Failed Class C Yesterday - Miserably

[ninefifty]

Well it was my first time and I paid for it privately despite being renting a property.
This is going to be a long one so I am going to break it down stage by stage.

My school was a good 35 miles away and I knew from two nights before that I wasn’t up to test standard but I had paid for a one week shared intensive training course with Ace in Sawbridgeworth, Hertsfrodshire - more in another topic I think.

Anyway,
At the test centre (Enfield) I knew my reversing skills were fine. I never had a problem with it. My instructor, Brian, had told me that as long as I looked at the other mirror three times I should get away with reversing, provided I parked correctly obviously.
Well, I got done for not making proper observations didn’t I? Paying more attention to my drivers side than the passenger side.

More explanations made clear to my examiner…
My nearside front wheel touched a kerb.
What kerb I protested? I had driven smoothly enough and had avoided all kerbs.

Causing other drivers to take evasive actions at roundabouts.
Well I had told my instructor Brian that I needed more help with roundabouts before the big day but he dismissed it as not being my only faults that needed brushing up on.
Whilst avoiding a kerb on entering a roundabout, another driver getting past me on the two lane entry avoided me. Examiner put me down for that.
An artic kept back at the approach to another roundabout - my examiner blamed me for that - again two laned approach and exit.

My Failures…
Reversing - done!
Gears - 3 minors
Steering - 1 serious - my guess being cross armed steering, something I refused to let go of not doing against instructor advice.
Moving off safely - 1 minor
Change direction - 1 serious
Change speed - 2 minors
Road markings - 1 minor
Traffic lights - 1 minor - from what I could see lights went to orange and I barely had enough space to stop in time.
Progress appropriate speed - 3 minors
Progress undue hesitation - 3 minors
Turning right - 1 minor
Positioning normal driving - both serious and dangerous faults marked
Position at normal stops - 1 minor
Awareness Planning - 1 minor
Gear change exercise - 1 minor - last thing I had prepared for was for this to be done on a busy dual 40mph dual carriageway.

Total points 21 consisting of 4 serious faults and 1 dangerous.

I don’t blame myself for failing badly as I wasn’t nervous on the day having known my fate was already sealed.
Had I known £900.00 was going to be just spent on driving lessons alone I wouldn’t have invested my money or time.

My examiner, Chris, was friendly enough. Young guy, but this is beside the point. You go to a test centre with only one aim in mind.

Me and my instructor even had a row after my test for which I got a screaming [zb] Off from him after a i rebuked him calling him ‘Soldier Boy’ because of what he had told me about his past and currently going army days.

Thankfully the school had a bus that had just taken its test and was going back to base whilst our lorry waited for our other pupil to take his test having had it postponed from the morning because our lorry had developed an electrical fault which got fixed just in time for me to take my test.

No commiserations please.
I have gotten over it and have laid plans for my next stage.

My instructor Brian even told me to find myself another career. Enough of him.
He has not been the only mental [zb] I have ever come across in my life and race has [zb] all to do with it. Profanity was our often commonly used language throughtout my course and I was mighty glad I could speak cockney as a natural.

Welcome to TNUK mate. Please can you have a quick read of the Forum Rules before posting any further? If it needs stars, it’s not allowed. L.

[scarab]

Ninefifty:
I wasn’t nervous on the day having known my fate was already sealed.

Oh come on man! that has to be THE number one reason a person will fail their test.

Its all about the positive mental attitude, doesn’t matter if you haven’t been up to the standard on previous drives what about if that hour was ‘the time’ it all came together and you drove flawlessly?

Its all about the positive mental attitude, if you think you will fail, you will. If you convince yourself you will pass, fire yourself up before hand, relax and enjoy the ride you WILL pass because you are in a better frame of mind to approach the problems presented.

I appreciate we can all feel a little down if we haven’t been doing well but that doesn’t mean that we have to take on dismissive attitudes.

Next time get into a better frame of mind, it will help significantly, I promise.

GOOD LUCK FOR NEXT TIME

Alex

[rizz]

I feel your pain, I also failed recently, infact im training for 4 hours tuesday and testing on wednesday morning from enfield, I failed with I think 11 or 12 minors and 1 serious, due to a bad gearchange , which resulted in coasting for a good 5 to 6 seconds, Considering I knew I was going to fail, I thought my drive went well, but after several bad gear changes I knew it was all over, stranely I wasn,t bothered as I didnt expect to pass, But on the way back after the test I never spoke a word, it really annoyed me, having to tell people I failed, not that I was bragging I would pass or anything. However I also felt on the thursday I just wasnt upto it, I knew I needed at least another 5 hours but the test was booked, and the only good thing is I know what to expect on wednesday, you could try another school, I trained with a company in Enfield, its 1 to 1 training, 830, for a weeks couse, and they charge 37 an hour plus 240 for a retest incuding 2 hours prior to it, if you want to try again, my point is im trying again with only 6 hours training, which is another £390, I wanted a little more but they were fully booked up, 900 notes is a lot to throw down the drain. Infact I already knew three people who passed on there third attempt so I factored that into my funds.

[ninefifty]

Rizz:
I trained with a company in Enfield, and they charge 37 an hour plus 240 for a retests incuding 2 hours prior to it, if you want to try again, my point is im trying again with only 6 hours training, 900 notes is a lot to throw down the drain.

Which school in Enfield did you use?

Scarab:
Next time get into a better frame of mind, it will help significantly, I promise.

I went in with a fighting frame of mind not a negative one.

[rizz]

I used a company called First Class Trucking there trucks come out of Edmonton Angel Road, north Circ, but there main office is Enfield

[rog]

Ninefifty:
My Failures…
Reversing - done!
Gears - 3 minors
Steering - 1 serious - my guess being cross armed steering, something I refused to let go of not doing against instructor advice.
That was a kerb - it is classed as a steering fault as you steered onto it
Moving off safely - 1 minor
Change direction - 1 serious
Prob not looking in your mirrors before moving when something else was there
Change speed - 2 minors
Road markings - 1 minor
Traffic lights - 1 minor - from what I could see lights went to orange and I barely had enough space to stop in time.
Progress appropriate speed - 3 minors
Progress undue hesitation - 3 minors
Turning right - 1 minor
Positioning normal driving - both serious and dangerous faults marked
That sounds like “lane discipline” - you had not got the lorry positioned on the road as it should be - or it cold be “drifting” out of lane
Position at normal stops - 1 minor
Awareness Planning - 1 minor
Gear change exercise - 1 minor - last thing I had prepared for was for this to be done on a busy dual 40mph dual carriageway.

Total points 21 consisting of 4 serious faults and 1 dangerous

[ninefifty]

Rizz:
I used a company called First Class Trucking there trucks come out of Edmonton Angel Road, north Circ, but there main office is Enfield

Cheers.
I know who they are and I have their details.
Might try another school I saw along the way too - DriverTransportTraining (one word).

[scania245]

was there anything you didnt get a fault on sorry been that long since i got mine cant remember ive never heard of anyone getting so many faults on one test and as such i nomminate you for newbie of the month
if you want to learn how to pass a test listen to your instructor
as you must have an ordinary licence so must have some road sense how did you get a dangerous your instructor never taught you that so why have a go at him think you need to focus you werent nervous i passed my class 3 2 1 and sweated bricks evrey test but i passed first time evrey one think an attitude change sunshine wouldnt hurt you you sat the test you failed the test dont blame your instructor for the worst test result ive seen
AS ABOVE GET YOUR SBBT TOGETHER SON

[rog]

scania245:
was there anything you didnt get a fault on sorry been that long since i got mine cant remember ive never heard of anyone getting so many faults on one test and as such i nomminate you for newbie of the month

I’ve seen worse - a lot worse

scania245:
you sat the test you failed the test dont blame your instructor for the worst test result ive seen

Now that would depend on the instructor - if they did all they could reasonably do. As you infer, the rest is up to the trainee - are they a general good driver? (turning up in a battered car does not inspire me with confidence as a few of mine have!!) Is the trainee proactive or reactive - forward thinking & planning or rush up and then try to sort it too late? - attitude plays a big part as do nerves.

[scania245]

ROG:

scania245:
was there anything you didnt get a fault on sorry been that long since i got mine cant remember ive never heard of anyone getting so many faults on one test and as such i nomminate you for newbie of the month

I’ve seen worse - a lot worse

scania245:
you sat the test you failed the test dont blame your instructor for the worst test result ive seen

Now that would depend on the instructor - if they did all they could reasonably do. As you infer, the rest is up to the trainee - are they a general good driver? (turning up in a battered car does not inspire me with confidence as a few of mine have!!) Is the trainee proactive or reactive - forward thinking & planning or rush up and then try to sort it too late? - attitude plays a big part as do nerves.

your to nice for your own good rog

[gpc273]

Another no no is being told to only look in your mirrors 3 times on the reverse…

[rog]

gpc273:
Another no no is being told to only look in your mirrors 3 times on the reverse…

Thanks - I was going to pick up on that but I am old and forgetful - look in the n/s mirror as many times as possible - I get mine to do a 3 way split vision - N/S/F wheel, N/S mirror & O/S mirror - oh and my trainees NEVER use the accelerator on the reverse and I only allow them to use the brake if absolutely needed (exept when in the garage) their right foot stays flat on the floor under the brake pedal.

[gerontius]

Hard luck ninefifty.

Looking through your original post, if you fancy having another go at it, you’ll need to start accepting some responsibility for your own performance on the test, instead of blaming everything/ everyone else and having rows with people. That has to be the starting point for putting it right.

Need to be calm & controlled. Otherwise it will show in your driving.

[mothertrucker]

Me and my instructor even had a row after my test for which I got a screaming [zb] Off from him after a i rebuked him calling him ‘Soldier Boy’ because of what he had told me about his past and currently going army days.

Well if a trainee uses insutling remasrks to his instructor he can hardly expect the guy not to retaliate. I certainly would not stand for being insulted by a trainee simply because he failed his test.

Profanity was our often commonly used language throughtout my course and I was mighty glad I could speak cockney as a natural.

Struck me as odd that this trainee was complaining about bad language then managed to get himself warned by Trucknet about using profanities himself

I have mentioned this thread and Ninefifty’s other thread to the instructor in question (Brian) so maybe he will join trucknet and give his own thoughts on the matter.

It is very easy so slag a person down on a forum when they are not there to defend their side of the story.

[ninefifty]

Mothertrucker:
It is very easy so slag a person down on a forum when they are not there to defend their side of the story.

I wish Brian was here to give his side of his story - I would just stare the guy down.
Now, now MotherTrucker, I only called Brian ‘Soldier Boy’ after he screamed at me to find myself another career.
Sounds to me like you are being very sympathetic to Brian.
I only give as good as good as I get.
I just wanted to cool down over my failures and let what was now to be the past be, Brian wanted to reflect on what I had failed on - the combination resulted in a clash of personalities for which he never saw me reaching boiling point. I was even ready to deck the guy had he as much as raised a hand or finger at me.
I am always cool on the outside.

I have reflected over the weekend my test performance and have realised why I failed on touching a kerb - parking!!!
My examiner got me to park my lorry at least 4 times for ontrolled moving off’s.
Would’ve helped if Brian did some more parking exercises with me.

Gerontious,
I have learned a lot from failing my test and it has told me where my weaknesses are.

ROG,
My car is sooo clean, you’d wonder what kind of person I was.

EVERYBODY,
If I am breaking any forum rules here in terms of my language or coming close , kindly let me know.
I am a good man .

[wheel_nut]

Unfortunately, or fortunately there are some people who are not born to drive trucks. If they can’t follow simple instruction from someone who is trying to help.

I wonder what happens when they meet someone who does not have to be helpful, like a security guard.

I just wanted to cool down over my failures and let what was now to be the past be, Brian wanted to reflect on what I had failed on - the combination resulted in a clash of personalities for which he never saw me reaching boiling point. I was even ready to deck the guy had he as much as raised a hand or finger at me.
I am always cool on the outside.

Surely that is his job

[rizz]

I think its fair to say the test is not easy, I also think in my opinion that 18.5 hours training is on the lean side for anyone, personally I think thats to keep the cost down, if you pass its a bonus if not well thats life, some pass first time but on another day they could easily fail, I dont take anything personally they are they to teach you and bust your balls if needs be. I have a differnt instructor for my retest, we might clash but I dont give a rats, I just soak it all up.

[ninefifty]

Rizz:
I think its fair to say the test is not easy, I also think in my opinion that 18.5 hours training is on the lean side for anyone, personally I think thats to keep the cost down, if you pass its a bonus if not well thats life, some pass first time but on another day they could easily fail, I dont take anything personally they are they to teach you and bust your balls if needs be. I have a differnt instructor for my retest, we might clash but I dont give a rats, I just soak it all up.

Here’s a person I admire.
You fall, you get off your … and try again.
Nothing comes easy, only the cheap.

WheelNut,
I was never born to do anything anyway.
If I was born with particular skills, I’d put trucking to my bottom pile.
As it goes, I love driving and long distance and that.
So begs the question, why not give trucking a go?
So here I am apparently making a fuss over failing first time?
WHAT■■?
AM I MAD■■?
Others have tried and failed then gone on to pass again.
I came here to highlight my failures not cry, sulk and get sympathy or attention.
I shall try again man .

Cool.

[mothertrucker]

My car is sooo clean, you’d wonder what kind of person I was.

What on EARTH has this got to do with driving a truck■■?

or passing or failing a test

[ninefifty]

Mothertrucker:

My car is sooo clean, you’d wonder what kind of person I was.

What on EARTH has this got to do with driving a truck■■?

or passing or failing a test

Speak to ROG.
It was his comment I was responding to not yours.

There are worse drivers out there than myself and ROG was making a pointer about people’s confidences based on how some look after their cars.
or
are you going to tell me I am wrong again

Speak to ROG about what people’s cars have to do with passing or failing their tests.

Stop getting angry with me man.