Taken from HERE as it was going off-topic
Peter Smythe:
Well done on passing your CAT C. Get on and do the CE while you’re still in a learning frame of mind. Experience can sometimes equal bad habits. Not a big deal. We never used to get used to C first; staged training is a relatively recent rule (1997). Get your CE. It will never be cheaper and it opens more doors when they eventually start to open. Good luck.
ROG:
Alternative view but not practical for most in a recession -
Do ‘C’ and drive for a few months but allot at least a couple of hours each week to drive like you did on test.
This will give you large vehicle experience and find out what the numpties out there can throw at you before progressing to a larger LGV.
Peter Smythe:
Now here’s a great idea: drive properly all the time and behave like a professional. If trained correctly, you should be able to do a great job without changing your style for the worse. Remember the LGV test is a test of professional driving. You’ve proved you can achieve it; why let it slip?
Before everyone shouts, yes of course I break speed limits from time to time and I don’t set myself up as perfect. That’s human nature. But we should all strive for the highest possible standards.
Does to ‘drive properly all the time’ mean to drive like we did on the DSA test 
I wonder how many of us actually drive like we did on our DSA tests ? - My guess is not many, WHY?
Because the DSA test is only a basic test of ability for the rules and getting from A to B in relative safety.
To expect a driver to drive that way for the rest of their driving career is not practical IMO.
Anyone else got thoughts on this
Hi rog
if i drove on the road as i did for my test all the time i would age a year in a day, and by the and of my first year on the road it would have felt like i have been driving truck for 20 years, 
and my stress level would be through the roof my doctor would be using my as a guinea pig for all the antidepressants on the market
so no how can you drive like that in normal life, you would never enjoy the job and all ways be looking for something else
There is no commercial element to driving toD.S.A.standard.When working you have to get there for certain times and the big difference is you are freighted .During training I was told use mirrors twice per minute .if you have a 9 hr. day ahead of you its important to pace yourself.
It was obvious this would be the general reaction so I’m not surprised at the comments. BUT it’s an indisputable fact that I’ve trained thousands of truckers over the last 30 odd years not just to pass a test - but to drive properly. A good number of very experienced drivers have come for upgrade from puddle jumper to class 2 and from class 2 to class 1. Invariably the conversation leads to “you’d never get the job done driving like this all the time” and “it’s years of bad habits”. It’s good to prove, without a shadow of doubt, that driving properly is a great deal less stressful, indeed is in itself relaxing and gives job satisfaction in spades. SAFED training is a case in point. Drivers always say that it’s too slow - but timed runs invariably disprove this.
What a shame when professional drivers are comfortable accepting that “years of bad habits” equate to good, safe, professional driving.
BTW, I’ve spent a good few years doing the job and putting this into practice - there is no doubt that proper driving works.
Drivers who are taught properly - well in excess of test standard - will be able to maintain a very high standard, get the job done and keep their blood pressure down. The problem stems, in some cases, with the initial training being barely enough to get through a test.
I put into action the way in which I had been trained today and I was trained to pass the test.
I felt it was safe, encouraged smooth and pro-active driving style…And the most important aspect for me, was the fact that I had not driven a full size LGV since I passed my test, until today, and I managed all the drops, I felt calm, I did not do any damage to my or anybody elses property and I drove with consideration and enjoyed it immensely.
When I was driving a puddle jumper, I was driving like a car driver. 
This is my experience so far…
Peter Smythe:
FED training is a case in point
Don’t get me started on that one.
Safety first and a flexible gear is priority over fuel economy any day.
When I was encouraged to try some SAFED driving it definitely did not put safety first.
I’m all for fuel economy but not at the expense of safety.
There was a thread on this subject a few months ago and most agreed with my views on this.
'm all for fuel economy but not at the expense of safety.
I’m sorry. I have yet to see the connection. You must have come across some very strange training if this is your considered opinion! Interesting that major insurers give discount to fleets undertaking the training. Maybe they’ve got it wrong as well??
I can only go by my experience -
The instructor teaching me SAFED had me using a low revs gear (lower part of green rev band) when going through a city and I found that I had to keep changing gear or braking but when using the flexible gear which put the revs in the middle of the green rev band, the drive was safer, more under control, needed less braking, less gear changing and made more use of accelerator control which in turn made for a much safer, smoother and consistent drive.
Using the lower end of the green rev band is fine when going along a road with very few hazards and accelerator sense is not likely to be needed but as for the rest…
The instructor teaching me SAFED had me using a low revs gear (lower part of green rev band) when going through a city
This time, and probably only this time!, I’m going to agree with you ROG. Under those circumstances it’ a nonsence to sacrifice flexibility in the gear. Far too high a price to pay for a teaspoonful of fuel.
But SAFED, as a rule, still remains a practical, safe and economic method of driving IMO.