Hey, im about to start my 7.5 tonner training soon. can anyone give me some advice as in driving, reversing etc?
Mirrors.
Point the rear view mirror in your car at the roof or floor so that it is redundant. Get in the habit of using your wing mirrors. Every few seconds have a quick look in the mirrors, it still won’t be enough when you start training but it’ll be one thing that you can do now that may help you.
Hutchie:
Hey, im about to start my 7.5 tonner training soon. can anyone give me some advice as in driving, reversing etc?
Why C1 and not C 
The training and test are the same for both - just a gearbox difference - and a slightly smaller truck.
The C training links via my signature will do for C1 as well as C.
cause im 19 rog, they dont lower the age till september and right now i can legally sit my 7.5 tonner licence
Hutchie:
cause im 19 rog, they dont lower the age till september and right now i can legally sit my 7.5 tonner licence
Have you considered waiting just a few months or is it an urgent thing for you to do
You can still do the theory in advance but it would mean doing the INITIAL CPC modules 2 & 4 which will add a little extra cost but that could be weighed against the cost of a second lot of training for C if you want to go further up the LGV size ladder.
its for experience, i’ve only had my car licence a year! i dont have much in the way of experience so im working my way up. gotta crawl before you walk
Hutchie:
its for experience, i’ve only had my car licence a year! i dont have much in the way of experience so im working my way up. gotta crawl before you walk
To be honest - I think you are spending unnecessary money than you need to - probably £500+, all for the sake of a few months.
My advice - wait a few months, do the INITIAL DRIVER CPC with a C, which will be just a little more in price than C1 course and give you a higher licence and more options.
I’ll second Rog’s advice, go for C rather than C1 as there are tons of people who have C1 on their licence from before they changed the rules. Obtaining a C licence will improve your job (& money) prospects and you can still drive 7.5t if you want.
yea but wont him getting his 7.5 ton licence exempt him from having to do the initial drivers cpc? and put him in the same boat as us with grandfather rights?
gogzy:
yea but wont him getting his 7.5 ton licence exempt him from having to do the initial drivers cpc? and put him in the same boat as us with grandfather rights?
You are correct BUT the cost does not work
Lets say that the INITIA:L CPC will cost him £100 (GUESS) and the C course £900 = total £1,000
C1 course £900 + C course £900 = total £1,800
So to get to C stage could cost an extra £800 if doing C1 first - all for the sake of waiting a few months…
It sounds like his training is booked. But I will look at it from other side of Rog’s coin just to be awkward 
He hasnt said what job he does now so if he has no job and he gets one after training then that will be plus say 1k a month take home that he wouldnt of got without the license. If he is on minimum wage £5.70? 40 hours a week take home £800 a month? And wage increases to £6.50-7.00 then with overtime that this kind of license brings he will make the money back as he could earn over 1k a month take home. Also say he gets work with employer who after he builds a good relationship with says they will give him a job on a rigid soon as he passes C license he will again get another pay rise plus experienced gained is not something you can buy as you know 
I think we need more details from the lad before we can really give him an answer on what is best for him. And at the end of the day if he wants to drive a truck he wants to drive a truck so good luck to him at his age it will be hard work but we all get there in the end.
Hope he can see both sides now, as a young driver taking it myself I had similar issues so I waited and wish I hadnt its easy for older guys with more experience to say wait they’re already doing it!
OllieNotts:
It sounds like his training is booked. But I will look at it from other side of Rog’s coin just to be awkward
He hasnt said what job he does now so if he has no job and he gets one after training then that will be plus say 1k a month take home that he wouldnt of got without the license. If he is on minimum wage £5.70? 40 hours a week take home £800 a month? And wage increases to £6.50-7.00 then with overtime that this kind of license brings he will make the money back as he could earn over 1k a month take home. Also say he gets work with employer who after he builds a good relationship with says they will give him a job on a rigid soon as he passes C license he will again get another pay rise plus experienced gained is not something you can buy as you know
I considered that but…
Hutchie:
its for experience, i’ve only had my car licence a year! i dont have much in the way of experience so im working my way up. gotta crawl before you walk
So I gathered that a job from it was not the intention… could be wrong…
ROG:
The training and test are the same for both - just a gearbox difference - and a slightly smaller truck.
So if he does his C1 now, and gets to use it for a while in the real world earning money, passing the C later on will be a piece of cake and not cost too much as he will need next to nothing in the way of training.
OllieNotts:
It sounds like his training is booked. But I will look at it from other side of Rog’s coin just to be awkward
He hasnt said what job he does now so if he has no job and he gets one after training then that will be plus say 1k a month take home that he wouldnt of got without the license. If he is on minimum wage £5.70? 40 hours a week take home £800 a month? And wage increases to £6.50-7.00 then with overtime that this kind of license brings he will make the money back as he could earn over 1k a month take home. Also say he gets work with employer who after he builds a good relationship with says they will give him a job on a rigid soon as he passes C license he will again get another pay rise plus experienced gained is not something you can buy as you know
I think we need more details from the lad before we can really give him an answer on what is best for him. And at the end of the day if he wants to drive a truck he wants to drive a truck so good luck to him at his age it will be hard work but we all get there in the end.
Hope he can see both sides now, as a young driver taking it myself I had similar issues so I waited and wish I hadnt its easy for older guys with more experience to say wait they’re already doing it!
he has a job at a local hire company, hes a fixer of some sort lol. dunno what he gets paid tho but i think hes jealous i get to run about in trucks and he doesnt LOL
Coffeeholic:
ROG:
The training and test are the same for both - just a gearbox difference - and a slightly smaller truck.So if he does his C1 now, and gets to use it for a while in the real world earning money, passing the C later on will be a piece of cake and not cost too much as he will need next to nothing in the way of training.
I considered that but thought back to when I taught C1 drivers the C and it took about 3 to 4 days for them to ‘Gel’ with the gearbox. In the old days when C was done on a straight 6 box then C1s could be done much quicker.
ROG:
I considered that but thought back to when I taught C1 drivers the C and it took about 3 to 4 days for them to ‘Gel’ with the gearbox. In the old days when C was done on a straight 6 box then C1s could be done much quicker.
yes ROG but if hes done his C1 test and got his road craft ? sorted then is it gonna be that hard to get him to adjust to a diferent gearbox
bu that i mean the rest of his driving is upto dsa standards then would it take more than a day or two to get used to the range change gear box?
Just seen Hutchie’s post, saying he is only 19, and they don’t lower the age till Sept, I haven’t seen anything about them lowering the age for C to 20, is this what he was saying, or have I got this wrong.
fallingbostel:
Just seen Hutchie’s post, saying he is only 19, and they don’t lower the age till Sept, I haven’t seen anything about them lowering the age for C to 20, is this what he was saying, or have I got this wrong.
I’ve highlighted in blue, the bit that refers to the LGV age reduction.
2007 No. 605
ROAD TRAFFIC
The Vehicle Drivers (Certificates of Professional Competence)
Regulations 2007
Amendment of the Driving Licences Regulations
15.–(1) Regulation 9 of the Driving Licences Regulations (minimum ages for holding or obtaining licences) is amended as follows.
(2) Omit paragraph (5).
(3) For paragraphs (7) and (8) substitute–
“(7) In item 7, the age of 18 is substituted for the age of 21 in relation to a motor vehicle of a class included in category C or C+E where the person driving the vehicle –
(a) has an initial qualification authorising him to drive motor vehicles of that class,
(b) is using the vehicle as described in regulation 3(2)(e) of the Vehicle Drivers (Certificates of Professional Competence) Regulations 2007,
(c) is authorised by such document as is referred to in regulation 4(5)(d) of those Regulations to drive motor vehicles of that class,
S.J. Ladymsn
Minister of State
26th February 2007 Department for Transport
11
We consent to the making of these Regulations
Frank Roy
Claire Ward
28th February 2007 Two of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury
Cheers for that Rog, I also had it confirmed from DSA, it is as you said, because of the Driver CPC coming in to effect on 10th September.
If you can Hutchie i would do the 7.5t licence before going straight to class C. In my experience it has helped me loads to drive a 7.5 around, as you get used to driving a wider and longer vehicle. Reversing was easy, you have just got to live in the mirrors! 