well at long last i have started the journey to FIMO.
i had my convocation ECAP last monday, this is a half day evaluation with a 25 page written test covering basic admin, the law, safety, navigation and mechanics all in french 
and like a spanner i forgot my dictionary and had an argument with the bloke marking the paper about one of the navigation questions.
the question asked to plot a route through le-puy-en-valey using the town street map provided starting at a givern point a to point b, didnt say about fastest route or any thing. i took the route oviding the city center as most drivers would and found another way, it wasnt the way the examiner had on his route plotted going through the city center. needless to say i argued the point as he wouldnt give me any points for that question, his reply " but that route is more congested" my reply " but i dont know le-puy i am a foriegn driver coming to le-puy for the first time and i would avoid the city center like the plague!!!" but he wouldnt have it so no points for that question.
i got 6 points less than the minimum pass mark and didnt answer a few other questions as they were as clear as mud 
then off on the evaluation drive.
parked up outside was a 400hp twingo (robs fav!!) with an old twin axle tilt on the back loaded with 11t of ballast, 16 speed box (knock thru) and the 8 stage electric retarder and usual exhaust brake.
off we go in a big cloud of smoke round the training center, and out on to the road, no emergancey stop or anything
get to the 1st big hill and there is a hell of a racket coming from underneth, the turbo is knackared so pulls like my old fl wendy house 
try to find a comfortable gear but to no avail so end up splitting 4th all the way up about a 5km climb. just about get to the top and the road goes from 2 lane duel carridge way back to single lane and have a look in the mirror and white van man decideds he is coming past (yep they are the same the world over) with a traffic island and big posts coming up a little to quickly for comfort so back off and drop a gear and a half to keep momentum going. the instuctor asks what i am doing then white van man comes flying past ahhhhh he says hadnt seen that!!
get further up the road and turn round for the descent back down the hill, trundling along quite happly then have to go for 6th, i drive volvos with proper gearboxes so not used to knock thrus and try to go for 2nd realising my mistake back through and in to 6th all nice and calm no probs.
back on the flat and back up to 80ks, come accross a village with a 70 kmh limit and back off well below, the instuctor says you can go faster and i say ok but what about the tractor and trailor in frount, he says where, i say about 300m away then he spots it and says oh yes right just checking to see if you had seen it!!! a likely storey…
get back to the training center with a clean sheet, and cliped a kerb at the last r/b but it was a little tight.
first time in an artic over here in france on the wrong side of the cab and the wrong side of the road and a didnt do too bad right chuffed with my self.
well next monday it starts for real, FIMO begins at 9am on monday the 30th and lasts for 6 weeks oh yeah and it is all in french so should be fun.
have had a result as it wont cost me anything and they give you a room to stay in if you live over 25kms away it will just cost me food and drink, hmmmmmmmm could turn out expensive afterall 
chris
6 weeks â– â– ? What takes that long to learn â– â–
the course includes: basic hazardus, tacho, mechanics, loading and strapping trailors, how to use different types of body (pref femail blonde with a large pair of lungs and legs that go right the way up!!! ) use of different gearboxes, use of electronic/ secondary braking systems the list goes on
even after all this lot the french still dont have a clue 
chris
Methinks they should do that Fimo here in the UK then, for anyone without much experience.
If it takes 6 weeks to learn, train, and pass, then it just goes to show Truckers can’t be called unskilled.
that would be the difference over here, you are treated as a profesional
plenty of free parking with facilitys, free parking at services with good facilitys and not rip off food.
as far as i am aware something similar well be introduced in the uk along the lines of an nvq ricky and lucy will probly know more about it, guysâ– â– ?
but as for the parking and the services we live in hope 
chris
Free parking WHERE try parking up at night, fimo lol6weeks at school to learn how to drive a truck and this is after you PASSED your hgv test,regards froggy ,trucking from the south of france for love not the crap the french pay 
i know what you mean about the 6 week thing froggy, only thing i need is to get used to a left â– â– â– â– â– â– and changing gear with the wrong hand
is that why i see wagons parked up by 4:30pm thenâ– â– ?
cant be as bad as in the uk thou 
the money up here isnt to bad, have been told it is about 1700€-2000€ a month depending on what you are doing, but hen you do live down in the more expensive part, up here it is much cheaper
was down your way 6 weeks back delivering a piano to sete with a â– â– â– â– â– â– van, nice bit of france apart from the mistral blowing a hoolie all the time
chris
caveman:
the money up here isnt to bad, have been told it is about 1700€-2000€ a month depending on what you are doing, but hen you do live down in the more expensive part, up here it is much cheaper :
Chris,
Pleased to see you are on your way but am very glad I didn’t need all that. Froggy says all this even after you’ve passed your HGV test. Glad I didn’t have to do that also. Likewise the CPC. There are some advantages to being an old git.
As to the money. Here in Perigord all the local drivers are on the SMIC, the minimum wage. My pension has been assessed on a three year average gross of 19,801 Euros pa, which is about 1,650 Euros a month. I don’t remember it being that much, I couldn’t have afforded it as a young man with a mortgage and kids, but am happy to agree as it boosts the pension a teeny bit . Mind you they do pay all the meals - and what meals 
BTW will be coming through to Grenoble around the 21st of September and back a few days later so if you’re around we might have a glass or a meal perhaps. Will send you a pm nearer the time. You could be flat out working round the clock of course.!
Salut, David.
i will be at weekends david, i dont finish till the 15th october
away all week living off the goverment, back home on friday nights then back to le puy on sunday evenings.
seems stupid to me aswell, as all i want to do is get back behind the wheel and earn a few quid
do give me a shout nearer the time and we can sort something out.
chris
Hi caveman,nowhere near sete( spain is about 10k,s as the crow flys,about 20/25mins by car)and the minstral does not blow down here it,s call a tramontana or something like that,still nice part of france though,just got back from the beach this morning 30+.Hoping to hear from a firm about a trunking job,perpigan toulouse bordeaux and back twice a week 3/4days aweek,turned one down week before last 22.30 start noway what with schoolhols and the afternoon heat,elne up to avigion tip(06.00) and reload back to elne great job but bad start time.Good luck with the fimo froggy
caveman, congratulations on starting the fimo, I have been living in south burgundy since the beginning of june and I will need to do my fimo, but my french is not good enough yet, next spring hopefully. how did you manage to get the fimo training for free ? I would be most grateful if you could give me any info on starting the process off.
Broady
Broady,
Welcome to Trucknet and welcome to France. You join the happy band of Francophiles on here from all points of the compass.
Salut, David.
brodie,
its quite simple really, go and sign on at your local assedic office and at your anpe office as well.
tell them you have a uk licence and that you want to do fimo, and they will get the ball rolling and will give you all the help you need, from filling out the forms to writing a cv.
then it is off back to school for 6 weeks to be re-taught every thing you allready know
quite simple really
if you have time before hand get the big collins dictonary out and learn mechanical terms, like exhaust, prop shafts, drive shafts, indicators, lights etc etc.
you need to get your head around french maps as well, as it all part of the convocation ecap that has to be sat before fimo.
hope this helps, and welcome aboard
salut
chris
caveman thanks for the info, I will go and check it out, what standard of french do you think is necessary to get through it ?
the FTA said that because I have a CPC this should be recognised as an equivilant to the FIMO, but they did also say that even though it is transferable across all of the EC, the french will probably not accept it and demand that I do the FIMO, so I fully expect to be disappointed.
broady
i am not fluent far from it, but i have now been out here for 18mnths and every body tells me how good my french is but i sometimes dont belive them, ok all the time i think my french is crap!
the fimo can be quite hard going cause of different accents and all that, and some of the tecky terms take some getting used to.
i have just finished an internet course today, on the written exam 27/30, and struggeled with part of the praticle as i didnt understand a word and it wasnt in my dictionary (only brought my small one with me) 
depending on where you are you might find instuctors that speak english, down here in the auvergne some speak a little and some speak a hell of a lot but they dont give it away 
all i can say is go for it
chris
The fimo thing will soon be a UK requirement anyway for International Drivers and soon for all drivers.
Its in the other trucking magazine I just read
The story is about Meachers Transport drivers that have already done it and passed in a few months.
We have decided to call it an NVQ, but it will be required sooner rather than later.
More money for the trainers and schools.
does it say if the grandfather rights thing will exist and will somewhere like france except it 
over here the fimo and medical only lasts for 5 years as opposed to the uk where mine is valid till 2027 
i have to change my licence for a french one, do my visit medical and once i have my fimo i will be on the road for 5 years, then another visit medical then sit fcos which is a 3 day refresher course then that every 5 years too.
so in short every c+e intilment only lasts for 5 years!!
chris
Hey broady,
If you’ve been driving for a few years you may not need to do FIMO; for experienced drivers who’ve had their license prior to '90 the FCOS is all you need to do. I believe David (Bonditram) did it through his employer. The best bit is it only takes 3-5 days to complete, unlike FIMO.
Cheers, Craig
thanks for reminding me that this takes so long
second week is really hard going loads of technical stuff and mehanics, got another week in the class room next week then a weeks driving, am of to andorra
then another week of classroom 3 days of hazardus goods, another couple of days revision then the final test 60 questions and have to get 36 gight to pass
just hpoe i dont crash the truck on my driving week 
should be taking either the 400 twingo or the 385 magnum 
chris
caveman, the classroom stuff sounds daunting enough, but the Andorra bit sounds really scarey, I have only driven in the pyrenees once and it scared the proverbial out of me, and that was in a car !!!..good luck
Broady