DoYouMeanMe?:
I suppose it’s safe to say that once again, as soon as the ■■■■ government interfered and stopped the direct to class 1 option, the job was screwed as up to that time everyone used an artic and the drivers came out with the top licence, went and did some rigid work and usually got the odd run as a emergency driver on the artics and filtered into a better job.
Hi DYMM,
That’s exactly how it was for me when I was a newbie. 
DoYouMeanMe? wrote:
I suppose it’s safe to say that once again, as soon as the ■■■■ government interfered and stopped the direct to class 1 option, the job was screwed as up to that time everyone used an artic and the drivers came out with the top licence, went and did some rigid work and usually got the odd run as a emergency driver on the artics and filtered into a better job.
Totally agree. I spent some 20 years training under the old regime of “straight to class 1” and I don’t believe it should have been changed. But it has, EU saw to that.
In the good old, bad old days we ran 12 artics and 1 4 wheeler. The only people who trained on class 3 (4 wheeler) were those paid for by their boss or the odd ones who were terrified of artic.
And, of course, we used to teach on artic from NOTHING. So on passing the test, class 1 and car licence all in 1 go. And I’m not aware of any statistics to demonstrate any problems with this. Indeed, I trained dozens of London Transport bus conductors who had a choice of learning to drive a bus or being redundant. This is when “one manning” came in.
But the rules are there - it’s our job to play by them. Pete 
Peter Smythe:
… And, of course, we used to teach on artic from NOTHING.
I remember the days of double L’s too. 
So from a trainer’s perspective what do you think is the best way to teach newbies how to drive, irrespective of the laws, would it be artic or drawbar 
So from a trainer’s perspective what do you think is the best way to teach newbies how to drive
Without a doubt, the answer to the above is ARTIC. But, to pass the test as easily and economically as possible, W+D wins hands down.
This is the ongoing conundrum. Pete
Peter Smythe:
So from a trainer’s perspective what do you think is the best way to teach newbies how to drive
Without a doubt, the answer to the above is ARTIC. But, to pass the test as easily and economically as possible, W+D wins hands down.
This is the ongoing conundrum. Pete
The conundrum has been around in one form or another since the advent of testing. I did my test and got the hardback version of the licence in a D1000 with a 28ft single axle flat trailer, the next day I was in a 111 Scania with a spreadaxle 40’ flat loaded with 20tons of chipboard running down the A29 to Bognor Regis. The similarities between being a learner on Monday and a lorry driver on Tuesday were non existent and that’s a problem you’ve always faced.
As you’ve probably worked out, I think the drawbar thing is ridiculous, but as with most governmental decisions there is an emphasis on mental. from a driving school’s perspective it is better though, you can use the prime mover for Cat. C, then hook up to the drag and do C+E, in some small way it helps the trainee as there is some familiarity, they just need to swing out a little bit more when the drag is following, but there’s tqo sides to that argument, you need to swing out a hell of a lot more with a full sized artic and in an ideal world that’s what trainees should be trained to do
That sums it up Mark as I said I done my class 1 in a fl10 with 40 foot box and next day was out in a 143 with a mc govern scissor trailer on landfill work and it was very different and I had done a lot of shunting duties in the yard which helped but at least with an artic I had half an idea.
I can see why training schools use draw bars but it shows up how legistaion screws the paying customer over
newmercman:
I did my test and got the hardback version of the licence in a D1000 with a 28ft single axle flat trailer, the next day I was in a 111 Scania with a spreadaxle 40’ flat loaded with 20tons of chipboard running down the A29 to Bognor Regis. The similarities between being a learner on Monday and a lorry driver on Tuesday were non existent and that’s a problem you’ve always faced.
Blimey NMM, it’s as if one of us was shadowing the other!!
I trained with BSM (yes they also had trucks back then in 1979) in Warrington and I also passed my test in a D1000 with a 28’ single axle trailer, but the first road I went on when fully freighted was the A41.
dieseldave:
newmercman:
I did my test and got the hardback version of the licence in a D1000 with a 28ft single axle flat trailer, the next day I was in a 111 Scania with a spreadaxle 40’ flat loaded with 20tons of chipboard running down the A29 to Bognor Regis. The similarities between being a learner on Monday and a lorry driver on Tuesday were non existent and that’s a problem you’ve always faced.
I trained with BSM (yes they also had trucks back then in 1979) in Warrington and I also passed my test in a D1000 with a 28’ single axle trailer, but the first road I went on when fully freighted was the A41.
I’m a leader not a follower…just saying
Despite all the interference from legislation, the only thing that really changes is the date