We have many, many enquiries asking how cheaply the LGV could be obtained for. Obviously the medical and theory has to be sorted before a test can be booked.
For this exercise forget the CPC.
Could a person start at say 6am and take a test at 2pm with no previous training ?
My personal thoughts are that an experienced 7.5t guy/gal or experienced PCV person possibly could. I am basing this on our experience of providing 2 day courses. A few extra hours makes no difference if a person is good enough.
I also know that if examiners knew this strategy they would fail the guy mentally before they signed the D25 declaration.
But could it be done ? I would like to offer the option to 2 people on the board training and testing on the same day. We have not had 2 fails on the same day for over a year.
You must have passed the theory and you must have either 7.5t experience or manual PCV experience.
The first 2 to reply are in. It will cost you £115 DSA test fee and nothing else.
Not a great deal of training but if you are good enough you WILL pass.
Mullens:
I have cat C im in.
That’s not what was offered though 
I’d suggest that someone who had done a C1e test and kept driving to a good standard would be in with a chance, not so sure about a 7.5t driver who had the licence entitlement as part of the car licence. Also with a smaller size training vehicle such as yours that would increase the chances. Giving a full size vehicle to a car driver with 7.5t is unlikely to get a result.
You could get an Aussie truck driver who knows our roads, they might do OK. 
0600 start with 2 candidates would, presumably, mean one of them testing at 1215 or thereabouts and the second at 1400. This gives a max of 6 hours training shared between two. I, for one, would need a cuppa during the morning so it’s unlikely that each person would get much more than 2 and half hours or so behind the wheel.
I believe it’s cutting it unbelievably fine. But I also accept that there are, occasionally, people who will fluke it.
Best of luck John and to the candidates. Pete
There is nothing to stop anyone from doing this but we value the respect we have built up from the driving examiners of 41 years trading. I can’t imagine that anyone would pass the test and all you will do is pee off the examiners.
The shortest course we offer on category C is a 28 hour course. But then our monthly average pass rate is normally 85% to 90%
I would expect that a good driver could do the test with just a few hours. However they might not be entirely safe and frankly the test could become dangerous. The results would be very hit and miss so what’s the point? Go to the test to pass, not just to give it a try.
When we used smaller trucks a few years ago this would have been a bit easier.
Tockwith Training, providing quality driver instruction since 1971
What’s the point , all you are going to achieve if they pass is that you have devalued the talent that trainers offer to a measly few quid
Tockwith Training:
The shortest course we offer on category C is a 28 hour course.
28 hours? 
My son passed his C 15 months ago a moth before his 19 birthday with 4 minors after 3 half days 1-2-1 training and a short run round before the test, so 11 - 12 hours in total, that was obviously straight for a car licence with no experience of driving anything bigger than a transit type van. Earlier this month he passed his C+E with 2 minors after 3 afternoons training and a half hour run round before the test, the first of which he didn’t even go on the road as the instructor, who took him for his C, said he knew he would be fine with the driving and they spent the afternoon nailing the reverse and uncoupling. So about 7 hours on road training.
Given the right person I don’t see why this idea wouldn’t work but I think it devalues the work done by trainers and has already been said probably going to ■■■■ off the examiners when they find out.
LGVTrainer:
We have many, many enquiries asking how cheaply the LGV could be obtained for. Obviously the medical and theory has to be sorted before a test can be booked.
For this exercise forget the CPC.
Could a person start at say 6am and take a test at 2pm with no previous training ?
My personal thoughts are that an experienced 7.5t guy/gal or experienced PCV person possibly could. I am basing this on our experience of providing 2 day courses. A few extra hours makes no difference if a person is good enough.
I also know that if examiners knew this strategy they would fail the guy mentally before they signed the D25 declaration.
But could it be done ? I would like to offer the option to 2 people on the board training and testing on the same day. We have not had 2 fails on the same day for over a year.
You must have passed the theory and you must have either 7.5t experience or manual PCV experience.
The first 2 to reply are in. It will cost you £115 DSA test fee and nothing else.
Not a great deal of training but if you are good enough you WILL pass.
I personally think this is a huge ask - previous experience counts for little if you don’t assess them as we are all the best driver in the world. As a point of interest, should either of the candidates fail, how much will a retest cost and will they need more training before it.
I would love both to pass and get a nearly free licence, anyone can get a break on test but it isn’t anything I would even consider, it doesn’t take much to lose a good reputation with the customers and examiners.
This sounds something that sterling offered and now the brokers are doing the same. Instead of putting prices up to cover rising costs all they are doing is cutting the amount of training you get.
Having given this more thought, I’m deeply concerned about the potential safety aspects of such a short training duration. The trainee I’ve had this week has been a case in point. Started Monday and I passed comment to another instructor that the guy was doing so well he could take his test later in the day.
Tuesday I had to take action to prevent a collision and on Wednesday there were several misjudgements. But today the guy passed his test with 4 minors and is considerably more competent than he was on Monday afternoon.
Don’t know if I’ve made the point very clearly - it’s just another viewpoint.
I fully accept, though, that a recently trained PCV driver should be able to master Cat C in a relatively short time as the training transfers to a major extent.
Pete
Is it just me or does anyone else think that John is trying to buy himself good publicity with all these offers and the like. Whilst I’ll admit that some drivers could come out of these quite well off it seems like he is trying too hard to gloss over the past.
Call me old and cynical if you want, plenty do.
Although I will say that I often see the motor about being busy (twice today) so maybe it’s working.
8wheels:
Is it just me or does anyone else think that John is trying to buy himself good publicity with all these offers and the like. Whilst I’ll admit that some drivers could come out of these quite well off it seems like he is trying too hard to gloss over the past.
Not trying to buy any publicity at all. That would be called advertising. I do have lots of ideas about how both our business and the industry in general could be improved. This board provides the ideal place to get some feedback about some of these ideas before actually trying them out from both newbees and experienced drivers & other trainers alike.
If occasionally I make an offer available it is hardly designed to make any money. How much can I make out of free training?
As for the past it is where it belongs. It is all extremely well documented and thankfully the truth came out in the end.
I’m not knocking you, as I said I often see the vehicle about and saw it twice the other day so you obviously are getting on with it. You’ve made some commendable offers that people would have been daft not to have taken up.
I’d be suspicious of anyone offering incentives like these unless they were a big national or regional company with some serious marketing.
What I will say is that since you’ve been posting on here you’ve never backed away and have had a fair share of dirt shovelled in your direction. In the face of that you have come back with new ideas and useful advice to new drivers.
If you’re serious, and (doubtful) not found anyone in a month or two, I’d do it. I’ve got plenty of 7.5t experience, but am waiting for the DVLA to grant my provisional.
but I think it was a lot to do with the Instrutor that I had before Paul I think if I had gone with Paul day One I would have passed a lot faster than I did .
