I went for a Class C asssessment yesterday at TRENT training in Kimberly Nottinghamshire.
And what a nightmare it was .I got there and was feeling abit nervous because i have never driven anything bigger than long wheelbase VANS as i kept telling the instructor in the office. So i thought it would be like my first car lesson meaning he would take me to a industrial estate and then after he was satisfied i could control the truck without hurting us or anyone else only then would i be let on the road.
But NO! straight onto the road and after an hour later and a couple of near misses he told me i would need 40hrs at a cost of £1450(oh i forgot there was no instruction only directions onthe assesment).
So with my confidence severly dented and thinking can i really do this .
But afte the assessment and talking to an old truck driver freind he said why not go for a second opion .So i did just that this morning with Smithhursts in Nottingham and had a different experience altogether and he told me that on this mornings drive i would need 30hrs costing £976 inc test fee.
So really i would like to hear from anyone who has been to Smithhursts for any training and what they thought of it
Cheers
I’ve amended the ■■■■ mis-spelling of SMIThursts so that the auto censor does not recognise it. K
Not been to Smithhursts, if you want an extemley good instructor (reasonable for you), you could give Bill Hughes at Stanford Upon Soar near Loughborough a try.
His name was Andy.
It just seem to me that with no instructuion when we got back to the yard and discussed the drive when he said 10 to15 days (shared driving that was) ihad to agree because of how bad the drive went.
Iwas also recomended Peter Smyth in mansfield but i think i will go with ■■■■■■■■■■■ because the guy was so down to earth that he made me feel alot more relaxed .
The only bad thing is that he cant get me in until the start of December
Often if they’re snowed under it’s a good sign. Might be worth asking them what the waiting time is for a re -test, then you can see weather they’re busy with their own re-tests or they’re just busy 'cause they’re good at their jobs .
I trained with Smithhursts and would happily reccomend them. When I trained it was John on his own in the G reg 3 axle Daf flat, I havent spoken to him in a long time, but I believe he might have got a partner working with him now as Ive seen a renault curtain sider around with his name quite literally written all over it!! Ive never had anything to do with Trent but I`ve heard a fair bit about them and their “dinky” toys. At least with John you’ll be in a proper sized wagon.
Johns been on the training circuit for years, knows all the routes, all the things to watch for and will make sure you train not only on test routes but on some proper roads too!
I booked with smithhursts yesterday and start on DEC 5.
Idecided to go with john because if his relaxed but direct way of teaching.
Idont want to bad mouth Trent but with what happened on saturday and what i,ve learnt since they seem very company motivated and dont meet the needs of the individaul and for that kind of money i think thats wrong. I cant get the money back from the tax man like a company would.
Why is the auto centre blanking out the trainers name?!!? Seems a little ott to me, I know it recognises certain combinations of letters, am I being really dumb though, I can’t see why or what is wrong with it!
Oh well. Glad you’ve booked though NorthernMonkey, I really enjoyed my training with John and if you’re learning in the Daf its suprisingly simple to get to grips with very user friendly
Although its almost a month till you start try and use that time to your advantage.
It may sound daft but every time you go out in your car or whatever you normally drive, think big! Pretend you driving a lager vehicle, think about your position when making left hand turns, when turning right looking into the road you are turning into( bollards,parked cars etc).
Half the skill in driving an HGV is reading the road along way ahead, things that you can get away with in a car can turn into a big problem and a big red face.
I,ve started thinking like that Chunky i now find myself looking forward twice the distance as i was before and watching other truck drivers positions at junctions.
It was a bit of a anti climax on monday knowing that i had a month to wait but i feel happy with the guy i,m doing the training so its just amatter of keeping myself busy until then.
I found getting a model artic (try the toyshops), setting up an assult course and playing with it did actually help me with the space needed to manouver etc. I thought my instructor was stark raving bonkers when he suggested it, but it does really work.
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and playing with it did actually help me with the space needed to manouver etc. I thought my instructor was stark raving bonkers when he suggested it, but it does really work.