c + e test today.......the story so far

[clarkyboy]

having being made redundant from comet home delivery after 10 years driving lwb 7.5t wagons i decided to take the plunge and take my class 2,class 1 and my adr. being made redundant in wales made me elidgable for a grant from the welsh development agency and this would pay for almost all of the above,only thing is you have to put the money upfront and when you pass you claim the money back.not a problem and very gratefull.
i went to gatewen in wrexham and had an assesment and they decided 5 half days with the test at 1pm on the friday.all went well in the weeks training,just getting used to the extra width and length,no major dramas and i went and passed first time at wrexham test centre.(lowest pass rate in the country)whilst out on test there was a lets say strange occurence but im not willing to declare what happend untill i ve passed my class 1 incase the powers that are mr vosa see this,but i will tell when i pass.(not really a strange uccurence but it shouldnt have happend)
onto my adr and lots of people said this was a attendance course only and a pass was pretty definate.i thought it was a pretty intense course and some of the questions were pretty hard.however with a little consultation with diesal dave on here and all was well.got my certificate on saturday and everything was passed.happy days 2 out of 2.
onto my class 1....... i had to do a split week,thursday morning,all day friday,mon afternoon,tuesday afternoon and my test today at 1pm reporting at mid day.not ideal but would have had to wait till december otherwise.onto my training........well i had only passed may class 2 five weeks ago so mirrors and blind spot etc was pretty fresh in my mind,this gave me quite alot of confidence and i took to it really well,after doing research on here (thanks for the links rog) i was flying high and my first day was amazing,no clipped curbs no dramas and i managed a couple of reverses that were ok aswell my instructor was more than happy,so was i.
day 2 and this was all day,i would never reccomend anyone if you can help it to do a full day as it was pretty intense.as we set out on day 2 i picked up where i left off the day before everything spot on so the instructor asked would i like to tested a little more?lets go for it i said so we went in some pretty tight places and i coped in his words very well,we went and done some reversing and managed to get it pretty much sorted.throughout the day i mangaed to get the half splitter sussed and was using it very well. at the end of the second day although very tired id managed to keep off the curbs,suss the reverse drop the trailer and hitch it back up and we were both very happy with my progress.
over the weekend the whole family got a sickness and diarohea bug,first the kids then the wife then me,although no sickness for me just the squits but feeling pretty rough when i got up monday morning.
day 3 the show must go on so a couple paracetamol for the head ache and into town for the afternoon to see if i could get wrexham town centre sussed,and this is where things started to go wrong,wrong positioning wrong gears wrong decisions and all in all everything wrong,oh dear confidence out the window,not all bad out of town still had a pretty good drive it was just town but hopefully lessons learnt,we went and done some reversing and the trailer drop and that went well,back to the yard and debriefed and highlighted the problem areas.a little bit down i went with my tail beetween my legs and thought about the days events.lets sleep on it.
day 4 and i woke feeling alot better,raring to go i was in a better frame of mind.the drive started really well and this gave me more confidence again.the reverse was spot on,the trailer drop was spot on.back on the road and more of the same a good drive,just on the way back to the yard and a really tight left hander on a roundabout where you have to take 2 lanes,this i did and in my right mirror there was a arse trying to come round me so i pushed a little further out with the unit and stopped him,happy days i thought,sitting there waiting for the lights to change with my left indicator on and in my near side mirror i see some woman edging through beetween my trailer and the curb,she passed with about a inch to spare and as easy as that if i was on test she could have failed it for me,my fault for not closing the gap yes,but my indicater was on and she was totally unaware of what was going on.back at the yard we debrifed and talked about the incident,hopefully lessons learnt again.we went into town and and i coped well today.
today test day and im not that nervous which is a little concerning,maybe a little closeer to the test.im now going to get a shower a good meal and a nice coffee and will report back later good or bad,i know i can drive the vehicle and i just need a little bit of luck,a good test route and a good examiner.lets hope today is about assesing driving and not the pass rate numbers game.

[ROG]

having being made redundant from comet home delivery after 10 years driving lwb 7.5t wagons i decided to take the plunge and take my class 2,class 1 and my adr. being made redundant in wales made me elidgable for a grant from the welsh development agency and this would pay for almost all of the above,only thing is you have to put the money upfront and when you pass you claim the money back.not a problem and very gratefull.

i went to gatewen in wrexham and had an assesment and they decided 5 half days with the test at 1pm on the friday.all went well in the weeks training,just getting used to the extra width and length,no major dramas and i went and passed first time at wrexham test centre.(lowest pass rate in the country)whilst out on test there was a lets say strange occurence but im not willing to declare what happend untill i ve passed my class 1 incase the powers that are mr vosa see this,but i will tell when i pass.(not really a strange uccurence but it shouldnt have happend)

onto my adr and lots of people said this was a attendance course only and a pass was pretty definate.i thought it was a pretty intense course and some of the questions were pretty hard.however with a little consultation with diesal dave on here and all was well.got my certificate on saturday and everything was passed.happy days 2 out of 2.

onto my class 1....... i had to do a split week,thursday morning,all day friday,mon afternoon,tuesday afternoon and my test today at 1pm reporting at mid day.not ideal but would have had to wait till december otherwise.onto my training........well i had only passed may class 2 five weeks ago so mirrors and blind spot etc was pretty fresh in my mind,this gave me quite alot of confidence and i took to it really well,after doing research on here (thanks for the links rog) i was flying high and my first day was amazing,no clipped curbs no dramas and i managed a couple of reverses that were ok aswell my instructor was more than happy,so was i.

day 2 and this was all day,i would never reccomend anyone if you can help it to do a full day as it was pretty intense.as we set out on day 2 i picked up where i left off the day before everything spot on so the instructor asked would i like to tested a little more?lets go for it i said so we went in some pretty tight places and i coped in his words very well,we went and done some reversing and managed to get it pretty much sorted.throughout the day i mangaed to get the half splitter sussed and was using it very well. at the end of the second day although very tired id managed to keep off the curbs,suss the reverse drop the trailer and hitch it back up and we were both very happy with my progress.

over the weekend the whole family got a sickness and diarohea bug,first the kids then the wife then me,although no sickness for me just the squits but feeling pretty rough when i got up monday morning.

day 3 the show must go on so a couple paracetamol for the head ache and into town for the afternoon to see if i could get wrexham town centre sussed,and this is where things started to go wrong,wrong positioning wrong gears wrong decisions and all in all everything wrong,oh dear confidence out the window,not all bad out of town still had a pretty good drive it was just town but hopefully lessons learnt,we went and done some reversing and the trailer drop and that went well,back to the yard and debriefed and highlighted the problem areas.a little bit down i went with my tail beetween my legs and thought about the days events.lets sleep on it.

day 4 and i woke feeling alot better,raring to go i was in a better frame of mind.the drive started really well and this gave me more confidence again.the reverse was spot on,the trailer drop was spot on.back on the road and more of the same a good drive,just on the way back to the yard and a really tight left hander on a roundabout where you have to take 2 lanes,this i did and in my right mirror there was a arse trying to come round me so i pushed a little further out with the unit and stopped him,happy days i thought,sitting there waiting for the lights to change with my left indicator on and in my near side mirror i see some woman edging through beetween my trailer and the curb,she passed with about a inch to spare and as easy as that if i was on test she could have failed it for me,my fault for not closing the gap yes,but my indicater was on and she was totally unaware of what was going on.back at the yard we debrifed and talked about the incident,hopefully lessons learnt again.we went into town and and i coped well today.

today test day and im not that nervous which is a little concerning,maybe a little closeer to the test.im now going to get a shower a good meal and a nice coffee and will report back later good or bad,i know i can drive the vehicle and i just need a little bit of luck,a good test route and a good examiner.lets hope today is about assesing driving and not the pass rate numbers game.

gatewen in wrexham - recommendation - yes

i had only passed may class 2 five weeks ago - I recommend a few months between doing C & C+E to gain experience but it is up to the individual.

day 2 - this is one of my points - the brain cannot handle all-day 1 to 1 training in the majority of cases.

I hope to be posting a 'well done' later.............

day 3 - AH, 'Woeful Wednesday' is what we used to say as it was usually day 3 of a 5 day Mon to Fri course

[tattooedally]

So good result clarkyboy

[clarkyboy]

i only went and bloody passed ,3 minors and 2 of them were on the yard on the reverse.slightly cocked it up but got it back and had 1 minor on the rd for gears coz 4tyh popped out,was a really good drive.

[trucking482002]

Congratulations Clarkyboy,well done.
regards derek

[tattooedally]

CONGRATULATIONS MATE

[ROG]

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cat c,adr - Pssssst - there is something missing from your signature

EDIT - that's better - cat c,cat c +e,adr

[chippy]

i only went and bloody passed ,3 minors and 2 of them were on the yard on the reverse.slightly cocked it up but got it back and had 1 minor on the rd for gears coz 4tyh popped out,was a really good drive.

Well done mate. They have to put something down to justify their existence

[ROG]

3 minors and 2 of them were on the yard on the reverse.slightly cocked it up but got it back and had 1 minor on the rd for gears coz 4tyh popped out,was a really good drive.

No big thing as you passed but are you sure about the bit in blue as there is only supposed to be 1 minor max for the reverse, even if the permitted 2 shunts are taken - just curious

sorry 1 for the shunt,1 for a bit heavy on the braking.....nerves on the reverse

Thank you

[clarkyboy]

sorry 1 for the shunt,1 for a bit heavy on the braking.....nerves on the reverse

[dieseldave]

CONGRATULATIONS on your Cat C+E and ADR :D

Nice one mate x 2.

[clarkyboy]

now the hard part is getting a job. 2 years experience and all that.i only want a chance.like so many others

[Lee G]

well done Clarky boy


but what was the bit you didnt want to tell us until you had passed C+E?

come on tell us!

its killing me not knowing!

[clarkyboy]

whilst on my cat c test, i was approaching a t junction and didnt recieve any instructions from the examiner,(name with held for legal reasons!!!!!!!!!!!)anyway i looked to my left and he had nodded off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!a little touch of the brakes a bit harder and he promptly told me to turn left!!!!i couldnt believe it.i suppose he had to pass me then no matter how bad i was.

[mikewhi]

Well done.

[ROG]

whilst on my cat c test, i was approaching a t junction and didnt recieve any instructions from the examiner,(name with held for legal reasons!!!!!!!!!!!)anyway i looked to my left and he had nodded off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!a little touch of the brakes a bit harder and he promptly told me to turn left!!!!i couldnt believe it.i suppose he had to pass me then no matter how bad i was.

Instructors have numpty moments too..........
I remember a trainee stopping at a 'T' juction and he sat there for a while with nothing about at all 20+ seconds must have gone by and he said "which way?"

[Smart Mart]

Thats what I mean by a comfortable drive I guess. Well done anyway on the pass.

[clarkyboy]

cant reccomend gatewen highly enough,they were excellent,not just coz i passed today but the whole set up,cat c, c+e and adr all passed first time at gatewen

[ROG]

cant reccomend gatewen highly enough,they were excellent,not just coz i passed today but the whole set up,cat c, c+e and adr all passed first time at gatewen

Do they have an address, contact telephone number or web address that you would like to put on here in case another newbie wishes to contact them from your recomendation

[clarkyboy]

www.gatewen.com thats there web address

[dieseldave]

cant reccomend gatewen highly enough,they were excellent,not just coz i passed today but the whole set up,cat c, c+e and adr all passed first time at gatewen

Hi clarkyboy, I'm glad you feel able to recommend Gatewen, they are a good provider IMHO.

I had an idea that you'd do OK with your ADR too, cos I already knew that Eddie is a good tutor.

I sometimes teach ADR for Gatewen, when Eddie is on hols or sick.

[dieseldave]

Do they have an address, contact telephone number or web address that you would like to put on here in case another newbie wishes to contact them from your recomendation

Here ya go ROG.

Gatewen Training
Unit 6C,
Rhosddu Industrial Estate
Rhosddu
Wrexham
LL11 4YL

Phone: 01978 352636
Email: training@gatewen.com

Contact: Ms Jane Roberts

Website: http://www.gatewen.com

I'd also add that they pay subcontractors on time too, so they get my recommendation on all counts.

[Lee G]

whilst on my cat c test, i was approaching a t junction and didnt recieve any instructions from the examiner,(name with held for legal reasons!!!!!!!!!!!)anyway i looked to my left and he had nodded off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!a little touch of the brakes a bit harder and he promptly told me to turn left!!!!i couldnt believe it.i suppose he had to pass me then no matter how bad i was.

did you not feel like just driving back to the test centre with him still a sleep? that would have raised a few eyebrows at least!