Is it true that the gear changing exercise (1,2,3,4,5…3,2,1) going up and down the box in every gear has now been dropped?
I was also told the braking exercise has been dropped, and there is a new thing called the “angled start” or is that doublespeak for uphill/downhill start?
I passed my cat C in a 17t with a straight 6 box, I was told that now it has to be 4 over 4 (probably a good idea because the first time an agency sent me to a job with a 4/4 gearbox I hadn’t got an ■■■■■■ clue what to do with it)
I know that from sept, vehicles will have to be laden for the test. have there been any other changes? the whole thing seems a lot different now.
I had a debating session with my brother over a pint yesterday, the whole W&D vs artic subject. my view is that the best way would be to learn in the easier truck, then do a few hours training on the artic without the pressure of the test. he passed in an artic and says that’s the way it should be done. you can argue that one till the end of time when I passed my B test you got the 7.5 entitlement, so does that mean that you should not be able to take a test in a car, only a 7.5t truck? he gave up the argument after that I think that as long as you get some training on an artic before you drive one solo you should be fine.
jbaz73:
Is it true that the gear changing exercise (1,2,3,4,5…3,2,1) going up and down the box in every gear has now been dropped?
I was also told the braking exercise has been dropped, and there is a new thing called the “angled start” or is that doublespeak for uphill/downhill start?
I passed my cat C in a 17t with a straight 6 box, I was told that now it has to be 4 over 4 (probably a good idea because the first time an agency sent me to a job with a 4/4 gearbox I hadn’t got an [zb] clue what to do with it)
I know that from sept, vehicles will have to be laden for the test. have there been any other changes? the whole thing seems a lot different now.
I had a debating session with my brother over a pint yesterday, the whole W&D vs artic subject. my view is that the best way would be to learn in the easier truck, then do a few hours training on the artic without the pressure of the test. he passed in an artic and says that’s the way it should be done. you can argue that one till the end of time when I passed my B test you got the 7.5 entitlement, so does that mean that you should not be able to take a test in a car, only a 7.5t truck? he gave up the argument after that I think that as long as you get some training on an artic before you drive one solo you should be fine.
hope you all have had a good weekend
There has been no gear or controlled stop exercise for some time
The requirement for at least 8 forward gear ratios has also been in effect for years but that could be a slap over, a 4 over 4 or a straight 6 with a splitter
Learning with one sort would still not give experience of the others
Strangely, in the late 70s I did pass my first test in a 7.5 tonner instead of a car !!
jbaz73:
Is it true that the gear changing exercise (1,2,3,4,5…3,2,1) going up and down the box in every gear has now been dropped?
I was also told the braking exercise has been dropped, and there is a new thing called the “angled start” or is that doublespeak for uphill/downhill start?
I passed my cat C in a 17t with a straight 6 box, I was told that now it has to be 4 over 4 (probably a good idea because the first time an agency sent me to a job with a 4/4 gearbox I hadn’t got an [zb] clue what to do with it)
I know that from sept, vehicles will have to be laden for the test. have there been any other changes? the whole thing seems a lot different now.
I had a debating session with my brother over a pint yesterday, the whole W&D vs artic subject. my view is that the best way would be to learn in the easier truck, then do a few hours training on the artic without the pressure of the test. he passed in an artic and says that’s the way it should be done. you can argue that one till the end of time when I passed my B test you got the 7.5 entitlement, so does that mean that you should not be able to take a test in a car, only a 7.5t truck? he gave up the argument after that I think that as long as you get some training on an artic before you drive one solo you should be fine.
hope you all have had a good weekend
Has to be an 8 speed gearbox for LGV now. No idea why as it gives you no experience of Any other boxes.
As for gear changing exercises. I didn’t do any of that in my LGV test (25/01/13) or my car test (02/04/09).
jbaz73:
and there is a new thing called the “angled start” or is that doublespeak for uphill/downhill start?
No. It’s pulling away from behind a car. This caught me out on my test. My first C test was in November 2010. It was cancelled due to snow and ice. Retest in December cancelled for same reason. 3rd test in late January went ahead but January saw the introduction of the angled start which I didn’t know about. I had the procedure in my mind of the usual stopping and starting and totally didn’t take into account having to go right over to the other side of the road to get past the car. An oncoming car had to move over into a cycle lane to avoid me. Luckily it was a broken white line so amazingly I only got a minor and still passed. Think it was Karma for having 2 tests cancelled
The angle start (moving away from behind a parked car) has been there since year dot. Nothing new about it. The confusion arises because, when they abandoned the braking exercise, they used the angle start a a specific place to stop. Bears little resemblence to the braking exercise but, hey ho.
On the matter of 8 speed boxes, it looks highly likely that this will be thrown out (probably Sept this year) and you can pass a test with ANY type of box, incl auto, and gain a full manual licence. The world has finally gone mad!!
my bruv told me about that passing in an auto and getting a manual entitlement, I thought he was pullin ma leg! I can probably understand if you’re upgrading C to CE because you’ve already passed once in a manual, but for new drivers who pass in a 12t auto… gonna get a real nasty surprise when the agency sends them out to their first job in a 20 year old tipper
I am leaning toward the W&D option for CE, I reckon it would be the best option (I can always do a couple of days on an artic afterwards) make the test as easy on yourself as possible after all I am already used to the turning circle of a rigid, I just have to adapt to the drag. I’ve been told that the reversing is tricky and if you oversteer they are very prone to jacknifing. I reckon that’s a wind up tho, the lads have been giving me all sorts of bs since I told them I was going for the CE. its all in good fun tho . lots of schools are using W&D now and they wouldn’t be if the bug gers jacknifed every time you reversed. I reckon I’m going somewhere else for me Saturday pint from now on
jbaz73:
… gonna get a real nasty surprise when the agency sends them out to their first job in a 20 year old tipper
Agreed
I am leaning toward the W&D option for CE, I reckon it would be the best option (I can always do a couple of days on an artic afterwards) make the test as easy on yourself as possible after all I am already used to the turning circle of a rigid, I just have to adapt to the drag. I’ve been told that the reversing is tricky and if you oversteer they are very prone to jacknifing. I reckon that’s a wind up tho, the lads have been giving me all sorts of bs since I told them I was going for the CE. its all in good fun tho . lots of schools are using W&D now and they wouldn’t be if the bug gers jacknifed every time you reversed. I reckon I’m going somewhere else for me Saturday pint from now on
I passed in WnD and yes it does only require small steering movements in reverse otherwise you will be chasing it all over the yard.
If you have BE already, practice with a caravan. It’s the same principle.
The trailer with w+d reacts more quickly than with most artics. Which means that if you oversteer it will come round much more quickly than an artic but also means that you can steer back and sort it out - which you cant with an artic.
Your mates are not totally wrong. The first time I reversed a w+d I tied it in knot. But we learn!
As you know, Dean, we buy new trucks all the time. But the jury’s out on the spec of the next one. The difficulty comes that if we go auto, we loose fleet uniformity. But if we remain manual, we’re falling behind the times.
Personally, I think everyone should learn on manual possibly for the next 8 - 10 years until we are virtually totally auto.
But, in the short term, the responsibility for induction training needs to be taken very seriously by the truck operators. And how that will work with agencies, I wouldn’t like to hazard a guess!
Falling behind the times is one thing. Losing out to competition is another. And as the general consensus will be that Autos are easier to drive, this maybe a fall down for those sticking to Manual.
And going with the PSTT tagline… Would that not be the better way to go?
(Note - This is point for discussion. I’m not saying this is how it should be done)
Falling behind the times is one thing. Losing out to competition is another. And as the general consensus will be that Autos are easier to drive, this maybe a fall down for those sticking to Manual.
the jury’s out on the spec of the next one
The idea that autos are easier to drive has got to be a favourite. But what about the horror stories of people asking it to “go” at a roundabout and by the time the auto has had a think about it, the space isn’t big enough any more and we’re looking at a fail. That is probably my greatest concern. I’ll follow that immediately by stating I’ve never driven a rigid auto. But the rep of artic’s aint good.
There is an operator, not a thousand miles from me, who runs Opticruise and has experienced these problems.
As to whether the examiners would make reasonable allowances for that is anyone’s guess.
No guess required!! Answer is a big, fat NO. And neither should they. If the vehicle has caused someone else to take evasive action, then the driver of the offending vehicle is at fault - not the vehicle.
My point is that it could (possibly) end up being more difficult explaining how to make an auto work for you than against you than it’s worth.
But I am waiting for the dealers to open and then I’ll organise a test drive. Prefer to form my own opinion from my own experience.
I’ve never driven an auto truck of any kind but I’ve heard the stories. I’ve driven auto buses and the response when you want to pull out… I shall just say that I’m glad I took my test in a manual
it will be interesting to see what happens when they start using them for tests. I would imagine that a laden auto on even a slight incline at a busy junction (w&d or artic) should make for some interesting moments! I would imagine there will be a lot of failures for undue hesitancy, making progress, inconveniecing other road users etc.
My view on this is that a candidate chooses a provider where he feels he has a good chance of passing, amongst other factors, Price, Location, recommendation etc etc
Since the introduction of 8 minimum gears in July 2007 it has been a fairly level playing field in that trainers had little choice. It is 8 gears or no test. Simple. Once the rules change however most trainers will not even bother changing their trucks until they have no more life in them. Much like now! When they do I believe most will opt for straight 6 manual gearboxes.
To be able to take an auto LGV test and qualify for a manual licence candidates must have passed a manual car test and are therefore not naturally worried about 6 gears. Even my Ford Focus has 6 gears. In the lighter LGV trucks ie 12-14 tonne range it is virtually impossible to find a 2nd hand 8 speed truck anyway and very few trainers purchase brand new trucks (I know Peter does). There will be no advantage at all for trainers acquiring 8 speed training vehicles.
This leaves 2 options, 6 speed or auto. I believe the new loaded vehicle rules coming in from Sept 13 will lean the trainers towards manual gearboxes due to the pulling away issues. Trainers are also used to training with gears and importantly the number of failures with gear issues is tiny compared with pulling out at roundabout problems.
Like Peter I will be having some auto gearbox test drives as I have not personally driven an auto rigid so have an open mind. I personally however can’t see many advantages to taking a test in an auto truck.
when I passed my B test you got the 7.5 entitlement, so does that mean that you should not be able to take a test in a car, only a 7.5t truck? he gave up the argument after that 
I can probably understand if you’re upgrading C to CE because you’ve already passed once in a manual, but for new drivers who pass in a 12t auto… gonna get a real nasty surprise when the agency sends them out to their first job in a 20 year old tipper 