Hi Folks,
Just finished my 1st day C+E training and i’m burnt out. I think i’ve made the old mistake of going for a 3 day course instead of a 4 day course just to save money. Only got one and a half days left to sort the job out. 
Oh well, fingers crossed i have a better day tomorrow!
Cheers
Hi,
I did the same, first day came home thinking no way on earth am i going to do this, second day things seemd to completely change, I was worryiing about nothing, things started to come natural without me having to seriously comcentrate and worry, so don,t panic tomorrow will be abetter day
good luck
A good nights kip will help sort things out 
Maybe posting about what you did may help as well
Evening Folks,
Today consisted of 1-2-1 training sarting at 08.30 and finishing at 1600. I was met by my instructor and after a quick **** (mickey) taking and hello’s we headed out to our vehicle, an R reg Volvo FL7. As we only had 3 1/2 days training my instructor said we need to crack on, after a quick introduction to the vehicle we hit the road. My instructor drove for about 30 mins and then handed the vehicle over to me and we set of for fun and games!
First of all i have to say something about my instructor, what a top fella! Every time i made a mistake (made many) he called me a useless twit (or something like that) told me where i went wrong.
Most of the day was spent on the test routes as we haven’t got much time for anything else, country road driving, built up areas and the most awkward juctions and roads you can imagine. Had about 1 hour on the reversing and it started off as a real problem, i just couldn’t figure out which way to turn the wheel. After a bit of head scratching and shunting i sort of figured it out ( i think ) Only managed to get it in the bay once without a shunt, but as my instructor said “you coudn’t do that an hour ago!”
The un/couple went fine, just a bit of a shock not to see a trailor behind you!
The problems that i’ve been having are:
1,Getting used to a maual gearbox
2, Reverse and which way to turn
3, how much space do a take when turning right or left.
At the end of my first day i feel like i’ve done some good but also feel like i’ve got a hell of alot of work to do before i’m ready for my test.
Only 1 1/2 days to go and my test is on Friday @12.15pm. Looking forward to another days training…the pressure is on!
Regards smokinbarrels 
now get some ZZZZZZZZZZs
i start my class 1 training next monday and am hoping it is going to be better than my first day class 2 where i was awful and just pleased that i got through the day without killing anyone…passed first time though
Reverse and which way to turn
When reversing an C+E remember not to think too much about which way to turn the wheel just concentrate on the rar end of the trailer and which mirror it is showng up in.
If it is cutting too far towards your left mirror then steer the wheel towards it (left hand down) so you are pushing it back where it belongs behind you.
Similarly if it is coming too far over into the right hand mirror theen push it back behind you by using right hand town to correct it.
If you spend to much time concentrating on the steering wheel itself you lose the plot of what you are actually hoping to achieve.
Hope that makes sense.
I always thought that 2 pupils worked better. It gives each one time to chill between sessions and I felt that I saw a lot of mistakes that the other guy made without me having to make it. You may not be driving all the time, but I felt I was learning all the time.
Mind you, it was a long time ago…(me being an old git 
)
Hey up smokinbarrels have got my test on friday at 1300hrs -i was in the same boat as you only last week,found on the 2nd day it all started to come together,was just told by my instructor to take everything slowly and plan things well ahead,i really struggled with the reversing but it seems ok now ,my problem is that i have had no driving this week because there was a problem with the test booking but have got a couple of hours before test good luck mate keeep us imformed !!!
BEZZA:
Hey up smokinbarrels have got my test on friday at 1300hrs -i was in the same boat as you only last week,found on the 2nd day it all started to come together,was just told by my instructor to take everything slowly and plan things well ahead,i really struggled with the reversing but it seems ok now ,my problem is that i have had no driving this week because there was a problem with the test booking but have got a couple of hours before test good luck mate keeep us imformed !!!
GOOD LUCK!
s—t!!! failed the c+e test today never even got out the test centre got the reverse completly wrong (not had problem with this at all )examiner asked if i still wanted to go out on the rd to do test i declined i was so p—sed off with myself oh well another load of money to do another test next week ,hope others had better luck
Hi Folks,
Today must be a day for failing 
I failed my test on 1 crappy fault, going through an industrial estate, long straight road with a long line off parked cars on my left hand side. As i approached a car came into view at the other end and stopped, i also stopped then we both waited and waited a bit longer and then set off at the same time and met in the middle with nowhere to go… bugger At that point it was game over for me. Even tho i knew it was game over i still drove to test standard and returned to the centre. After a re/couple he did his maths and hit me with what i was expecting. He asked me if i knew where i went wong and i told him the exact point it went wrong, we both agreed and apart from that point it was a test passing drive. 
I’ve passed all my other tests first time and only needed this one for a full house! Oh well, i’ll have to wait a while and do my test again and this time i will pass it! My instructor said i don’t need anymore training just a test, so shouldn’t be to expensive?
I only need the licence for a bit of part-time work. It’s back to driving fire engines tomorrow and before i know it i’ll be going through red lights, going up curbs and MAKING OTHER DRIVERS STOP AND CHANGE DIRECTION!!
I’ll let you all know when my re-test is and keep you posted.
Regards Smokinbarrels. 
Whast rotten luck.
Sorry to hear that mate and better luck next time.
smokinbarrels & BEZZA
NEXT TIME =
Evening Folks,
Latest update on the C+E training is that they don’t have a waggon available during the week until mid March. I’m not best pleased and feel i’m getting more and more rusty by the day 
. They don’t normally do weekend training/ tests but are in the process of applying for a saturday test, from what i’ve been told its a case of asking the examiners if they want to work a Saturday morning for a bit of overtime?
Fingers crossed they come up with something soon!
Regards Smokinbarrels.
smokinbarrels:
Evening Folks,
Latest update on the C+E training is that they don’t have a waggon available during the week until mid March. I’m not best pleased and feel i’m getting more and more rusty by the day
Fingers crossed they come up with something soon!
Regards Smokinbarrels.
Will you get some warm up time for reversing & road drive etc before the retest 
Hi Rog,
I’ll only be renting the waggon for a half day and If i get a late morning or late afternoon test i’ll get chance of a quick refresher. If its an early test its going to be a case of a quick reverse before setting off and short drive to the test centre.
Thanks for all the great advice, you really do go a long way to helping us wanabee drivers pass our tests!
Regards Smokinbarrels
dont worry to much about how lonh you have to wait my mate who i work with he had to wait 7 weeks for retest and he passed …i had to wait 4 and passed
Hi all just found the site
To all you who are tacking your tests if you screw-up on the reversing don’t stop there go out on the road
Take it as experience :- on my test I didn’t make the box went on the road got back to the yard for the uncoupling put the drag brake on one of the legs wouldn’t go down even got the examiner to have a go no it still staid up SO THE TEST WAS ABORTED NO MONEY TO PAY here comes a retest
When my retest came it was canceled on the day for bad weather but when my re-re test day came I passed 
Welcome reddragon 