Honest review of Car to Class 1- failed

I wasn’t sure whether to write this review but it’s helpful to reflect on my training and test.

First of all this isn’t a negative review. I just want to be honest regarding my experience doing the car to arctic with Peter Smythe transport training.

To cut the BS, I failed my test because I wasn’t good enough. However I wanted to give an overview of why. These are in order of time.

1 dangerous - another arctic was sat on the top of a hill and I couldn’t see anything the other side. I had to squeeze past on wrong side of road and had to be instructed by examiner to mount the grass and pull mirror in because I wouldn’t fit. To be honest I think this was an unlucky situation but I wasn’t composed and showed inexperience. I panicked!

1 dangerous - straight after the first dangerous I came to a tight end. I was overwhelmed at this point because I knew the “hill” situation was probably a failure. I turned too early meaning my trailer was going to hit the curb. Examiner instructed me of this meaning a fail. However I knew I had failed anyway moments before and lost my head.

1 major- Blocked a pedestrian crossing around 10 minutes later as I realised my truck wouldn’t fit past traffic so I didn’t move forward. I was still thinking about faults before.

1 major- second half of the test I was driving far too slow. Head was gone and feeling overwhelmed with it. Speed had not been an issue in training.

Minors were around being too slow pulling off and general speed. Overall it was a horrible experience. I would failed me for sure! Examiner didn’t seem too pleased. They told me the test normally takes 1 hour and it took me 1 hour 20.

Up until the first dangerous fault it was going fairly okay despite the nerves however I believe my lack of experience showed driving a large vehicle. This is where I think the car to class 1 is a risk. II did 5 days training with test on day 6. Generally the training went well. Day 4 and 5 I was told by my instructor I was ready for my test. They said driving wise there is nothing wrong more I can add. I didn’t do any mock tests but the last 2 days I was told it was a perfect drive. However I was probably lucky on the road in regards to hazards and my instructor was there to advise when any issues occurred.

From people I have spoken to they have said I was unlucky because the first dangerous fault messed up my whole test. Clearly It knocked my confidence which affected my driving. However I believe that it was down to inexperience. I didn’t plan ahead well and understand the size of the vehicle.
I have never driven any sort of large vehicle before so probably bit off more than I could chew.

Throughout my training it became obvious that passing car to artic first time is a huge ask. I always said I would put in straight away for retest but the kanjor in which I failed has made me question this.I kind of regret going for the biggun straight away because the whole experience has put me off a bit. It’s proper knocked my confidence as the test was a mess. Instructor told me to put back in for the test straight away. But I can’t see how this would change anything.
I don’t think I need more lessons to learn but I need experience of driving a larger truck on the road so I can deal with issues that occur.

Anyway I just wanted to show the reality of car to artic for some people. I am nearly 4k down and not sure what to do. The actual test was a horrible experience to be honest. Felt proper embarrassed. Probably need a kick up the arse. Anyone got any thoughts.

Cheers.

Only 5 days . To be honest I think that is a set up for a fail right from the start. I done my training with By-Pass & despite bus driving for 3 years & the 18T rigid assessment being so much easier to drive than a bus I still had the set 10 lessons for car to C+E with Part B also on day 10. Its the same at L 2 pass too but they have around an extra few hours & a slightly higher cost. The buses did stand me in good ground for the artic as I got over the intimidation of it’s size on the second day of driving it. The first 2 days of training were in a rigid to get you aware of being in a large vehicle (despite me not needing this).

Just for your comparison here’s the link to a thread with my training schedule & costs
trucknetuk.com/phpBB/viewto … 5&t=172815

How many hours did you get in your 5 days training? Is PSTT all one to one training? Are you old enough to have C1 category that you could get experience with?
I thought a major fault meant the test would be cut short and straight back to base, how far in did it happen? Did you seem to carry on with the route or all the other faults were on the direct way back?

I don’t understand how it cost as much as £4k for just 6 days.

Unless double lessons each day? 6 hrs a day. Didn’t consider that in my previous post. That’s quite intensive training.

I’d give it another bash, mate.
If your instructor thought you were test ready then I’d say you were ready. Peter Smythe/Chevron are well respected, they wouldn’t say that if you weren’t ready. I passed car to artic with them in approx 30hrs training.
Once you had that first unlucky major in the bag then your head’s bound to have gone, so write off the rest after that (although obviously consider the reasons and don’t do them next time!) And get back on the horse/wagon.
You’ve already smashed £4k, you may as well just have another go for a few hundred quid (?) Extra, and you’ll likely have an easier traffic day and just sail through it like you’ve done in your last couple of days training.
Good luck mate, and don’t give up on the first hurdle

The course is 5 hours a day over 5 days so 25 hours in total.
The reversing and test is done in half a day. They did say they are reducing it again though.

Yeah personally I think it’s enough time to learn to drive but not enough experience on the road and too much in one go. I don’t think it’s the fault of pstt. I think the whole idea of car to arctic is a big risk for a lot people. I understand people pass but a lot don’t. Most failed the week I did it. Some bad fails like me too.
I just feel in an awkward place now because I’ve spent enough money but probably need more experience. Not sure whether to talk away before it gets silly. I did drive really well on day 4 and 5 so maybe a bad test day I don’t know.
I did feel ready for my test which confuses me as to why it went so wrong haha

I’d forget the rest of the faults after the first dangerous as like you say, your head had gone and it just became fault after fault, dust yourself down and try again. You have to see it through now.

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It sounds more like bad luck on the day.

Personally i would try again or it will be a waste of 4k, or even try get another day driving aswell if you feel you need more experience in them.

No doubt your confidence will be down, but don’t necessarily give up.

We don’t have the advantage of knowing what the situation on the hill was like, so can’t really comment specifically. All I can say is that in some circumstances two vehicles meet on the road, and something has to give, such as one or both mounting the kerb. If it is necessary the examiner will understand. However, there may be circumstances where mounting a verge isn’t an option due to the weight of the vehicle as heavy vehicles and soft verges don’t mix well, unless you like getting stuck.

What isn’t clear in this situation is whether you should have attempted the pass in the first place, possibly due to brow of a hill visibility issues. Also, as mentioned, whether there was enough space with hard ground to be able to attempt the pass.

It is possible that you may get caught in traffic or in situations where you can’t move during the test. This can actually be an advantage because the examiner may end up having to shorten the route due to time constraints. As a driver, there will be times where you simply have to stop and wait for the road to clear before moving on. If this happens on test, then you must be able to show you know what to do. If you are confident and explain to the examiner why you are taking the action you are taking (or not taking), that is much better than doing something potentially dangerous.

That one drive, that happened to be on test, will actually make you a better driver. One tip for interviews, tests etc is to imagine the examiner naked, which often helps to relieve nerves.

Noremac:
No doubt your confidence will be down, but don’t necessarily give up.

We don’t have the advantage of knowing what the situation on the hill was like, so can’t really comment specifically. All I can say is that in some circumstances two vehicles meet on the road, and something has to give, such as one or both mounting the kerb. If it is necessary the examiner will understand. However, there may be circumstances where mounting a verge isn’t an option due to the weight of the vehicle as heavy vehicles and soft verges don’t mix well, unless you like getting stuck.

What isn’t clear in this situation is whether you should have attempted the pass in the first place, possibly due to brow of a hill visibility issues. Also, as mentioned, whether there was enough space with hard ground to be able to attempt the pass.

It is possible that you may get caught in traffic or in situations where you can’t move during the test. This can actually be an advantage because the examiner may end up having to shorten the route due to time constraints. As a driver, there will be times where you simply have to stop and wait for the road to clear before moving on. If this happens on test, then you must be able to show you know what to do. If you are confident and explain to the examiner why you are taking the action you are taking (or not taking), that is much better than doing something potentially dangerous.

That one drive, that happened to be on test, will actually make you a better driver. One tip for interviews, tests etc is to imagine the examiner naked, which often helps to relieve nerves.

I’ll set the scene of the incident. It was in a country lane. There is 2 small hills which require you to creep over slowly. Did this multiple times in training. Most of the lanes and corners here I need to pinch some of their road to get around. Had been doing it all week. On my test there was an arctic parked right top of the hill. I couldn’t see anything the other side. It meant going fully on other side of the road and slowly driving over.

To be honest I don’t think the pass was the right thing to do. I could see his trailer sticking out slightly over the line too. It meant driving on the wrong side of the road very slowly when oncoming traffic wouldn’t be able to see me. I actually stopped prior to it and said to the examiner “I don’t think I can fit through there and especially as I have no view of the road ahead”. I had a similar incident in training and instructor agreed and we re-routed. This one was much riskier.
They responded saying well you’ve got to try. This is where the panic set in. However I did mess everything up after this anyway.
I pulled onto other side of the road and positioned myself as close to the right as possible without touching the grass as I though this would occur a fail. It had been raining too. I was praying an oncoming car didn’t fly over the hill. I kept driving slowly forward but realising I couldn’t fit. Examiner said you need to move over else your mirror will touch his. I said to them I have no more room on my side. They said well mount the grass. I looked confused and panicked. I edged forward and said I can’t fit. I’m now side by side on a hill with my wheels on the grass. They said keep going. I said if I keep going my mirror will hit the hill sign on the grass. They instructed me to wind down the window and pull in my mirror. I went to do. They said put your handbrake on first. I was shaking and overwhelmed at this point.

I said to them “I didn’t need this to happen”. I mounted more of the grass to avoid his wheels and was through. The only thing I could think I could of done better was maybe move over earlier but I felt my truck was quite straight. I was also wary of pulling into the the wrong side of the road when oncoming traffic can’t see me. I also needed to get close enough to judge the distance and wanted to pull over to express how tight it was. To be honest in real life I would pulled over and put my hazards on. Got out and asked them to move it or guide me though, holding back traffic. But maybe I’m wrong.

Trying not to blame it on that because no one likes sour grapes haha. But yeah I did make me lose my head. She said I occurred no faults prior to this.

stu675:
How many hours did you get in your 5 days training? Is PSTT all one to one training? Are you old enough to have C1 category that you could get experience with?
I thought a major fault meant the test would be cut short and straight back to base, how far in did it happen? Did you seem to carry on with the route or all the other faults were on the direct way back?

I don’t understand how it cost as much as £4k for just 6 days.

Training is 1 to 1 at PSTT.

Training length is the normal standard over that period.

OP sounds like you just had a bad time of it and it happens. Take stock and decide what you want to do next.

I assume you didn’t take the pass protection plus which would have given you extra tests when booking, as that can take a lot of pressure off with nerves and test.

Good luck with what you decide to do in the future.

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Tlgamble:
I’ll set the scene of the incident. It was in a country lane. There is 2 small hills which require you to creep over slowly. Did this multiple times in training. Most of the lanes and corners here I need to pinch some of their road to get around. Had been doing it all week. On my test there was an arctic parked right top of the hill. I couldn’t see anything the other side. It meant going fully on other side of the road and slowly driving over.

To be honest I don’t think the pass was the right thing to do. I could see his trailer sticking out slightly over the line too. It meant driving on the wrong side of the road very slowly when oncoming traffic wouldn’t be able to see me. I actually stopped prior to it and said to the examiner “I don’t think I can fit through there and especially as I have no view of the road ahead”. I had a similar incident in training and instructor agreed and we re-routed. This one was much riskier.
They responded saying well you’ve got to try. This is where the panic set in. However I did mess everything up after this anyway.
I pulled onto other side of the road and positioned myself as close to the right as possible without touching the grass as I though this would occur a fail. It had been raining too. I was praying an oncoming car didn’t fly over the hill. I kept driving slowly forward but realising I couldn’t fit. Examiner said you need to move over else your mirror will touch his. I said to them I have no more room on my side. They said well mount the grass. I looked confused and panicked. I edged forward and said I can’t fit. I’m now side by side on a hill with my wheels on the grass. They said keep going. I said if I keep going my mirror will hit the hill sign on the grass. They instructed me to wind down the window and pull in my mirror. I went to do. They said put your handbrake on first. I was shaking and overwhelmed at this point.

I said to them “I didn’t need this to happen”. I mounted more of the grass to avoid his wheels and was through. The only thing I could think I could of done better was maybe move over earlier but I felt my truck was quite straight. I was also wary of pulling into the the wrong side of the road when oncoming traffic can’t see me. I also needed to get close enough to judge the distance and wanted to pull over to express how tight it was. To be honest in real life I would pulled over and put my hazards on. Got out and asked them to move it or guide me though, holding back traffic. But maybe I’m wrong.

Trying not to blame it on that because no one likes sour grapes haha. But yeah I did make me lose my head. She said I occurred no faults prior to this.

It sounds as if the examiner has indicated he/she expected you to try the pass. The examiner probably knows it is possible. At that point I don’t see anything wrong with your actions in stopping, assessing the situation and expressing concern about the size of the gap. The examiner has made it clear that the pass is expected, so you have to go on that basis. You have probably incurred a minor for hesitancy or something at that stage. (How close you stopped could have had an influence on the ability get past straight, we just don’t know.)

At this point, if you get by in reasonable time while not having to be prompted about hitting anything, such as mirrors, then you would probably survive without incurring anything warranting a fail (in my opinion anyway). Oh and the handbrake obviously.

In any case, you must keep going. I was taken through a difficult left turn at a small roundabout on my test and would have had to be on the other side of the road to properly miss the kerb. I was up and over the kerb slightly (while looking in my mirror), but I only got a minor for it. If I had given up then I wouldn’t have passed. To a certain extent you get to a point of no return and confidently checking for pedestrians and proceeding rather than blocking the exit to the roundabout was the best option at that stage.

I suggest you book a full Class 2 course, but not intensive so something like 4 days training with no more than 3.5hours/day and the test on the 5th day.

To make the whole experience less intensive, perhaps the first two days of training on a Thursday and Friday. A good rest over the weekend. Then the other two days of training on the Monday and Tuesday to conclude the training, with the test on the Wednesday.

I don’t know the latest prices, but five years ago this was about £1,260 including test.

Then get an easy job driving dustcarts for about 6 months, and only then attempt the Class 1 again. This will allow you to perform many of the big vehicle driving tasks automatically.

Spending hundreds of pounds on a retest might be money down the drain. This is because you lost your head. When I passed my Class 1, I thought I had failed early on in the test but remained composed and possibly even more focused. You might not be good at being in a test environment as your instructor said you were driving at test standard while training.

I know it’s hard to believe, but the Nodding Donkey failed his first attempt at his C category. Worse, he failed his first retest… This despite acing his B, taking 5 hours "training " to pass his A licence (and leaving the examiner behind at a set of traffic lights ) and passing both C+E and D first time.

My first fail was spectacular (go big, or go home…), turning out of the test centre and approaching a major junction, the lights turned Amber, the Donkey froze, kept going, and to the astonishment of the stunned examiner drove through a red light, at considerable speed. A series of minor mistakes followed, until we entered a parking lot, to do some reverses. At this point the Donkey realised that the only maneuvering he had done, was a straight reverse after a few pathetic attempts, the examiner shook his head, and we drove back to the test centre. The examiner actually berated the instructor, questioning why I had not been properly trained on the manoeuvres.
The second test went reasonably well, considering the nerves after the first performance, but the Donkey failed on “hesitation”, a rather subjective reason, but there it is.
He passed the third attempt, and after starting driving the next day, hasn’t looked back since (mirrors really are overrated).

Don’t give up because of a setback.

Yikes - that really doesn’t sound like enough time. Mine was 28 hours over 8 days (although that included mod 4 training and test), and I only just felt ready, even though I used to drive a bus nearly 30 years ago so I had that larger vehicle experience.

Sounds like a bunch of things just went bad on the day - not sure how I’d have reacted in that situation either.

I would have thought that the parked hgv taking up all of his lane plus some of the opposite side, together with the verge being wet and soft would mean you would have been within your rights (ie. Not failed for) refusing to proceed passed it.
What would the examiner have said if the police had closed a road? Oh go on just nip past on the pavement?

I feel for your situation mate!

Would an instructor / examiner that frequents these boards be able to give an educated impression of how the student should have proceeded in this situation?

It would be educational for anyone else encountering this type of situation in the future.

In the real world due to the weather I guess you’d park up, see if you can find the driver to move on if possible.

If not proceed as the OP did, mirror in, up the verge and crack on.

Cheers for all the support and advice. I’ve booked in again for my test and an hours refresher before. Decided if I fail again then I’m taking a break then doing some training at another provider/test centre. Fingers crossed.

Tlgamble:
Cheers for all the support and advice. I’ve booked in again for my test and an hours refresher before. Decided if I fail again then I’m taking a break then doing some training at another provider/test centre. Fingers crossed.

Sometimes taking a break is the best thing to do.

I failed my class 2 the first time as I did not click with my original instructor/training provider.
After two years I went with a different training provider and passed both class 2 and class 1 first time.