I had my second day on class 2 / cat. C training today and am doing quite well so far!! My main problem at the moment, as my instructor told the guy where we had dinner, is that I will be ok as long as I remember that I have back wheels aswell!! Yes, I keep clipping the kerb at tight junctions (mainly ■■■■■■■ roundabouts) and I’m still a bit quick on approach on occasions, and sometimes not quick enough off the mark thus holding traffic up. Still on the positive side he took me into Norwich on my first lesson which apparently some trainees take two or three days to get to that stage! Today we did the inner ring road, past Carrow road, the Railway station etc and apart from the kerbs and sometimes getting the wrong gear for the prevailing conditions (tight junctions mainly) I don’t think I did too bad. Even got a ‘well done’ at some points when everything fell into place right like anticipating traffic lights changing both to red and green and making progress at roundabouts. Also did a few emergency stops and hill starts, down and up, nearly stalled it on one as I didn’t allow for the slight delay in the parking brake releasing when the lever is pushed forward. Oh and left hand mirror is a bit weak sometimes Tomorrow we are doing some reversing practice and more driving around the city. Really hope I don’t get the day 3 ‘dip’ in my performance that I have read about on here I have a test booked for the 19th, we would have liked it sooner but there were no spaces available.
A tip for anyone having difficulty with the 8 speed slap over box -
On my assessment I got in a real muddle once or twice mainly remembering what gear/range I was in, on my way home I thought I have got to sort that out as if I can’t change gear I’m going nowhere!
So, In my car, or van, I am treating 1st gear like 3rd in the lorry, 2nd like 4th then do a dummy knock over to the right before going into 3rd (which would be 5th on the lorry), the same coming down except to the left. It’s worked!!! On my first lesson yesterday I had hardly any bother at all with finding the right gear, and today managed some block changes really smoothly.
I’ll keep you posted on my progress this week, am learning til Friday as my instructor says 4 days (9:30 til 14:30 including dinner and a tea break) should be plenty.
And the reason for me wanting the licence? I have always wanted a lorry with a Gardner 150 or 180 engine!! I have a Gardner powered generator and would love a vehicle with one as the power unit.
I know some vintage vehicles can be driven on a car licence but I thought it a good idea to have some proper training and pass the test for the appropriate category, I’m so glad I did as it’s teaching me so much and even the last two days has improved my van driving no end! It really does teach you a healthy respect for the full time truckers and what they have to deal with day to day, don’t get me started on the car drivers
All the LGV TRAINING TIPS, including the Recommended LGV training schools that have been recommended by members, can be accessed by clicking on the link in my signature
The rear axle is a tag axle so is not actually rolling when unladen, not that I have anything to compare it with but it drives nicely when warmed up, the gearbox is very cooperative with only 5th being a bit stiff when cold first thing. 3rd is fine for pulling away although I did wonder if 2nd may have helped me on the hill start. More than likely down to my lack of experience though with the parking brake operation not being as direct as a cable operated one as found on cars and vans.
Just noticed your link ROG to the other guy’s blog, seems very similar to my experience with regard to juctions and managing the speed and gears on approach.
Markone:
I’m with Compass Training at North Tuddenham. The lorry is a Renault Premium 300 26 ton gvw.
That is unusual - not many do their C in a 6 wheeler
Does it have rear axle lift
Isn’t it better to learn in something the same size as the learner will drive in real life ROG? Have you ever seen a Sterling class 2 training vehicle?
Warren T. Claim:
Isn’t it better to learn in something the same size as the learner will drive in real life ROG?
YES - just ‘unusual’
Warren T. Claim:
Have you ever seen a Sterling class 2 training vehicle?
Ah yes, - the oversized 7.5 tonners - or ‘large vans’ as the examiners at Weedon called them - including the one from the company (not sterling) I was using at the time
Warren T. Claim:
Isn’t it better to learn in something the same size as the learner will drive in real life ROG?
YES - just ‘unusual’
Warren T. Claim:
Have you ever seen a Sterling class 2 training vehicle?
Ah yes, - the oversized 7.5 tonners - or ‘large vans’ as the examiners at Weedon called them - including the one from the company (not sterling) I was using at the time
I don’t know why they use such small vehicles. I can’t imagine many people fail because of the length, even the reversing excersise. The Sterling truck I saw had 3 seats so the examiner is more likely to be “examined” in those vehicles causing a more difficult pass for the learner anyway.
Hey markone i’m the other newbie Just wanted to say if you do have a bad day, don’t worry about it, the next day when you wake up shrug it off and say to yourself today will be a stonker. Big day for me tomorrow (thursday) and regardless of the outcome i’ve had the time of my life and so will you… Just remember when its all done and its the day of the test their ain’t no firing squad at the end as my instructor said
Hiya, Best of luck for today, I’m starting at 9 this morning, 3rd day so I really am going to go out and NOT hit any kerbs!!! Must get that bit sorted as It would be a bugger if I drove well on the test only to f**k it up by touching a kerb. Like you say regardless of the outcome I really am enjoying the experience and it feels really great when you negotiate a junction and everything just fits into place with no brakes or wrestling the steering. Got to get that consistency going!
Ok, 3rd day today, reversing exercise. Albert said to me the hardest part is driving forward in a straight line before doing the reverse. He was right! I was far too wide from the first cone that is on the left on my first attempt because i steered a bit, however I did the reverse first time and didn’t hit the barrier once. Had another go and got the forward drive a bit better but still not far enough over to the left to be comfortable with the right hand front wheel not going over the line. Again reversed perfectly, maybe a bit too accurate for comfort that time only about 2" away from the barrier.
Next attempt, pulled forward, looked in mirror to see a big thumbs up from Albert Sorted! Amazing how it boosts your confidence no end when you get it right. Did it twice more to make sure. Theres a little marker on the side of the lorry to help with positioning the rear end correctly which is a big help.
Walk around checks explained and gone through, all pretty straight forward stuff there.
Then went out on the road some more, around the test centre area to try some of the junctions etc. Touched the kerb once today , was doing really well on that weak point until then!! Came a bit close on a couple more occasions but still better than yesterday. My speed is still a bit high on some junctions, 4th would be better than 5th on tight left hand turns, must remember to go a bit slower at junctions and maybe pick a minor up for progress rather than mount the kerb and fail it!!
Then a drive back to the yard along some country lanes etc to get some practice in there.
Day 4 tomorrow to put everything together and hopefully do a textbook drive to end the main part of my training.
Then it’s upto me to maintain my standards in my van until the 19th, when the big day arrives. Im having a couple of hours practice before the test to get back into the swing of things and weed out any last minute gremlins.
How’d Skinnytrucker get on today?? Hope it’s a nice pass for you!
Markone:
How’d Skinnytrucker get on today?? Hope it’s a nice pass for you!
Fail for me i’m afraid but it sounds like your doing better, keep it up and you’ll pass no problem. I was good at the reversing to, just remeber you can ride on the yellow line when you first start reversing just don’t go over it… Gives you a couple extra inches if you’ve pulled up to the two cones a bit more to the right than you’d like
Bad luck mate, I hate roundabouts even in my van, why does everybody have to take them as if they’re doing a lap round Nurburgring!? I tend to be too cautious at them, I stopped a couple of times yesterday when the road ‘was mine’ but just erred on the side of caution, trouble with that is you’re not seen to be making progress! Plus no f**ker signals on roundabouts, well not in Norwich anyway Had one today who was signalling but that had no bearing at all on which exit he was taking, then they get agitated and wonder why you pull out across them
Get another test in as soon as you can afford it, You don’t want too long so you get rusty on all the rest of the driving! I get nervous just thinking about my test day and it’s nearly 2 weeks away yet.
Markone:
Bad luck mate, I hate roundabouts even in my van, why does everybody have to take them as if they’re doing a lap round Nurburgring!? I tend to be too cautious at them, I stopped a couple of times yesterday when the road ‘was mine’ but just erred on the side of caution, trouble with that is you’re not seen to be making progress! Plus no f**ker signals on roundabouts, well not in Norwich anyway Had one today who was signalling but that had no bearing at all on which exit he was taking, then they get agitated and wonder why you pull out across them
Get another test in as soon as you can afford it, You don’t want too long so you get rusty on all the rest of the driving! I get nervous just thinking about my test day and it’s nearly 2 weeks away yet.
You’ll do fine mate, i was nervous all morning but as soon as the examiner came out and started asking the show me tell me questions the adrenaline kicked in and probably gave me the best drive i’ve had all week, apart from the little ■■■■■■ on the roundabout
Last day training today, Albert was very pleased we had mud on the back tyre side wall when we pulled up for dinner, been shiny all week he said Yes I got round Norwich city centre today without touching any kerbs!! Another big step forward for me. The only problems I had were hesitating at a couple of roundabouts where a bit better planning and the right gear would have enabled me to carry on without stopping.
Some ■■■■ sounded his horn today but through no fault of mine, Quite large roundabout, Clio on the other side behind his line, me just over my line so I continued, Clio boy comes tearing round as if he’s going for gold and wonders why this lorry is not going round at the same pace, ■■■■■■. Trouble is if that’s on test day it could f**k everything up even if I do everything right.
Markone:
Some [zb] sounded his horn today but through no fault of mine, Quite large roundabout, Clio on the other side behind his line, me just over my line so I continued, Clio boy comes tearing round as if he’s going for gold and wonders why this lorry is not going round at the same pace, ■■■■■■.
Was the Clio stationary or moving when you started to move
TBH I can’t recall, all I know is that I was moving and on the rbt before he had crossed the line, he was certainly moving by the time he got round to my side of the rbt!
Markone:
TBH I can’t recall, all I know is that I was moving and on the rbt before he had crossed the line, he was certainly moving by the time he got round to my side of the rbt!
Be careful with this sort of situation on test because if the Clio was moving then it could be deemed reasonable that it would catch you if you entered the roundabout and would be a fail for not realising that fact.
This may seem unfair if you both entered at the same time but remember this is not ‘real life’ driving, this is DSA test driving.
Tomorrow we are doing some reversing practice and more driving around the city. Really hope I don’t get the day 3 ‘dip’ in my performance that I have read about on here 
I have a test booked for the 19th, we would have liked it sooner but there were no spaces available.
- or ‘large vans’ as the examiners at Weedon called them - including the one from the company (not sterling) I was using at the time 
, was doing really well on that weak point until then!! Came a bit close on a couple more occasions but still better than yesterday. My speed is still a bit high on some junctions, 4th would be better than 5th on tight left hand turns, must remember to go a bit slower at junctions and maybe pick a minor up for progress rather than mount the kerb and fail it!!