Hey there!! Having passed my Cat C back in december im now almost at the end of my five day C&E course. 2mr is my test at 10:30 in the peterborough area so if anyones in the peterborough area and see’s a white FH12 with a white boxtrailer waiting at a tight roundabout or junction, do me a favour and flash me out leaving plenty of room!! hehe Thanks in advance!! hehe.
I have to say the training hasnt really gone all that well, i rubbed the curb twice today exiting a very tight roundabout, my instructor is an ■■■■■■■■ who is more interested in himself and films then teaching me to drive. I just dont like the guy. Having said that, im fine with the braking excersice, the reversing excersice and the gear change excersice. The only real problems im having at the minute is a little bit too much hesitaion on busy busy roundabouts. I am sometimes to careful as i dont want to pull out in front of somone entering a roundabout as that is an instant fail!! All in all im very worried about my test as im not sure im quite upto standard yet!! I have an hour and a half 2mr driving before my test so ill go over some of the inner city roads in the morning and iron out all of the little errors like hesitation.
Any tips are MORE then welcome for my test 2mr…come on help me out im worried sick! Thanks in advance!!!
Hesitation is always going to be a problem on your test, do I go or do I wait ?
As I see it it’s all about timing, roll up slow to said junction/roundabout in correct gear and if you see an opportunity be prepared to go for it… I was taught that if you’re first onto roundabout then it’s yours to proceed, anything approaching will just have to wait.
Having said that I think you will find “hesitation” is a minor fault, where as pulling out in front of someone is a serious, as I found to my peril, so you might want to side on caution.
Good luck for tomorrow. The only advice i can offer is probably the hardest thing to do in reality…relax (easy to say i know)
I took my class 1 in dec and failed cos i clipped a couple of kerbs. I was so nerveous before hand (worried about reversing etc) that i didnt sleep much at all the night before, and when i did i kept waking up.
Retook my test a couple of weeks ago and passed. The only difference being that i relaxed more. I tried to put it into perspective beforehand (ie its only a test etc) difficult i know especialy when u are paying out of your own pocket.
A few nerves beforehand is probably good for you…just dont let them get to you
As others have said, Hesitation is a really dufficult one. I picked up a minor for hesitation on my first test. But it is only a minor… and your allowed 15 of them… so dont beat yourself up about hesitating or the rest might go to pot.
Just try and relax… (Easier said than done, I know… ) but all your doing is showing the bloke next to you… (He’s not an examiner, he’s just a bloke your giving a lift to… )… that you can drive a lorry…
All the best for tomorrow mate, just remember, have a good nights kip and have a full english in the morning at the local cafe. Put all what you’ve learnyt into practise on the day and you’ll be fine. It’s a test 90 mins, so what you’ll breeze it.
bummer…FAILED!!! 3 minors, one for hesitation, 1 for steering, im thinking a dodgy gearchange mid rounbout whilst steering and one for awareness/planning. my serious was anobservation…on the reverse excersice the trailer wasnt quite straight…i got it in the box first go but as the trailer wasnt straight my marker wasnt telling me the truth about where i should stop…that ended up with a little push of the barrier GUTTED, that wasmy strong point too. ill be back for anoher go but worried how long itll take to get a retest…
I was sorry to hear that you’d failed and I haven’t got any decent advice to give I just hope you get through next time. I know how much it means for me to pass my C and C+E so I can understand how you’re feeling right now.
When I was going for my assessment the week before last I was thinking that it wouldn’t take much for me to pass, but after one assessment and one lesson I’m worried, it isn’t easy this truck driving business. I’ve been trying to follow the mirror use while I’ve been driving the car and nearly crashed it twice (that was a joke by the way). Seriously, I was worried when he told me the length of the test, an hour and a half, I mean to keep your driving to exam standard for an hour and a half takes some real doing. So don’t be too hard on yourself. But you could try practising your truck driving when you’re driving your car. Just think about what you’d be doing if you were in the truck as you’re approaching roundabouts and stuff.
One good thing though, doesn’t sound as thought it’s going to take much for you to pass.
JayHoe:
Thats what the transport manager said to me when I was shunting and I knocked the RDC over!
LOL!! The reason the DSA revised the manouvreing exercise (made it a reverse to a barrier) was to make it more realistic to backing up to an unloading bay.
In reality, how do most of us ‘get on the bay’? Get it lined up and reverse slower and slower until we get that gentle nudge that tells us we’ve made contact with the rubber buffers. It’s that action that is supposed to be ‘re-created’ by reversing up to the barrier and just touching it lightly.
)… that you can drive a lorry… 
