This is a serious question for those who have passed their cat C or C+E in the last year or so.
I am not looking for any one to recomend or not any training provider.
I am looking to see what we can add to or improve what we do.
I believe that a training course should prepare candidates to go out and do the job of a professional driver and not just pass a test the only thing no one can teach is experience.
For instance reversing we do a lot of reversing in real life situations during the course so candidates ar proficient and confident when going out to work and that includes blind side.
Was there anything missing from your course?
Were you left confused/unprepaired when that first day driving arrived i.e. tacho etc.
Were daily checks covered in depth? if not should they be. (I think they are one of the most important things to be trained you might disagree)
What would you like to see added to your course? or beleive should be added to a course.
Should vehicle loading be included?
Was it value for money?
Etc Etc.
If there was an extra cost involved would this have a baring on you answers, honesty please.
There is always room for improvement so help us do it.
Thanks in advance your thoughts will be gratefully received, after all you are the ones parting with money tell us what you want.
I was taught everything in great detail, had everything drummed into me, got both Wag & Drag and artic training (both empty and FULLY loaded) for the one price, we didnt spend much time in cafe’s/burger bars. I also got motorway training, taught how to split couple, taughtliner and fridge experience, dock experience, and bay parking. He also found me a job, which i had to turn down due to the location, but all in all, i couldn’t have asked for more.
mine did yes i took my class one 3 years ago but there service was good, the one thing that bugged me was that some training schools adds do sometimes fool you into believing that there have artics but when you go there there only use W&D
so i think the one thing that a training school can do is say in there add what is and no bull ,as we all know there are companies that will pull the wool over your eyes.
so my tip would be to have a honest add and if you have a website update it with new pics of trucks you have and prices right if there show them
My grievance is that I was not managed.It took me quite a few attempts to get my class C but after each failed test It felt as if it was up to me to suggest what I did next.They where quite happy for me to continue banging in for tests without getting to the route of my problems.I feel that I should have been advised too have quite a bit more training and then only have the one re-test.From a business sense I reckon they made a big mistake because after my test they let me walk away without offering me any of their other services.They are a big company would do plenty of other training such as FLT,HIAB ADR C+E etc and they missed the opportunity to sell it to me.Perhaps if they offered a discount on other products I would have been interested,anyway it’s their loss.
delboytwo:
mine did yes i took my class one 3 years ago but there service was good, the one thing that bugged me was that some training schools adds do sometimes fool you into believing that there have artics but when you go there there only use W&D
so i think the one thing that a training school can do is say in there add what is and no bull ,as we all know there are companies that will pull the wool over your eyes.
so my tip would be to have a honest add and if you have a website update it with new pics of trucks you have and prices right if there show them
I couldn’t agree more “dellboytwo”, when asking people are spending money they need to know what they are going to get for it, I will never enter an argument over wagon and drag V artic as I think they both have a place, we use an artic which is 16.5 mtr with a triaxle trailer on air because I think it is the most likely outfit a new driver will get.
Some schools prefer wagon and drag on a cost basis and a one man band I can understand that as they have to make a living.
you have given me the kick I need must update pics om the web site!!!
Deathstar:
My grievance is that I was not managed.It took me quite a few attempts to get my class C but after each failed test It felt as if it was up to me to suggest what I did next.They where quite happy for me to continue banging in for tests without getting to the route of my problems.I feel that I should have been advised too have quite a bit more training and then only have the one re-test.From a business sense I reckon they made a big mistake because after my test they let me walk away without offering me any of their other services.They are a big company would do plenty of other training such as FLT,HIAB ADR C+E etc and they missed the opportunity to sell it to me.Perhaps if they offered a discount on other products I would have been interested,anyway it’s their loss.
This was the very reason I went into training, I felt a lot of providers were interested in money and not the candidate which I think is very short sighted of them, businesess grow on reputation and giving value for money.
I am at work at the moment with a mountain of catching up to do is OK if I PM you later?
In reply to the original question Rick is aware of what I feel towards my C&E trainers.
They got me through the test, told me which hoops to jump through and how to jump through them, but did not give me any guidance/advice in terms of driving in the real world. They are focussed more on money than having that personal touch.
In terms of being taught more work based stuff, people might be prepared to pay more for it, but they might not they may purely put choosing who to train with down to the cheapest gets it and won’t look at the bigger picture. HOWEVER if you were able to do a course maybe at weekends or something which people could pay separately for which would give them the chance to learn work based techniques and things they will need to know in day to day work, that could be a cracking idea
garnerlives:
if you were able to do a course maybe at weekends or something which people could pay separately for which would give them the chance to learn work based techniques and things they will need to know in day to day work, that could be a cracking idea
Such as a Saturday am course on loading (hands on) and/or tacho regs -Hmmm - or a 7 hour course which could be used for Periodic Driver CPC…
Thanks to Rick for starting this thread. It’s information that any good trainer will want to have in order to keep up and offer the best possible training.
Such as a Saturday am course on loading (hands on) and/or tacho regs -Hmmm - or a 7 hour course which could be used for Periodic Driver CPC…
Been doing it for years Rog, with the tacho course being cpc for bus and coach sector since last September. We expect to work Saturdays on a regualar basis to provide cpc. A dammed sight less expensive than Big Train as well!
ROG:
Such as a Saturday am course on tacho regs -Hmmm - or a 7 hour course which could be used for Periodic Driver CPC…
Here ya go ROG, become a drivers’ hours and digi-tach trainer… once you’ve simplified a 7-hour module for the candidates, everybody would get their 35 hours in one fell swoop.
Alright, alright, I know it’s time I wasn’t here… <slinks away>
Any training provider should be willing to provide the service that customers want.
Weekend working is very much part and parcel(4 out of the last 5 for me)- purely because the customer asked for it.
We all (well most that I know of) strive to deliver the highest quality training whether it is driver training or driver CPC(again better value for money than Big Train ), but ultimately the customers needs have to be met.
It isn’t all about taking money and hang the consequences- some of us do care
Data Academy:
I just thought it made sense to ask the guys who had recently done their training what miffed them or in fact pleased them about their provider.
IMHO, that’s a very good idea, cos handing out feedback forms at the end of a course (of any kind) is putting yet more pressure on the candidate.
I feel that the candidate might feel obligated to write something nice, especially if the instructor that just taught them is the person who hands them the form.
Just my own opinion, but I never forget that our job is ALL about the candidate.
instructorone:
We could send a feedback form to the candidate a few weeks after the training, for them to fill in anon if they wanted.
Hi Chris,
There are a couple of ADR providers that I work for who already do that, but their admin staff do it at random.
I’ll be speaking to one of them who use that system on Monday, so I’ll ask a couple of questions about how they operate their feedback system and whether they think it works. We’d have to bear in mind that they don’t do any form of LGV tuition, and that everything they do is classroom-based.
I’ll report the answers on the ‘random’ feedback system this post.
Other providers that I work for use a feedback system whereby every candidate is routinely given a feedback form at the end of their course, but both filling it in, or whether they put their name to it, are both optional.
IMHO, what works for a classroom-based course might not be suitable for the more practical type of courses, such as actual LGV driving tuition, but I do reckon it’s good to at least consider the relative merits of both systems, because it can’t harm to consider alternative ways of doing things.
-Hmmm - or a 7 hour course which could be used for Periodic Driver CPC… 
