Well thanks to the generosity of peter smythe training, i was able to do my class 1(c+e) training this week .
Just before the new year peter was handing out discount vouchers ,all you needed to do was pm him with your name and address. A few days later a voucher arrived in the post ,myself and several other members on here couldnt quite believe the amount of discount written on the voucher ! 
I had intended to do the training anyway sometime this year ,and was slowly saving the pennies …
I rang pete smythe training to book expecting a month or more wait ,but they had a cancellation so only had a 2 week wait ! 
So i had 2 weeks to tackle my bad habbits, 
picked up driving rigids for 2 years .
So the time had come mon 4th march , 14 hours training with the test on thursday 7th march .
The training went really well , i had a very good instructor and a year old truck and trailer to use 
any little problems with my driving were ironed out and reversing and coupling done to the best of ability .I did my best drive just before the test ,quick reversing and coupling /uncoupling exercise and i was ready for test !
The coupling /uncoupling was done first, then the reverse. Then off out onto the roads for the drive ,i thought it had gone as well as my last training drive … and it had as i PASSED 
with 3 minors .
Chuffed to bits to be honest 
,
Just want to say a big thank you to the team at Peter Smythe transport training and especially chris my instructor .
Cheers Mike
Congrats (Again).
Fantastic.
Now the real learning begins.
Thanks Bonnie lass and Dar ,
Luckily the firm i work for run artics ,as well as rigids . so im sure i will be called upon for an artic run sooner or later .
Hopefully i will get some spare time next week and there will be a tractor unit in the yard so i can get some coupling /reversing practice done with artic .
cheers Mike
Sounds like you’ve landed on your feet there! If they run articulated vehicles as well, then your in with a good chance of them giving you some work on c+e , they will know you already so that should be a bonus too. One more step up the ladder. … 
Thanks again ladies and gents
I must admit i only i had one piece of your shortbread jennie , very yummy it was tho . Im sure the staff at PS training enjoyed the rest . It soon dissapeared anyway 
Tracy at the pub /b&b (bottle & glass) cooked me one of her" special lucky breakfasts" as she called it ,so i was well looked after by the ladies
The artic side where i work is pretty quiet at the moment , thats ok as far as spare units/trailers to practice with .Maybe not so good as far as getting a run is concerned ,im sure my time will come soon tho .
cheers Mike
Mikey D:
Thanks again ladies and gents
I must admit i only i had one piece of your shortbread jennie , very yummy it was tho . Im sure the staff at PS training enjoyed the rest . It soon dissapeared anyway
Tracy at the pub /b&b (bottle & glass) cooked me one of her" special lucky breakfasts" as she called it ,so i was well looked after by the ladies
The artic side where i work is pretty quiet at the moment , thats ok as far as spare units/trailers to practice with .Maybe not so good as far as getting a run is concerned ,im sure my time will come soon tho .
cheers Mike
Yes your time will come.
And yes the food at the b&b is spot on
Congratulations!! Such a great feeling getting that pass! Good thast you have good job prospects too, well done
dar1976:
Congrats (Again).
Fantastic.
Now the real learning begins.
what ^^^^^^ said, especially the last part
Yea i know , ive been learning cat c for the past two years
add a bend in the middle and repeat 
Cheers Mike
well had my first artic experience today
Was supposed to be taking a load of car parts up to ellesmere port (with another driver as passenger) but that load was cancelled 
Anyway that regular run will have to wait for another day !
Anyway a trailer needed fetching from another hauler about 10 miles away , so off we went picKed up this achient (old 
) step frame trailer . you know the sort on steel springs ,with a ratchet operated trailer brake
we bought it back to our yard and backed it in and uncoupled.
so my first artic trailer had been pulled …and no curbs were harmed during this process
Next up i coupled up one of our trailers , tri axle, rear steer, flat and took it to a local factory that build pre-fab buildings . my section of building was craned on strapped up ,driven back to our yard and parked up/uncoupled.
The rear steer trailer was similar to pull as a drag ,with it following the unit round corners ,so was good to compare against the step frame trailer earlier .
Next it was back to my usuall work with my foden hooklift skip truck .
Tomorrow is my first real run … pick up loaded norbert dentrisangle trailer from Telford , take that to sainsburys rdc at Tamworth , then drop 2 at some back street place in Brum .
should be fun and hopefully uneventfull
cheers Mike
Glad to hear it’s all going well Mike. And further evidence that learning on a w+d is fine.
Look forward to more diaries, Pete
Yea its all good pete .
Its great to get to drive a bigger variety of vehicles / trailers . variety is the spice of life as they say
cheers Mike
Great to hear your getting on well, & have got work. …brilliant, Happy trucking
