Caerleon's adventure

Well, I thought I would start this as mini-blog through my adventures of obtaining an HGV license.

I am no stranger to HGV’s by all accounts, many years ago I was HGV Technician (I had a bigger sledgehammer) so I have driven them before, sort off! Normally, I would shunt tractor units around the yard and did so for some months, till the day the chargehand convinced me to go get a unit that was already attached to a flatbed trailer, as he was too busy, I was cautious and duly went and drove it around the farm site, till I came to the notorious small bridge…

I was so busy trying to align the cab to get through the narrow opening with trailer, that I totally missed the trailer swing and it took out the corner of a newly painted outbuilding with a rather loud crunch! Chargehand came racing to me, as did the boss! Bossman was not too happy and used many expletives! I will always remember the chargehands super cool reply - ‘Well that shed needed replacing anyway!’.

So, months ago after putting it off for so long, I decided to get my medical out of the way. I was sure it wasn’t going to be a major issue as believe it or not, I actually have a Pilots License and a Class 1 medical is very thorough (Every Airline Pilot needs one)! Passed.

License sent off - Remember tick C and D Cats on your form! your medical covers you for both and you don’t have to use both!

Then the theory tests - I completed my Hazard and Theory test together on the same day as I had to wait months to get a slot. Passed! The only mistake I made here was not booking the CPC at the same time (doh!). Driver hours and WTD - complete mind ■■■■■ read, youtube it and youtube it again!

I completed the CPC South of London (Kent!) as it was the only place I could find! The Initial CPC is testing your theoretical knowledge of what you read in a book to a practical experience you may encounter if you drive professionally, it to me at least was mostly common sense, just remember safety first! Passed!

Hunting around for the best driving school - here in London, there are many, one in fact 2 miles from my home. Pricing seems to be standard. You can now complete your test in an Automatic (if you have a manual license I think), that removes most of the issues you may have with smooth driving - I drive both at work, prefer autos in London anyway. I had one main issue = driving in London - I spend hours of my life sitting in traffic and nothing would make me more frustrated that being on test sat on the A406 - so outer London it had to be, Essex possible!

I came to this site some months ago, asking I hope pertinent questions and was watching the offers from Peter Smythe - I had the money (well the credit card did) so I just decided to go for it, so this Saturday I shall be in the streets of ‘Sutton’ hopefully not taking out walls/curbs/parked cars/street furniture and scaring the Instructor enough for them to run to the nearest pub!

I shall explain the other driving qualification I have before we drive off the site

All the best with your training and test. You can leave your sledgehammer at home!

Pete

Well, the last few days have been busy! I duly traveled ‘Up North’ and booked into my lodgings kindly provided by PSTT. Walked into town for my evening meal and a pint (paying £6 in London gets on my wick! It’s £1.99 for a pint of real ale here!). A restless night’s sleep for me, I think it was more my issue than the couple next door to be honest but then it was Friday night.

Day 1
I attended the training centre AM and met Helen my instructor, the initial introductions done and paperwork completed. My course was 14 hrs spread over 2 days, it was tiring I will admit with my test on Monday seemed too short.

I think the first day was settling in, getting used to the truck, the size/height/width, reading road signs, remembering MSM in that order and translating Northern Instructions i.e. “Stop in this lane!” doesn’t mean literally that! in Southern, it means ‘stay in this lane’ Helen was a star, a really good and relaxed style of tuition combined with the odd threat of being hit with a clipboard worked very well. I spent the most part of my time chatting, telling Helen all the horror stories of my day job and generally having a good laugh. I did enjoy the day out driving, new roads, learning lane discipline, how cars seem to hate you and how to turn at junctions on all wheels, not on one side only! Curbed it twice slightly. Down hill I could feel 5 tonnes of water or ‘Watter’ behind me.

Lessons learned - Speed on junctions, LOOK for the ■■■■ road sign, ask plenty of stupid questions, keep left and indicate where appropriate, this was going against some of my other driver training so Mr. Cockup was in residence. Read up on some highway code.

The instructor will give you an appraisal of your progress on the day. I think I did well as Helen said ‘Glass of wine’ rather than ‘I need the bottle’ at the end.

Day 2
My day started well with £160 win on the Lotto! Helen, unfortunately, was having a mare of a day at the start and it continued, hair bobble broke and she forgot the keys to the yard - it was all sorted in the end. I did the reversing exercise thrice, I was given instruction on how to get into the box and ended up just using brain+mirrors and succeeded a few times, never hit the barrier once. Out on the road again, we needed fuel, pulled up to refuel (I was checking the height before we entered!) - fuel cap wouldn’t come off, took about 10 mins to do it, went to pay and the card reader broke! Eventually, back on the road and was getting into using mirrors more and the appropriate times in a particular order. At the end I didn’t think I was ready to test standard, but my instructor thought I would pass fine. We also did the Mod 4 training after that.

Day 3 - TEST DAY!
My brain was on strike this morning! I really needed it to function of all days this happens! Drink plenty of ‘watter’ and If anyone ever said on test day they weren’t nevous they are lying. I met with Pete, nice to finally meet the main man.

I had my CPC mod 4 this morning and thankfully passed - I was jabbering on and I think repeating myself, I put it down to nerves - Cheers Chris for your understanding.

Almost immediately I had my practical - reverse first - didn’t hit anything and got in the bay. Then the 5 questions. Ok, off to the open roads, I couldn’t recall all of the roads we used on training but some I recalled after I had passed them. It was a good drive, smooth’ish, plenty of hazards that aren’t about on a Sunday, didn’t hit anything and a few scary moments involving a few cars and one of a child running towards the road with me vocalising “Stay there!” with my foot on the brake.

I got back and got the news - The issues - Accelerating away stationery from a set of traffic lights uphill and wasn’t pre-empting the second set changing that was 300 yards ahead, another I was committed and couldn’t have stopped in time or I would have been in the middle of the junction which I wasn’t marked against.

PASSED with 1 Minor! Yay!

I would like to thank all of the staff at PSTT for their help and especially Helen who tolerated my incessant talking during the training. Pete has already asked me if I would come back for my Class 1 and without question, I would. I traveled over 300 miles for the course and it still worked out cheaper than the firm around the corner from me in London.

Thanks ROG

Firstly, congratulations on your pass! And thanks for the positive review. The smart move now is to call and pay £200 deposit on your CE before Friday. That will secure the deal (20% off) for the whole of 2020. Highly unlikely there will be a better offer.

Once again, congratulations, thanks for the write up and all the best for the future.

Pete