And after a long wait i eventually start

NEW AND WANNABE DRIVERS (INTERACTIVE)
1

So after a long long time planning to go through my class 1 and 2 license, i finally have the money and time to do so.
i am a little late as i have done a few sessions now but thought i would post about my experiences so far as all you guys have helped me.
just reading all of your threads has helped me no end in understanding what to expect and the right routes to take.It may be long winded but im sure some of you will read as i have others.

I decided to train with a company local to me (Redditch) and have gone with a husband and wife team.
Day 1,
today i met my steed. a nice little mercedes atego. lovelly to drive and a nice simple 6 speed with split. thatll do for training dont want to confuse things.
it was quickly apparent that i can actually drive the truck, the brakes and the gears were simple enough and after half hour im driving with no worries and no fluffed gears.

NOW i just have to learn to DRIVE the truck. although it is relativelly small at 9 tonne, it becomes apparent very quickly just how much your driving style has to change.
i am complimented on my mirror checking (a tip i picked up off the forum) but my lane positioning and entry speed leaves a lot to be desired. i dont think i did to badly bearing in mind this was a baptism of fire driving a 9 tonne vehicle around birmingham city.

Day 2,
all is going well and were back in birmingham, stop off at the test centre to watch some reversing excercises, (i feel smug thinking it looks easy) today it is becoming very obvious that this lark is harder then it looks.
i am taken round some test routes and it seems that all these roads were designed to punish me with trickly little out crops and roads that suddenly get very tight. (it was about this time i started questioning my decision to put myself through this) after a little break we start focusing on lane position and after a few panic moments i start to pick it up.

Day 3,
back to birmingham and i am well on stride now and if anything getting a little cocky, i think my instructor sensed this so started taking me down some extremelly tricky lanes and busy areas to show me what i will no doubt have to deal with on a daily occurence. i take t all in and learn A LOT in these few hours and it all starts coming together and making sense. my forward planning is coming on leaps and bounds and other than a quick changing traffic light im told it was a perfect test passing drive.

Day 4,
back to birmingham, YAY, again another test passing perfect drive and then it all falls apart, i am taken down a very narrow road in garrets green outer birmingham and i have parked cars to my left. i do the right thing and observe my positioning , adjust when necessary and slow down to match, but the road is getting tighter and tighter (at this point i see a fully loaded artic travelling on a identical road opposite fly through one handed with a drink on the go as if he was on a 40ft wide road, show off) i am then taken by suprise, the left hand corner that i had surveyed as a easy flowing gear 5, actually tightens, A LOT, i scrub as much speed as i can and fumble a gear change trying to drop to 4. i manage but i have neglected my positioning and i have my first curb ride of the course. i am mortified but take it on the chin and learn from it.

Day 5,
I am asked today wether i would like to wait for my test from now or take the extra 2 days i have already paid for as i went for a 7 day pass protect course. i opt for a full day today followed by 2 half days next thursday and friday to meet my test on monday,
it is quickly becoming very real. i have had another good drive today and drove to a local air field to practise my reversing and controlled stop.

reversing passed fairly easy, the rigid truck was VERY responsive in reverse gear, a lot more then i thought with only fractions of turn needed and i manage to nail 4 reverses in a row, i think we are done there.
as for the controlled stop, well my main problem here is i keep going for the clutch aswell as the brake, a very nasty habit as you will loose control, i stop within the tolerances everytime but i am told to focus on this and slow my thinking down and keep the lefty away from the clutch on the floor not the pedal, this seems to work but i would like to practise more.

overall i am happy with progress and am now hoping i can perform on the day, and not fluff it with a silly mistake. any suggestions or criticisms you have please let me know, it all helps be it kind or not.

2

Hello Mickey

Good luck with the test. One thing though. I assume it was a slip of the keyboard when you said the vehicle was 9 tonne. This is because a vehicle must be at least 12 tonne to take a test in. I have put a link to the government direct site page where this is made clear.

direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/Dr … DG_4022527

regards

John
Flair Training

3

this does actually confuse me, i think i am driving a 9 tonne vehicle with a MAM of 16 tonne, i am unsure but will be sure to check, i was led to believe that if i pass this test i am qualified to drive (almost) anything rigid, up to around 32 tonne, but again i am unsure, its all just letters to me

4

I would imagine it’s a 15 tonner. Does it say 1523 or something similar on the door?

5

to be honest with you i havent looked that close to the doors, i just recall the instructor talking about gross wheights and MAM etc and listing numbers, but im sure she said it was a 9 tonne vehicle which can carry up to 16 tonne and that would put me into the c classification. i will have to double check, the mercedes web site doesnt help as they made the atego in both 9 tonne and 16 tonne

6

It’s the MAM which is relevant not the unladen weight. Also, category C allows you to drive ANY rigid vehicle, there’s no weight limit applied although 32t is the maximum under normal rules.

7

that is very good to know as i have just had a little scare. turns out for me to continue onto class 1 c+e i dont have an artic available to me, so i will be doing the training for that in a rigid with draw bar, this scares me as it looks a lot harder then conventional 5th wheel class 1 plus i wont get the experience of susies and loading a trailer

8

I would’ve thought it’d be the other way round. A 15 tonner with drag will be a LOT easier to drive than a tractor unit with a 40 foot trailer. A lot of training companies use the W+D combination since it’s cheaper for them to just buy a trailer to attach to the truck they already have, rather than buying a whole new tractor unit and trailer. If you do pass your test in that, I reckon you’ll be a mess if you get into a proper artic so I would find a training company that uses an actual unit and trailer for a few hours training afterwards.

9

chris_89:
I reckon you’ll be a mess if you get into a proper artic so I would find a training company that uses an actual unit and trailer for a few hours training afterwards.

I had no problem with a w + d and they are considered easier but the above is true so the extra training is a good idea.

10

Although it may be easier to pass the test in a 15 tonner with a trailer (which is probably why the trainer is using it), I can’t help but think it’s a little unfair on the trainee. I’ve driven a 15 tonner (without trailer) which is completely different again to an 18t. The steering and handling is generally much more responsive and they seem to have a dramatically better turning circle.

11

either way that is future training, i would like to go straight through and train c + c+e as i have the time and money now being unemployed, and i am still in learning mode but if it is going to make THAT much of a diffrence i may rethink, i would of thought rigid and drag would be harder as the pivot is further back meaning positioning will have to be further forward and wider, but i trust all you guys, you havent done me wrong so far.

im pretty sure whatever vehicle i end up training in and in part driving for a job i will get used to very quickly, any vehicle will have a learning curve with diffrent gear boxes and ages etc. will have to see when the time comes

12

Mikey, I don’t have a class 1 so I’m only going on what I’ve heard from others mate. Everyone I’ve spoken to though seems to think that a W&D and artic are a completely different ball game. Apparently the trailer on a W&D follows the truck quite closely and it’s easier to manoeuvre (forwards) since the the size of the truck is proportionate to that of the trailer so the positioning needed to make a turn isn’t that dissimilar to what it would be in an rigid on it’s own. If you just picture in your head an image of an artic taking a reasonably tight turn as opposed to a W&D you can sort of see what I’m getting at.

Having said all that though, reversing a W&D can apparently be more awkward.

13

that does make sense, im sure i will get through it all as the time arises with all of your help, but for now i need to focus on passing my class 2, i have a few days break to wait and then back into it.
i am just hoping now that i dont go back and have to start all over, i have got to a good standard after 5 days and want to keep it that way

14

this week long break in my training is killing me, if you are training now dont take breaks, all i am doing is sitting here second guessing myself, im panicking over the controlled stop, as i keep going for the clutch far too early, and all the what if,s are running through my mind, what if i miss a mirror, what if someone pulls out on me, this is horrible, just want it over with now

15

Im in the same boat, have to wait until the 20th for a retest.
Its on my mind every day, i’m sure the wife is sick of me going on about it.
Even when i’m out in the car I;m driving it like a lorry ( with commentry :blush: ), drives the wife mad… :smiley:

john

16

Don’t let nerves get the better of you, looking at your first post it sounds like you have a good training company and the apptitude to take it in and pass.

Good luck with the test we have people who train one week and test on the following Monday with no problems.

Your C+E usually I would always say use an artic (although we have both) in your case as your training provider seems good and you are used to the truck I would suggest you stick with it.

A waggon and drag is easier than an artic if any thing for test, (theres not much in it) but you can always ring some one like our selves for a lesson in the artic after passing, all our vehicles are full size the Artic is a Daf XF 95 430 space cab.

If you need any advice feel free to call me.

All the best and good luck Rick

17

Hi Mickey

Brill diary on your training just a quick thing you might bear in mind when i did my training i was crewed with a young lad that seemed to pick everything up really well and even did not turn up for his last day of training , me i was a bit more worried and concentrated so hard used to do daft things on my training like as you said wrong speed on approach hit a few kerbs :blush: but heres the thing by the sounds of it you can handle everything really well so you should have no problems passing but for the hour you are on your test concentrate really hard as the guy i went with failed as was too relaxed and made a few stupid mistakes if you had been out with us when we were training the result that you would have thought would happen would be i failed and he passed but was other way round as he was too confident :exclamation:
remember its one hour that will get you through and you will have that lovely pass certificate in your hands so good luck for your test

all the best

Jennie x

18

thank you all, you are doing an incredible job just turning up and posting on this forum, its one of the only things getting me through as i dont really have the family support (there all age old truckers that have grown to hate the industry) and thankyou data academy, that suggestion sounds brilliant and it looks like you are fairly local too. i used to work for a exhibition company that involved a lot of running around leics. i will bear that in mind
any information you could send to me would be appreciated, there is no rush of course, i have to pass this test first.

as for driving your car like a truck, i know the feeling well, my girlfriend commented on how i have gone from racer (i have a lot of fingers in a lot of motor racing pies) to a more calm and relaxed driver. even my car is supporting me, my rear view mirror fell off last night

19

Sounds like you’re doing pretty well, a weekend break i found was pretty good, but i can see how frustrating a week long break from it can be, as all you want to to is get back out in the truck. My rear view mirror fell off last wednesday, i haven’t missed using it at all now! I’m just waiting to hear about my retest, hoping that goes a bit better for me :unamused:

20

well i have just had a lads night in with everyone spouting there tales of there early days (got a former reliance multi drop guy and a former national bus driver) and they have done there best to reassure me and get me as prepared as i can be, 2 more days (thur,fri) training and then test on monday and pass or fail i know i have done my best, i know i am a good driver i just need to show it on the day, and lets face it, everyone has bad days, good luck on your retest and i will update a little more tomorow