1st + 2nd day of C+E Training!

NEW AND WANNABE DRIVERS (INTERACTIVE)
1

Well today i turn up for my 1st day of C+E training after my training being brought forward from 31st to 11th by my training company. I turn up and meet my instructor and the other lad i will be training with. We have a look over the lorry and instructor shows us all of the controls, gearbox ect. The lorry was a W reg DAF, not sure of exact model. Instructor took the 1st drive just to show us how to operate the gearbox and to let us watch him and to pick things up before we take to the wheel. He drives us down through to where we make a stop and swap driver to the 1st trainee who i was with. Next up was my turn to drive, now coming from just passing my Cat C i found the gearbox to be a rather different feel and in general the lorry was a totally different animal which was pretty much what i was expecting! I actually found the Artic to be very nicer to drive than the Rigid if im honest.

Anyway after driving around for my stint and finding my way with the gearbox which has a rather stiff 6th gear everything was running good. i drove well did not catch any curbs and my mirrors i was using alot, and i was getting my correct gears ect.

Anyway instructor say’s we will head back to the training yard to practice on our reversing, I was expecting it to be hard to get to grips with and i was right. He showed us how to do it and pointed out tips to watch for and our markers to watch ect. Anyway my turn came up to do the reverse, and the first try the instructor guided and told us when and how far to turn the wheel ect. Anyway comes the time for me to do it solo with no help, and boy i found it hard, i was not getting the trailer where i wanted it and i could not grasp how to get the trailer where i wanted and how much steering to use ect.

So has anyone got any tips on the reversing? i feel this is my struggling point, i hope it comes to me the next couple of days because i dont want to balls it up as it’s the very 1st exercise before going out onto the road. Anyone can help me on reversing technic? tip’s, pointer’s ect?

Cheers all, i’ll appreciate any help from alot more experienced that myself.

2

Its something an instructor cant teach, he can give you pointers to watch out for like you said. Its upto you and your brain to work it out.

Over this evening you will digest in your head alot from todays training, this might seem a weird thing to say but its true.

Tomorrow is a different day and you will progress from todays experience. Just dont get to worked up about the reverse, you will grasp it eventually.

Good luck tomoz

Paul

3

I would agree with elmet you have to get it into your head yourself.

However 2 little things to maybe think about:-

  1. Turn the steering wheel towards whichever mirror you can see the trailer in and it will straighten you up.

  2. You start off the excercise straight, you end up straight in the box, therefore the less off straight you go throughout the better.

There are more but you will get them with practice.

4

Yeah thanks guy’s, im gonna have a good bash at it again tomorrow and learn from my mistakes. I know it will come to me over the next few day’s and i’ll watch the other trainee do his too from the cab too which im sure will help. Got my test on monday so i got a good few days to practice it.

5

Great read, sounds like you enjoyed your first training day :smiley: you have just started reversing & like anything else that’s new it’s going to take a bit of practise to get your head round it, so listen to the guidence your trainer’s giving you & you’ll also need to work it out for yourself as well, perseverance springs to mind :wink: so keep practising & you’ll be fine :smiley:

6

My first day reversing the Artic wad hard. Could not get things right in my head. Next day much easier. Enjoy your training and good luck.

7

hi brawngp,
Dont worry about the reversing it took me 3 days to master it then it just clicked into place,it will happen with the help of a good instructor

8

So i turn up for my 2nd day of training, really nervous about the reversing ect, i watched a few videos on youtube last night and tried to sort it all out and work it all out in my head and try and sort a technique out i also read the sticky on here which ROG said to have a good read of.

Anyway we start off with the uncoupling and coupling procedure, it was pretty easy to get to grips with and done our trailer checks ect. Then next up was the dreaded reverse!!! 1st trainee did his, got it smack straight in the bay first and 2nd try!! Now im just feeling more pressure now and feeling im going to mess up and not grasp it still. Anyway so my turns up, i get in the drivers seat, feeling nervous still, start my reverse, first part went well, but the problem i had was the 2nd half and trying to arc it in the bay ect. Anyway as i was going back straight i put a quarter of turn left then quickly took it off, it was starting to arc nicley towards the bay :slight_smile: anyway i manged to follow it through i got in the bay but i was not all that straight so took 1 shunt forward and then came straight back, 2nd try was the same result!! alot better than the previous day and i was thinking im starting to understand how to get the trailer where i need it and how to control it, this was a great feeling and relief for me.

Anyway we go out onto the road for our drives, all went well, i have a couple of things to work on but my overall drive is good and im not catching any curbs, missed a gear or 2 but that was in the morining, soon got to grips with it soon after.

We come back to the yard and instructor says to have another bash at my reversing, ok i said, anyway going back, alls looking good, i keep adjusting the steering LITTLE bits at a time to the left to arc it in (my mistake on the 1st day i was steering far to much, and sometimes wrong direction! :frowning: ) And what do you know, i get it in the box, perfectly straight and in one shot!! I cant tell you the relief i feel, so much weight off my mind that i have now worked out in my head what i need to do and how to turn the wheel ect, im real happy, im hoping now tomorrow i’ll get it first try again, i understand now how to do it and how to control the trailer, great feeling :slight_smile: What a relief too i thought i would never grasp the concept!!

Hope to have another good day tomorrow and learn even more, as you can never stop learning i say. Thanks all for the best wishes and thanks to ROG for that offer, was mighty kind to offer :slight_smile:

9

Great Reading!

I have all this to come… :neutral_face:

10

You should be fine, it’s a great expericence. And third day reversing was not so good as the last for me…Coming abit tight to the nearest cone and i get in the box but not very straight so i got to take a shunt to come back in straight, i know 2 shunts are allowed but still abit frustrating. Perserverence is the key i know so hope tomorrow goes better.

11

Well todaty was alot better, time to relax over weekend and wait for test.

12

How are you feeling after this weeks training? Good, excited, tired.

Because I was ill on my C+E course I was shattered after 3 days of driving.

Best of luck with the test It’ll be over before you know it.

13

brawngp:
Well todaty was alot better, time to relax over weekend and wait for test.

Good Luck :sunglasses:

14

The Saxmachine:
How are you feeling after this weeks training? Good, excited, tired.

Because I was ill on my C+E course I was shattered after 3 days of driving.

Best of luck with the test It’ll be over before you know it.

Im feeling a great relief if im honest, the reversing has now come all together at the right time and in a way im glad as it did not peak to early. My instructor said i’s best to peak near test day than rather peaking to early then you would relax too much then maybe let your concentration go. All in all i know i can get the reverse in one go but i wont take no chances, if i think it would be safer to shunt im going to shunt, why throw it all away at the very start it would not be smart! My on the road driving is good and i feel confident but we all know that only that 1 hr or so counts and anything can happen!! luck is also needed to a certain extent.

Cheers all for the best wishes, i’ll let you know monday evening whether i passed or not.

15

Good luck with your test on monday :smiley:

16

good luck for monday .the advice on here is priceless

17

Sounds like you have your head screwed on there about the reverse. I had the same examiner as I had on my C test so that helped to relieve tension Best of Luck tomorrow.

18

Good luck for Monday :0) !

19

PASSED - 3 minors

Well chuffed, was a good drive, got the reverse in 1 shot, straight as could be :smiley: struggled all week with that but Friday came good.
Cheers Toni for putting up with me all week, great instructor. Now comes the learning curve and finding work. Also thankyou to everyone on this forum for the great advice and helping whenever i needed it. Now where’s my beer!! :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

20

Well done mate for passing, it is such a great feeling isn’t it!!
Good luck looking for work and don’t get down hearted if you don’t get anything straight away. I signed up to manpower when i passed and i was back in Royal Mail within a few days, where i live!! They took me on there with no experience in C+E and even let me practise parking on the bays when the yards were not too busy, the shunter helped me out giving me pointers while i practised!!

Laughjimbo