Finally going for my CPCS mobile crane licence in Newark.
Have driven trucks in the UK, Europe, North America, New Zealand and Scandinavia but it’s time for a change.
Can’t help feeling that transport is only a service industry where clients are just looking to get their ■■■■ moved from A to B as cheaply as possibly and I have lost enthusiasm for the job at the moment.
Been feeling like a waste of space for a while and want to try something different that interests me.
Doing a 4 day course and test day should be Thursday or Friday next week.
If I manage to get through it I’ll be out job hunting the following week with a bit of luck.
So although I’m an experienced driver I’m going back to being a newbie in some ways.
Thought about doing a training diary but as it’s not exactly HGV related it might not be relevant on here.
I’d say it is relevant, as you can’t drive that without at least a VAN licence!
Plus I’ve considered looking into cranes, as there are a few firms very near me…
The bit that worries/puts me off is that i fear the job will be as boring as watching paint dry.
So as well as a diary, i’d love to know how it goes for the first few months and whether it’s how I imagine it to be.
It was test day today…
Reminded me of a boxing match…
We went over the rules in the dressing room…
Protect yourself and others at all times and what the slinger says you must obey…
Take your time, “jab” the controls and score points during each round of lifting…
No big swings… Don’t get knocked out!!
1 hour allowed for the theory test consisting of 73 questions.
Then 3 hours for the practical but I got round in just under 2.5 hours.
After which we went to the score cards…
Majority points decision!!!
Came through with 4 minors but I was ■■■■■■■ lucky!!
AND THE NEW#
U.K. C.P.C.S. Mobile Crane Operator!!
A bit too tired to do a diary right now but I’ll upload a few photos…
Very good place to learn at…
UK-CPT on Newark Showground behind the car auction and aircraft museum.
Ok, I have operated 150 ton per metre hiabs before but I knew very little about mobile cranes before this week.
Monday was classroom work all day so I got to test standard within 2 days of training on the machine, they do all types of plant machinery and are CPCS accredited.
Duck:
It was test day today…
Reminded me of a boxing match…
We went over the rules in the dressing room…
Protect yourself and others at all times and what the slinger says you must obey…
Take your time, “jab” the controls and score points during each round of lifting…
No big swings… Don’t get knocked out!!
1 hour allowed for the theory test consisting of 73 questions.
Then 3 hours for the practical but I got round in just under 2.5 hours.
After which we went to the score cards…
Majority points decision!!!
Came through with 4 minors but I was [zb] lucky!!
AND THE NEW#
U.K. C.P.C.S. Mobile Crane Operator!!
Congratulations, you want to better yourself’ my type of person!
Thanks… Think I was more nervous about this than my heavy goods test in some ways.
Kinda strange being put under the microscope again with someone watching your every move. It didn’t help that there was a huge antiques fair on the showground and 1000’s of cars parked a few metres away in the overspill car park with several curious onlookers.
Did the course with 2 other lads, an ex-heavy haulage driver who works as a crane supervisor in Northern Wales and a steel erector from Mansfield who were really easy to get along with and gave me a few pointers and a pep talk before going out on test.
Hopefully they both got through their tests today as they were on the 5 day course which their respective employers had put them through but I could only afford to do 4 days as it came out of my own pocket.
With regard to costs it varies.
If you go somewhere like Liebherr or Ainscough they will try to get you on a 10 day course and you could be looking at the best part of £4-5k!
You have to do a Health & Safety touch screen test at a local driving theory test centre before you can go on the course.
All in all I’ve managed to get my ticket for just under £1,500 which is pretty good value but I’ve only got block duties on my licence as opposed to “all duties” which includes pick & carry operations.
Want to go back at some point and get my slinger/signaller card but I can’t stretch to it right now.
Already got 1 contact at a local crane hire firm who kind of half said I could get a job with them on one of their small cranes but I’ll start to pursue things a bit more next week.
I will hopefully be getting a bit of a tax rebate from the Norwegian government soon as I didn’t reach the minimum threshold for paying income tax in Norway last year after I moved there because the balloon went up after a couple of months and I had to head back to Blighty.
Therefore the bit of tax that I paid under the Norwegian PAYE scheme might be refunded and free up some cash to get my slinger card.
