C+E Training Diary

NEW AND WANNABE DRIVERS (INTERACTIVE)
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C+E training …Day 1.

Hi Guys and Gals,

Above is a picture of the truck i am training in, i started my c+e training today with Hindley Green LGV Training which is run by Paul Tunstall, as you may be aware i passed my c test 1st attempt thanks to Pauls great training so it was a no brainer to go back to him for my c+e. :wink:

Following on from my class C training diary, here is my C+E one.

Bear with me if i make any daft spelling mistakes as my brain is like mush because after my training today 8 to 12 i went to work installing fencing and didn,t get home til just after 8 pm and now totally knackered.

Anyway, got to Paul’s yard for 10 to 8, cup of tea and ready to go, i was feeling very apprehensive at this point with just thinking ’ how the hell am i going to drive this thing and not make a total xxxx up? :blush: '.

Into the truck and Paul goes through a rundown of the controls etc, gearbox is a four over four with a splitter, the rigid i trained in had a slapover so this one was totally new to me :open_mouth:

Paul drove it to a business park nearby to give me a bit of a demonstration of turning etc and how to do the gears, then it was my turn :open_mouth: , i did a few laps around the business park, negotiated a few small roundabouts, around parked trucks and generally got a feel for the motor.

I was surprised how it was all so smooth and i found the manouvering a bit easier than what i was expecting, after about 20 mins of that Paul asked did i fancy taking out onto the roads…you bet i do!!.

Same as with the class C training, driving around some of the test routes and taking a few left and right turns and trying to master the gears, i kept going from 5 into 8 and was being a bit heavy handed with the gears, this did get better as the time ticked by and i hopefully :unamused: have got this sussed now.

Paul had shown me how to work the cruise control and the splitter so i tried the cruise on a few long single and dual carriageways and this makes the driving so much easier on a long stretch, next i drove onto the M61 and used the splitter and the cruise control, it felt good to be able to manage to get a bit of experience with these on the first day, came of the motorway after 2 junctions and carried on follow one of the test routes, did a few hill starts including one up a quite steep hill and one downhill, no problem with these :sunglasses: .

Paul said he would give me a quick look at the uncoupling/coupling procedure so he told me what to do and i did it, trailer brake on, legs down to the floor and back one turn of the handle, suzzies all disconnected, clip out and lever pulled and locked into place,( he gave me a sheet to read about the procedure beforehand and he does the B.L.A.C.K method ).

Pulled the truck away from the trailer a few feet and Paul explained about the coupling procedure on the test, and about trailer heights when backing onto one, i backed up gently to the trailer and then CLUNK, kingpin locked in, gave it two small tugs forward to make sure it was in, checked lever was in place and put the clip back in, climbed up and reconnected the suzzies, wound up the legs and released the trailer brake, checked the lights etc and we were good to go, this was just a taster and Paul said next time i will have to do it properly and park the truck next to the trailer and do all the connecting etc on my own and tell him wht i am doing, like i will have to on the test.

I thought the uncoupling/coupling wasn’t too bad to do and not half as difficult as i was expecting!! :smiley:

Did a bit more driving around and tackled a few tight left and right hand turns at junctions and getting better on the gears, all the previous training was invaluable, mirrors morrors mirrors, slow and steady, not a hint of car mode, you have to go even slower up to junctions/turns etc.

Back into the yard and had a go at reversing next to a trailer, slow and steady, a few shunts, i need a bit of work on the reverse as was turning the wheel too much and was not giving the trailer time to react :blush: , hopefully i will get the hang of this as the days progress.

All in all a good 4 hours, i only rubbed 1 kerb on a tight left turn, almost got the hang of the gears, had a taster of the uncoupling/coupling, had a run on the motorway using the cruise and the splitter, tacked lots of roundabouts, junctions, tight streets, so went home quite happy knowing that it wasn’t as daunting as i thought it would be and looking forward to tomorrows lesson. :smiley:

Next installment tomorrow.

Heres Pauls website for you to check out ( i am on the photos page with my pass certificate for class C :smiley: ).

paulslgvtraining.co.uk

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Good diary John. All in all seems like its going very well, big benefit from jumping straight from Cat C to C+E as it’s all still very fresh in your mind!!

I had the same problems with the reverse at 1st, putting too much steering on ect but as you say you will suss it out now on day 2 - 3.

Goodluck with the rest of your training and goodluck for your test mate.

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Yeah you will get it in a day or so. You just need to get used to how the trailer reacts to how much/little you turn the wheel.

Great diary mate looking forward to the rest of it :smiley:

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Looking forward to the next update pal

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Evening John. As you’ve done so well today i’ve got a treat for you tomorrow :laughing: I’ve washed off the truck and trailer :astonished: Yes its that time of thee year :laughing:
More of the same from you tomorrow in the brighter, cleaner truck and feel free to take some more pics but make sure you warn me 1st :laughing: need to get my best side :unamused:

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Good read john :slight_smile:

I was the same with the reversing, but it came to me in the end

Good look with your C+E training. Hope you pass first time

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Excellent diary and good luck for your training.

Ahh how I miss Atherton test centre :laughing: (assuming you’re using that one, training in Hindley).

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C+E Training…Day 2 :open_mouth:

The training started with the most important thing to do before you get into the truck…have a cup of tea :smiley: .

I drove the truck from the yard today and we drove for about 15 mins and had to go to a garage to fuel up, as you cannot get the unit and trailer into a bog standard petrol station Paul said it would be an ideal time for me to have a go at uncoupling, so i stopped up the road from tthe garage and went through the procedure of dumping the trailer, did it on my own using B-L-A-C-K and telling Paul what i was doing as i was doing it ( can’t believe i was worried about it as it is pretty straighforward!! ).

Anyway dropped the trailer and run solo down the road to the petrol station, fuelled up and came back for the trailer, backed up to it and Paul was explaining about how near to get the runners to it before jumping out to check height and to show that trailer brake was on ( important bit!!! ) etc ( as if it was first time you had picked up this trailer ), backed up …CLANG… two forward tugs to make sure its locked in, hazards and lights on ready and jumped out, Pauls system is pretty foolproof ( so far!!!.. lets see how i get on on Friday!! :open_mouth:) , when out of the cab check the lever is back in place, put the pin in, walkaround to the nearside, climb up and reconnect the soozzies, starting with furthest away one and working towards yourself, all the time explaining what you are doing, climb down and wind the legs up, stow handle away, checking side lights ( lit up as i switched them on in preparation) , take the brake off and walk to the rear checking tyres/lights, at the rear make sure lights are working, reflective markers are present etc, rear doors secure and number plate on, then ask ( Paul in this case) to wait there to check brake lights, walk up the offside checking tyres, lights etc, jump in, brakelights checked…all done :sunglasses: .

Off we went to do some reversing, Paul has access to a big area of car park near the JJB stadium, so he unlocked the barriers and i drove on, the area is very large and is ideal to practise the reversing on without any hinderences.

I had about 6 goes at the reverse, cocked it up at the beginning, cocked it up in the middle, cocked it up at the end and so on, i can get it into the garage ok but i was a bit close to the front offside cone ( about enough room to get a cigarette paper between the cone & the tyre :unamused: on what current trucking programme on tv have you heard that before? ) , but it is getting the angle correct around the centre cone that is doing my head in, i just can’t seem to get it bang on although on the very last go i did it a bit better although i thought i had squashed the centre cone until it came into view :blush: .

Hopefully i will crack it before test day.

With spending a lot of time doing the reversing we didn’t have our usual mid lesson cup of tea :open_mouth: :open_mouth: :open_mouth: :blush:

Did some more driving through tight lanes, around roundabouts etc, i find i do really good for about 10 mins and then have a total cockup with the gears, and lose the plot briefly.

Did a few tight junctions and then almost back to the yard and we came to a very tight left turn, no way to see what is round the corner til you are more or less ready to make the swing, i tried to take this in 5th :confused: really probably 3rd would have been ideal :blush: and totally ballsed it up trying to switch down and change down, just about managed to get round unscathed but it was the worst bit of driving i had done all day.

Got back to the yard and i backed it into a space between a container and Pauls other truck, all done til tomorrow!!

I am really enjoying the training and havn’t had any fear factor yet ( just wait til Friday for my test… :open_mouth: :open_mouth: .Brown trousers time!!..)

I enjoy driving the artic and have decided that i want to drive one for a living when i grow up :smiley: ( i’m 42)

I have also noticed that on the way home in my girlfriends car ( ford KA 04 ) i am taking bends/ turns wide like i am in the truck, people in their cars behind me must be thinking…what the xxxx is that div doing :laughing:

Thats it til tomorrow night boys and girls…now off to bed you go, …if you havn’t fell asleep already reading this that is…cos i nearly have while typing it.zzzzzzzzz :wink: .

John

I

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Omg. I do that when I’ve had a long shift. Jump in my ford focus & take big wide turns like a truck! :smiley:
Think that shows that your training is really working. Because your driving like that automatically.

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C+E Training diary…day 3 :open_mouth: :open_mouth: :open_mouth:

Arrived at the yard 10 to 8, usual preparations…tea, 2 sugars :smiley:, fired up the truck and off we go.

Paul said it would be a good idea to take a trip down to the test centre to see if we can get a look at someone doing the reverse part for C+e, to give me a bit of an example, after my sad attempts at trying to master the reverse yesterday i had to agree :blush:

We watched a guy do his, he got his trailer quite close to the centre cone and came into the cones on a bit of an angle, then he did the wise thing, took a shunt, got it straight and backed in nice and steady, all done.

Then i drove down to Pauls reversing area to have another go for myself :open_mouth:

Lo and behold, 1st attempt…got it spot on, good angles and into the box without any messing…tried it again, think the shock had affected me :confused: , got around the centre cone ok, bit off in the box though, took a shunt and backed it up, not as good as the first attempt but ok none the less.

Had another go at the uncoupling/coupling, when i dropped the trailer and pulled away to back up next to it my brain went to mush and i was all over the place ( think i thought i still had the trailer on and was trying to manouvre it■■?).

Pulled in front of the trailer and backed it up, a touch off centre but Paul said that was ok as the jaws would pull it in ok, backed the runners under a bit, a little too far to be honest :blush:, then jumped out and did the recoupling.

Spent the next hour driving around the test route runs, all the usual stuff, roundabouts, hill starts, motorway, tight left and right junctions etc, i think my positioning is getting a bit better and i am judging a god few turns myself.

Still having a bit of a disagreement with the gears, sometimes i go down from 7 and can’t get 5 :blush: , or down from 7 into 8 instead of 6 :blush: , and down from 8 into 7 instead of 5 :blush:, Paul says i am being a bit heavy on the stick and just ease it gently,he is right because when i think what i am doing and change up or down gently it is no problem, it is annoying me a bit but hopefully i will master it tomorrow :confused:

I am feeling a bit mentally tired tonight with all the concentrating in the lessons and then working all afternoon and finally getting home around 6.30 so i am going to watch ‘At home with the Flynns’ and then have an early night.

Part 4 tomorrow.

Goodnight all.

John

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Isn’t anybody talking to me■■? :confused: :confused: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

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Hi driverjohn, I start my CE training at the end of July. I will be training in a wag & drag and it will be the same truck I passed my C test in but with the extra bit added on. Reversing is my biggest concern by far, I completely messed it up on my first attempt at the C test and managed to fail before we left the yard. Then on my second test I messed it up again and had to take a shunt… in a rigid! Needless to say, I am slightly worried about reversing a bendy.

Keep up the training diary mate.

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Atleast its all coming together now John, you’ll soon be looking back thinking to yourself “what was I worried about” :smiley: learning something your not entirely used to is always daunting and getting used to something thats not the norm takes time, however saying that most people adapt quite easily and once they’ve had a few lessons they become better, you know what they say…? Practice makes perfect!! :slight_smile:

Goodluck mate and keep up the diary :wink:

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C+E Training diary … Day 4 :open_mouth: :open_mouth: :open_mouth: :open_mouth:

Started the day with the usual drive of some of the test routes and trying my hardest to come to terms with the gearchanges, i am finally getting better and only cocking the changing up occasionally.

Went to the reversing area and had 3 goes at the reverse manouvre, managed to do them all ok and got into the box 3 out of 3 and no shunts so was quite pleased to hopefully got the hang of that.

Had a crack at the uncoupling/coupling, yesterday when i uncoupled and pulled the tractor unit away and backed up at the side of the trailer i was all over the place and the same when backing back up to the trailer, it is strange when you have no trailer on, i think my brain thought i still had the trailer on :blush:

Today i manouvered the tractor unit a lot more slowly and got it back up to the trailer a lot better so it was a lot better than yesterday.

Did a lot of driving through very tight roads and sharp turns and small roundabouts, i did ok most of the time with just a few prompts from Paul, for some reason i started indicating before looking in my mirror when moving around parked vehicles and it took m a while to get back to diong MSM.

We had to fuel up again and this meant dropping the trailer off in a small industrial estate, so had to do this kerbside, i was quite happy doing the uncoupling/coupling like this as it gave it a different aspect.

Paul had to take the trailer for its MOT at Skelmersdale at 1 oclock, and he said to me yesterday that if i wanted to i could drive it there and back as he had to go there anyway , so after my proper lessons had finished i had and extra 2 hours training for free :smiley: How many trainers would let you do that!!! :sunglasses:

So i had a lot of driving on roads i hadn’t been on before, some very narrow stuff and some motorway driving to use the splitter and cruise control and lots of roundabouts to tackle in Skelmersdale.

I made 2 bad errors during this time though, mounted the kerb a bit on a tight chicane through the town and got confused when i was told to follow the motorway signs and as i went along following the signs there was a sign on the corner of what i thought was a narrow country lane and was going to drive past, realised at the last second it was the correct turn, hit the brakes, turned and had a ■■■■■ of a job gretting into the road :blush: :blush: .

Paul said it would have been better to carry on past if i wasn’t sure and then come back round to it, oh well, this is how we learn isn’t it, from our mistakes, so i won’t make that mistake again. :blush:

Anyway thats the end of my 4th day…tooodle pip.

John.

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Goodluck John, stay calm, drive nice and steady and i hope you hear those magic words :slight_smile:

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Friday is almost here and by the end of the day you will have C+E added to your license I’m sure. Buddy I wish you all the luck in the world and will keep my fingers crossed for you.

Goodluck mate and relax and take your time and you’ll be just fine :wink:

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Good luck with your test mate. I’ve really enjoyed reading your training diary and I’m hoping u get a pass.

Good luck

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Best of luck mate. Hope it all goes well!

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FAILED!!!

Literally 2 mins from the test centre, 2 roundabouts to go,tight left on the 2nd to last r/b, took it a bit too fast, swung it round and rolled over the kerb with the trailer wheels.

Ended up with that and 10 minors inc 1 for a shunt on the reverse, 1 for signals ( necessary), 2 for use of mirrors ( signalling), 1 for use of mirrors (change direction), 2 for junctions (observation), and 3 for awareness/planning.

Wouldn’t mind but Paul has had me doing that r/b a few times this week and i had it sussed, no-one to blame but my own stupid self, the examiner even said to me back at the test centre “i don’t know what you were thinking of, you were doing well up to then!!”.

Going to book it again asap, ( after i give myself a big kick up the arse!!! ).

John.

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■■■■ John that ■■■■■ big time buddy, it’s a crying shame mate because I really thought you had it nailed, ■■■■ kerbs get us everytime. At least next time you will be aware of what he picked up on and be more aware of your mistakes.

I’m gutted for you John I really am and I was hoping to hear "I Passed!"Still next time hey mate :wink: