don´t believe it 4:30, bloody hell it gets light early in the UK in summer. No chance of sleep so read for a while before getting up.
Get to TTS (Tyneside Training Services) before 8.00 and fill in a few forms, shown to canteen, get myself a coffee and say hi to the folk already there, feeling really nervous now, not like me!
After a short time, in walks a bloke and says my name and another, Chris, who is to be my training partner for the next week. He introduces himself as Mike and will be our trainer. More forms to fill out and then out to be introduced to our truck.
First an explanation of the controls etc. then he tells us that day one will be an easy drive to familiarise us with the beast.
We fill out a tachograph (just to give us practice) and I get the first drive. Mike turns out to be very calm and patient and as a result I feel very quickly settled in and I feel that the drive goes quite well, with only a couple of fluffed gear changes and no fatalities apart from a few kerbs. One big surprise to me is just how much space is needed to be able to pull out on roundabouts.
After a cup of tea it is Chris´s turn and again it seems to go quite well although the gearbox is giving him more problems (rushing the “slapover” from fourth to fifth) he would have done well to click on Rog´s signature.
This gets us to 4:00 and time to go home to bed!
Day 2
Pull up into training centre to see cones laid out. “We´ll start out with a bit of reversing” says Mike. He goes through the theory of what we need to do and points out the piece of white plastic on the mudguard that we need to line up with the bottom of the kerb to tell us when we are close to the barrier. First attempt, I find the clutch a bit “grabby” at slow speed but I know it´s down to me to get over it, but all the cones survive and I do the whole thing with no drama. Second attempt not quite straight into the “garage” and end up touching the barrier with one side of the rear of the truck. Third attempt no problems at all.
Chris´s turn, looks like he´s been doing it all his life, quick as you like into the garage making me look like an old woman. But then he is the son of a farmer and used to handling large vehicles.
We go out on the road and today are introduced to the streets of Newcastle city centre. This is a bit of an eye opener as I start to realise just how big this lorry is and just how stupid car drivers are. There is certainly more to this game than arriving at a hazard and working out what to do next, it is really important that you look ahead and work out what needs to be done before you get there. Mike is really helpful and points out where you need to go in plenty of time, as well as explaining what to look for and why.
Unfortunately for Chris, it is not such a good day for him, he simply is not used to city traffic and it shows, he gets a stiff talking to after pulling out on a couple of cars at roundabouts, not only that but he is still having problems with the gearbox.
Day 3
Mike is starting to expect higher standards and does not tolerate any errors, he does not shout but shows disappointment, which for me is probably the best approach. To be honest he doesn´t need to say too much because I beat myself up enough over stupid errors. Only made a couple of mistakes but one was running round a long corner with the rear wheels on the kerb.
We go onto an industrial estate and practice the controlled stop. Seems OK but I keep going to 25 mph before banging on the brakes.
Another terrible day for Chris, he admits that nerves are getting to him and he is making stupid mistakes.
We are told that the next day we are getting a mock test.
Day 4
We go out for a drive in the morning through the city centre again and I am really pleased with my drive and feel that if I can do the same again I will fly through my test. Chris nearly runs a mother and child over on a zebra crossing then goes completely to pieces and totally fluffs the rest of his drive.
Afternoon = mock test. First half hour no big problems, pick up a few minors nothing too bad, but then the roundabout incident, traffic constantly coming out from the right so I´m stuck there for what seems ages, suddenly there´s a gap so I pull out, straight into the path of a bus coming from ahead, I´d totally forgotten about any other vehicles except those from the right! I´m so angry and disappointed with myself that I honestly can´t remember the rest of the route but I picked up a load of minors.
Now it´s Chris´s turn. Unbelievable, his drive is excellent, the first good drive he has done and it´s on the mock test, he picks up around 5 minors and a big well done from Mike and me.
Day 5
Head down today, I can´t seem to get anything right, I have my test tomorrow and I know I´m going to fail, again I manage to pull out on someone on a roundabout, hit kerbs and forget to look over my shoulder when pulling away, I even completely forget the downhill start drill.
Another excellent day for Chris.
Day 6 Test day 
I´m so resigned to failing that I go out with an ”I don´t care” attitude, and it seems to work. The morning drive goes really well, but then the route was definitely one of the easier ones. I suspect it was chosen by Mike to boost my confidence. Then its Chris´s turn and he does OK as well.
Test
Condemned man (me) drives to the test centre, told to park up in the yard as an artic is going before me.
I get introduced to Ken the examiner who goes through the paperwork, asks 3 safety questions, explains the reversing exercise and tells me to wait until the artic has finished. The reverse goes fine, we have practised enough and the chevrons at the test centre are a bit more generous than those at the training yard, I didn´t need to get out to check as the examiner gave me the thumbs up. I think I picked up a minor on the braking exercise as there was one on my score sheet at the end of the test and I didn´t do any harsh braking anywhere else. Mike did say that he thought I had been a bit too harsh on the exercise.
Now on to the road, as I head for the gates I ask Ken if he is a nervous passenger, the answer is “I should hope not”.
I´m told to turn right out of the gate, great, it is a busy road with national speed limit. Eventually a very kind woman stops and waves me out, I´m told to go half way by Ken but see a break in the traffic to the left and go for it. I just hoped he also thought it was safe as it could have been seen as a bit marginal. I can honestly say that the whole test went by as a blur, one incident that I remember was trying to pull away on my hill start in high range fifth gear but didn´t stall or panic and just put it right.
Ken was a really nice guy. He put me at my ease from the start and we chatted throughout the test. I was surprised when I found myself turning back into the test centre so soon.
Ken told me to pull up in the yard and switch off the engine…
“I´m pleased to tell you you´ve passed, I hope I´m your examiner for C+E when you take that, all you need to do is relax a bit more and enjoy it.”
I have to say thanks to all at Tyneside Training for their help and support, especially Mike. The whole experience was made as relaxed as possible and I know that I wouldn´t have got through it without their very good tuition.
P.S. When I got back I rang the training centre to see how Chris got on with his test the next day and I´m sorry to say he failed. An almost faultless drive apart from stopping at a green light, nerves must have got to him.
