CE trainee passed today

[rog]

One of my trainees passed 1st time today on the CE (artic) with 4 road minors and 1 minor for a forward shunt on the reverse which he could have done without BUT he decided that it was not perfect and a pass is better than getting a personal bonus for getting it in one go
He had done rigid driving since passing his C (rigid) test 16 months ago and that experience was invaluable to him on this course as he could predict just about everything that the numpties were going to do. How did I know that he knew? - easy - he talked to himself which let me into his thinking
It also let the examiner into his thoughts and planning as well
He was on a 1 to 1 with me on Fri, Mon & Tue (today) with his test at 1pm Gloucester DTC. The only time we went to the test area was today for about 2 hours prior to the test where I showed him the ‘nasty/tricky’ bits. All the other training was kept local and included samples of what he would meet, not just on test day, but for the majority of his CE driving.
On day 1 we went to the airfield to do the reverse and got there about 10am and by noon, using the methods I posted in ARTIC TEST REVERSE he had cracked it and was reversing like a pro. In fact he was doing so well, I got him doing a blind side reverse into a turning area and a PARALLEL PARK (space for the artic plus a quarter) in an industrial estate on Monday.

He proved during his training that THINKING & PLANNING everything well in advance before doing anything is by far the easiest and best way forward.

[moving_on]

I bet he’s been a shunter prior to the training course. I can tell that you were really impressed with his abilities as you rarely comment on individual cases lol.

[rog]

moving_on:
I bet he’s been a shunter prior to the training course. I can tell that you were really impressed with his abilities as you rarely comment on individual cases lol.

He had never been in an artic or shunter unit until the 1st day of training but he did try to reverse a caravan once .
It wasn’t so much his physical handling that impressed me but the thinking & forward planning aspects of his driving which, in turn, improved his controlling of the vehicle.
The “easy” aspects to driving are the rules/regs and the physical use of the controls but the “hard” aspect is the thinking & planning ahead as there is no instructor or book that can tell you how to do it but there is now one that helps - ‘Mind Driving’ by Stephen Haley.

[ur-2-small-2-drive-that]

Well done rog!! and trainee of course…

Do the examiners at Gloucester still stick you round that one particular roundabout that is guaranteed to have you clipping the kerb if youre not VERY careful - god thinking about Gloucester takes me back to full english brekkies in the café near the test centre - god I miss full english brekkies

[rog]

ur-2-small-2-drive-that:
Well done rog!! and trainee of course…

Do the examiners at Gloucester still stick you round that one particular roundabout that is guaranteed to have you clipping the kerb if youre not VERY careful - god thinking about Gloucester takes me back to full english brekkies in the café near the test centre - god I miss full english brekkies

Do you mean the brick one with the chevrons painted onto it
Not seen any cafe - only the snack wagon.
The thanks all goes to the trainee - I only gave the information for him to work with - he put it into practise.

[ur-2-small-2-drive-that]

Can’t be sure of the roundabout markings rog I’m going back ten years now nor the cafe for that matter - it could equally have been near the market■■?

I have a very vague recollection of perhaps a school near the roundabout but I just remember it as we practised it fairish for my D test as it was on one of the routes at the time… Just a thought - if do out of gloucester from time to time you might know John Powell lorry & bus training from herefordshire…