LGV TRAINING TIPS [Reworked 01/02/2022] (Read only)

This is the original draft by Mothertrucker and I have her permission to post it on here :smiley: :smiley:
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SO YOU WANT TO BE A TRUCKER?

Some kids dream about being firemen when they grow up and others want to be doctors, vets or lawyers but a good majority want to become truckers.

Maybe this is because Dad or uncle was a trucker. Maybe it’s because they have the image in mind of the handsome hunk stepping out of his big rig, Yorkie bar in hand then idly kicking his firm hard tyres while the local ladies swoon in ecstasy.

Or maybe you believe that it could be a good job with a decent wage, being pretty much your own boss, enjoying the freedom of the road and not being shut in an office or a factory all day.

Whatever the reason there has never been a shortage of wannabe truckers, eagerly sending off for the paperwork to get them started on the road into the haulage industry.

Now then, before we get carried away with dreams of swinging a huge juggernaut along the sweeping roads of Europe and beyond, just stand back and ask yourself, do you really know what the haulage game is all about and what life on the road is really like.

If your idea of being a trucker brings visions of Smokey and the Bandit flashing into your head with exiting chases across country with the loads miraculously staying intact throughout, or of Red Sovine and his kindly pals befriending a pathetic little boy named Teddy Bear on the CB and finding the time to go off route to give the kid a truck ride before he dies, then forget it.

In true life it could probably be more like Slim Dusty’s iconic song ‘Lights on the Hill’ with drivers enduring lousy road and weather conditions, sometimes with nil visibility after a long day juggling with drivers hours, impatient Transport Managers and loads with no paperwork.

But hey guys, don’t listen to me! If you want to be a trucker then good luck to you. You go right ahead and join the valuable band of professional drivers without whom we all, as consumers, would surely be in trouble.

Without trucks and truckers there would be no goods on the supermarket shelves, or in any shop for that matter. From cans of Alphabet soup to Zookeepers uniforms, if you have it then it came on a truck, driven by a trucker, so you go right ahead and go for that job. It’s one you can be proud of.

But of course, the first thing to do is actually get on the road and that means obtaining an LGV licence. This is the first stumbling block that each new trucker must face. Like any other industry there are rip off merchants out there just waiting to part you from your hard saved cash and give you very little in return.

Let’s look at the options. You can go on the Internet and type in ‘LGV Training’ and see what comes up. Well I can tell you that you will be faced with page after page of tempting adverts from training providers, each telling you that their training methods and prices are far superior to any other. The websites are professional and the offers look hard to beat - but hold it right there.

There are a number of businesses that work simply as middle men. Recruitment agencies for LGV driving schools. They advertise LGV training and give you plenty of interesting and enthusiastic blurb over the phone but they are not driving schools. They simply take your money then pass you on to a local driving school for training. It’s perfectly legal, but will cost you a lot more money than if you had gone directly to the driving school yourself. It makes no sense to use these recruitment agencies at all. You get ripped off by a few hundred pounds for the Agencies ‘finding fee’ and the driving school that the agencies use often have to give reduced rates to the agency for sending them the trainees.

Answer me this. If you were to buy an item for your home would you rather go direct to the manufacturer and buy at wholesale price or would you rather let your local shop buy it in for you and then you pay the inflated price after they have put their profit on? Easy to guess which is best so do your homework.

Also trainees who have been sent by such agencies often get shorter training hours due to the discounts the driving schools have to give the procuring agencies. Not all driving schools give shorter hours of course but some do.

While you are on the net visit the Trucknetuk website and go onto their wannabe drives page. Well worth a visit for help and advice and also word of mouth recommendations for an LGV driving school in your area. Personal experience and honest recommendation is worth a lot more than any fancy advert.

I would strongly advise any wannabe trucker to check around locally and find out what schools there are in the area and go and visit personally before booking.
Check out what sort of trucks they have and what condition they are in. Speak to the instructors and get a feel of how you will get on with them. Hopefully they will be friendly and helpful and answer any questions that you may have about the training or prices.

Also — and this is important — ask what length of courses are on offer and make sure you are clear about what the school is offering. Preferably get it in writing. Many schools or agencies will simply quote that you will be getting a ‘One Week’ course for your money. Make sure you clarify what exactly is ‘one week’. I very much doubt it will be seven days — more like a ‘working week’ of five days made up of four days training and test on day five. Also check out how many hours each day you will be getting and do your sums.

Also ask what sort of course the school is offering. Is it a ‘solo’ course or a ‘joint’ course. This is also important and needs to be clarified before parting with any of your hard-earned cash.

A lot of schools will take you out with a second trainee in the cab for the day. This is a ‘joint’ or ‘shared’ course or ‘two to one’ training - Two trainees to one instructor. You will be out in the truck from around 8am to 4pm with both trainees taking it in turns to drive. The plan would be that both get a fair crack at the hours but this does not always work out to plan and one driver often gets more than the other. Allowing for tea breaks and a dinner break you will probably be getting three or maybe three and a half hours a day behind the wheel. This is usually only over four days as the test is then taken on the fifth day which is counted as part of the training week.

Quite often these courses can work well, as the idea is that the trainee sitting in the passenger seat learns more as he watches the other trainee under instruction. This works for some but not others so consider which is best for you.

Some driving schools will offer a ‘solo’ course or ‘one to one’ training, which is just you and the instructor in the cab each day. This can be tiring if the training day is a long one, but a good instructor will allow for plenty of stops for a cuppa or just an engine off break. This is a good opportunity to go over the last couple of hour’s drive verbally and iron out any problems before getting back on the road and putting into practice what you have just discussed.

Once again make sure you ask how many hours your course consists of rather than days. This way you will know exactly what you are paying for. Personally I am a great advocate of one to one training as the results usually speak for themselves, but some driving schools will only offer two to one, so make sure you clarify which sort of course you will be getting and how much you have to pay for it.

Another thing to look at is what sort of licence do you want to go for. Do you want to take the simple route and get your Cat C and drive only rigids, or do you feel it’s better to take it that one step further and go for C+E and drive Artics for a living.

Either way the choice is yours. Many drivers have happily driven rigids for all of their working lives and would not want to change while others would not be parted from their ‘Bendies’. It’s all a matter of choice — YOUR choice — so don’t let any driving school or recruitment agency talk you into paying for something you don’t want — or need. If you only need a rigid licence then do not be talked into any special offers or discounts for booking up for C+E. If you don’t need the bigger licence then why part with any more cash than you have to?

Regardless of how far you want to take it, I always strongly advise any up and coming truckers to take it one step at a time. Don’t fall for any strong sales talk or discounts on booking back to back courses. Book your rigid course and concentrate on getting past the test. When you have passed then go ahead and book your Artic course if you still want to take it further.

Any discount offered is hardly worth the extra pressure you will have put on yourself to get a first time pass in the rigid so that you can go on to the next stage. No good driving school will try to twist your arm to book both courses — but sadly some will, so beware of that and don’t be talked into anything you did not originally want.

Another thing to be aware of is that a lot of recruitment agencies and schools are insisting that their trainees go for the Drivers CPC before taking the training. Once again don’t go there unless you really want to. The drivers CPC does not come into force in law until September 2009 so there is plenty of time. Also any driver holding a full LGV licence at the time automatically gets the CPC as he is already on the road. This will be valid for four years before it has to be renewed. So don’t worry about anything that you don’t have to worry about. Just concentrate on the driving and getting past that test.

The other important thing when going for C+E is to make sure what sort of vehicle your driving school uses. Many schools use artics for their Cat C+E training but lots use wagon and drag. Ask yourself what YOU want to take your test in.

Both wagon and drag and Artic are C+E vehicles so you will get the licence whichever you take the test in. The plus points for taking your test in a wagon and drag is that usually you will take your first test in a the rigid vehicle that is then used to hook up the drag so you are then driving a familiar vehicle so this does have some merits. This is good so far but when you have passed your test and go out to work, the downside is that you can be pretty certain that you will be expected to drive an Artic — which is a completely different animal.

I know many drivers who have passed their C+E in a wagon and drag and then had to find a school that would take them out for a day or two training in an artic so they could handle it. Not the best panic situation to find yourself in when offered your dream job is it?

So if you do chose to take your test in a wagon and drag then be prepared to find someone who will take you out for a few days in an artic before you venture out alone. It’s far better than coming unstuck — and looking like a complete plonker on your first day with a new company.

Or better still find a driving school that uses artics for their C+E training right from the start. Any driver that can handle an artic has little or no trouble using a wagon and drag but it does not work the other way around sadly, so be aware of this.

Well now, if you still have the desire to leap high up into the cab of your own gleaming truck, roar the engines into life as you snap off a chunk of Yorkie and blow your air horns in farewell as you drive off into the sunset (Yeah — right!) Then good for you. You will be joining some of the nicest men and women on the road and one of the best industries in the world. When people ask you what you do for a living you can hold your head up high and proudly announce - “I’m a Trucker!”

by Wendy Glindon - Mothertrucker

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