I came within a gnats wisker of signing up with Sterling Training before Vince showed me the way to this fanastic forum. Alarm bells started ringing when I read so much negative comment about them so I decided to ring them. (I’m in Leeds)
They do only teach you in some lightweight vehicle, (forgotten what he said it was now) then wack a trolly on the back and thats you’re Artic course taken care of. You can, (for extra money) get a days course on a "proper"artic.
Anyway the purpose of my post is to get some advice. I suspect all these questions have been aske before but here goes:
I have wittled my choice of trainers down to Tockwith training or L & T Driver Training. any comments, or recommendations on others I have missed in the West Yorksire area?
What is the concesus of opinion on taking the Artic course straight after the rigid course? Do you suggest getting some experience on rigids before going to artics? has anyone gone straight to a job on artics?
I suppose it does double your chance of getting work if you can drive all classes.
Any advice welcome, I’m sure I will think of other questions i’ve missed
Tugman, I’m in a similar situation to you, and after doing my research & getting advice from various people on this forum, I have decided to train with Tockwith Training at York. I live in Hull, so am willing to travel approx. 100 mile round trip each day.
The reason I have chosen them is that they do 1 to 1, FULL day lessons 8.30 - 4, which I reckon gives you a better chance passing 1st time. Some say that it gets tiring driving all day, but that’s what the job is all about so I reckon it’s more realistic. I may be wrong, but it appealed to me.
I have had my assessment with them & was advised to do 5 days (35 hours training) with the test on last day… (£1499 inc test)
I have heard they have a relatively high 1st time pass rate of 60-70% due to the intense nature of the course.
Anyway, I’ve got theory on Friday, then I get stuck in with practical. I’ll let you know what I think when I’ve started.
Hope that helps a bit.
Tugman, I did my training with L&T about four years ago and found no fault with them at all. All the instructors were easy to get on with and they had decent waggons to learn on. A proper artic and a waggon and drag with bodies ie no flatbeds. I drove seven and half tonners and rigids for about two or three months and started driving artics as soon as I passed my test. Still drove rigids as well for about a month then went on to artics permanent.
I think it would have been easier to drive rigids first for a longer period but I don’t regret the way I did it because I much prefer the bendys to the rigids. Hope this helps, any other questions please ask.
It might help if you went a long to L&T for a look around, sure they be only to pleased to show you the fleet and they will arrange medical much cheaper than I could get it.
This is a reply i got from scania when i asked about there training , They are offering reduced rates at the minute and they have been very helpful so far.
The training centre is in worksop sheffield
We can currently offer you a 4 - 5 day Category C+E course for £883 + Vat + £89 (no vat) for the practical test. This arrives at a total of £1,126.50. This is a 10% discount on our normal prices. Please let me know if this is competitive?
Should you wish to have a free hour long assessment, i.e. meet the truck and trainer on site at Sheffield or Worksop please do not hesitate to give me a call.
Any queries you may have, feel free to email me or, if you have a spare minute in between driving, please give me a call on the telephone number below.
tugman:
What is the concesus of opinion on taking the Artic course straight after the rigid course? Do you suggest getting some experience on rigids before going to artics? has anyone gone straight to a job on artics?
I suppose it does double your chance of getting work if you can drive all classes.
Tugman
I recommend doing 6 months C work before going to CE - it makes the CE easier to do without losing your knowledge of the DSA procedures you learnt on C. Knowing the day to day problems that lorry drivers can come across and how to deal with them is invaluable when learning CE.
I did both my tests with L+T and found them to be first class. would defo say they are worth a serious look. They use proper kit and have a good set up with some top instructors.
blueroom1: We can currently offer you a 4 - 5 day Category C+E course for £883 + Vat + £89 (no vat) for the practical test. This arrives at a total of £1,126.50. This is a 10% discount on our normal prices.
The company I learned with charge £690+VAT+test, coming in at a total of £900 (or close enough).
keano1:
Tugman, I’m in a similar situation to you, and after doing my research & getting advice from various people on this forum, I have decided to train with Tockwith Training at York. I live in Hull, so am willing to travel approx. 100 mile round trip each day.
The reason I have chosen them is that they do 1 to 1, FULL day lessons 8.30 - 4, which I reckon gives you a better chance passing 1st time. Some say that it gets tiring driving all day, but that’s what the job is all about so I reckon it’s more realistic. I may be wrong, but it appealed to me.
I have had my assessment with them & was advised to do 5 days (35 hours training) with the test on last day… (£1499 inc test)
I have heard they have a relatively high 1st time pass rate of 60-70% due to the intense nature of the course.
