Hi everyone, my name is Doug, and I’m new here. I’m just about to embark on an 8 day LGV C intensive training course with Wallace School Of Transport from Park Royal, but my training will be in Watford. It is quite expensive compared to other driving schools such as Advantage HGV, Direct LGV and others. However, I saw loads of bad reviews of these two companies on the net, and I feel like I’ve made the right choice with Wallace. I’m currently a fork lift driver driver at DHL B&Q Radlett, working with Pertemps Agency, so as you will know, agency work is [zb]. I did a driving course on C in 2003, passed the theory and hazard perception, got 28 hours driving but due to illness in the family, didn’t finish the course…I used Pioneer Training in Chadderton, Oldham but I feel they ripped me off as their training standards left a lot to be desired, as did the old Volvo rigid they used and they had me double declutching as well, even then when all the other training schools had stopped doing it. So yeah, I feel like the ripped me off, and I spent a lot of money which ultimately went nowhere for me…Gutted!!!. Next thing, my theory pass had expired in 2005. This time I’m starting from scratch again, and passed the theory on 99/100 and hzp on 79. I’ve asked the shunters at work and they tell me Wallace are good as gold, in fact, only one driver from Redhouse described them as [zb]s but couldnt give me a reason why. Anyone out there who can give me any guidance? It would be appreciated! I’m 45 next birthday so I know I’ve left it a bit late I suppose, but better late than never as it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. It’s costing me £1,875 for my course, but the training standards at Wallace are high as far as I know. I want to go straight onto C+E but I haven’t got the money yet, but anyway, that’s what I want. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers, Doug
If it needs stars to get it past the auto censor, that’s your clue that you’re trying to use a banned word.
The stars DO NOT make the word become acceptable. dd.
8 days training is steep, to be fair most drivers do it within 5 and if you did 28 hours prior it would of come back … in my opinion you pay more because of the newer vehicles they have.
Mate, now you have paid, listen to your instructor some will come straight away some will take time to sink in most of all enjoy and it will all fall into place, just do not stress you will be fine fingers crossed you pass 1st time let me know how you get on GOOD LUCK!!!
You’ve chosen a very good trainer and I’m pleased to see that you haven’t just gone for the cheapest. The training duration is great - I wish this was much more the norm.
You may be interested to look at Mr. Happy’s thread.
I wish you all the best with your training and test.Pete 
But also cheaper is not always worse i trained with Data Academy in leicester and i found their training of a high quality and at a reasonable pice thanks Dave
That is not a bad price for the 8 days tbh & at least you havent gone with a broker
Listen to your instructor & ask all the questions you want as that is what you are paying for
Will this include any of your cpc ( take it you dont need the initial ) but poss could get 7 hrs out of the way
I had my first Wallace lesson today Mon 20th Jun. I have a really good instructor called Simon. At first I was really intimidated by the DAF rangechange gearbox, but I think I’m getting the hang of it. I’m lucky, I have a good instructor with a sense of humour so I quickly felt at ease. I’m a lot more confident than I was before, and am looking forward to my 4 hour lesson tomorrow.
Hi Doug, glad the 1st day went well for you, just relax and take it slowly and it will all come together…remember…there is NO rush!!!
Any chance of a training diary for us to read■■? 
Also…welcome to the forum…any questions that you have ( no matter how daft you might think they are) can be answered on here by the more experienced guys and gals 
.
When is your test?
John.
Good look doug i hope you pass first time
Thanks John, and also thanks to the others who replied to my post…
Yeah, a training diary is a good idea:
First day Mon 20th June went quite well. I like my instructor, he has a good sense of humour. The driving bit went quite well, although I did struggle a bit with my approach to roundabouts and general road hazards that kinda just spring up. Went to practice in the car park of Wembley satadium, msmpsl routine, did well there but when I got back on the road it fell apart a bit. I struggled.
Second day Tues 21st June. I think this day is best written off. I had a bad day.
Third day Weds 22nd June… Struggled at first. Went to Wembley, practiced reversing into simulated loading bay 4 times, perfect… Was happy with it and Simon my instructor was too. He asked me why I thought I’d struggle with reversing? I dunno, I just did I suppose. The drive back, round the north circular and up the M1 to J5 was good. I weaved in the lane a bit, but that was all, oh and I hesitated with overtaking at first but then was ok with it. Simon said it was my best drive so far. I think my Tuesday problems arose from too much caffeine. I downed a couple of Monster shots and a can of Relentless before my lesson. I won’t be doing that again!!! My lesson today starts at half 2 ending at half 6, I’ll let you know how it goes. Cheers, D
DougSM69:
Thanks John, and also thanks to the others who replied to my post…
Yeah, a training diary is a good idea:
First day Mon 20th June went quite well. I like my instructor, he has a good sense of humour. The driving bit went quite well, although I did struggle a bit with my approach to roundabouts and general road hazards that kinda just spring up. Went to practice in the car park of Wembley satadium, msmpsl routine, did well there but when I got back on the road it fell apart a bit. I struggled.
Second day Tues 21st June. I think this day is best written off. I had a bad day.
Third day Weds 22nd June… Struggled at first. Went to Wembley, practiced reversing into simulated loading bay 4 times, perfect… Was happy with it and Simon my instructor was too. He asked me why I thought I’d struggle with reversing? I dunno, I just did I suppose. The drive back, round the north circular and up the M1 to J5 was good. I weaved in the lane a bit, but that was all, oh and I hesitated with overtaking at first but then was ok with it. Simon said it was my best drive so far. I think my Tuesday problems arose from too much caffeine. I downed a couple of Monster shots and a can of Relentless before my lesson. I won’t be doing that again!!! My lesson today starts at half 2 ending at half 6, I’ll let you know how it goes. Cheers, D
Thurs 23rd June made good progress, still a couple of mistakes here and there, nothing major though. Approach to roundabouts is getting better… mirrors, signal, position, brake below 20mph smoothly and in good time, change down to 6th gear and if the way ahead is clear go, or stop, clutch down when engine revs are between 800-1000 rpm, handbrake on if stopping for more than 10 seconds, range switch down, into 4th gear, switch up, check mirrors and blindspot, handrake off as clutch comes up and go. I’ve also been doing block gear changes from 4th to 6th if road and traffic conditions allow…
Fri 24th June went over to the VOSA test centre at Yeading, drove around some of the test route… Particularly enjoyed the drive on the M25 to get there, although that’s about the first time I’ve ever liked the road to hell lol. I made good progress but towards the end of my 4 hour lesson things started to go wrong, didn’t allow a big enough gap between the DAF and some parked cars and stalled it a couple of times just near Rickmansworth at some traffic lights on a hill…
Today, Sun 26th June am just going to be reading the DSA Driving Goods Vehicles handbook, and I have 10 more hours of tuition before my cat C driving test on Weds 29th June at 12:30pm. I’ll write more tomorrow after my lesson at 11am. I’m hoping I pass first time, just got to remember everything Simon has shown me. I’ve been lucky, I have a good instructor and it’s been fun so far except when my driving goes wrong…
i cant beleive you had to have 8 days traing was that because you only did 4 hrs a day i passed with two days training over a weekend starting at 6 am till 6 pm sat and 7am till 1pm sun with 1 hr before test on monday morning
I passed my C test today with Wallace School Of Transport of Park Royal http://www.wallaceschool.co.uk/ I am very pleased with the high standard of training that I received from Mr Simon Faulkner of Wallace School. I recommend them wholeheartedly!
Thanks for your support everyone!
cbarnes:
i cant beleive you had to have 8 days traing was that because you only did 4 hrs a day i passed with two days training over a weekend starting at 6 am till 6 pm sat and 7am till 1pm sun with 1 hr before test on monday morning
We’re all different mate. Big up you that didn’t need as much tuition, but I did it thanks to Simon Faulkner, and I’m very happy with the high standards of training at Wallace School Of Transport.
DougSM69:
cbarnes:
i cant beleive you had to have 8 days traing was that because you only did 4 hrs a day i passed with two days training over a weekend starting at 6 am till 6 pm sat and 7am till 1pm sun with 1 hr before test on monday morning
We’re all different mate. Big up you that didn’t need as much tuition, but I did it thanks to Simon Faulkner, and I’m very happy with the high standards of training at Wallace School Of Transport.
i wasnt bigging my self up sorry if it seemed like it was just merely stating my experiance i think in the long run we had almost the same amount of hours just yours was shorting driving times
