Talked to a few drivers recently who have just passed their tests on C and CE and have been told that both had autos and reversing cameras on the trucks they passed in.
My first thoughts were how does this help in the real world and it appears my judgement to be true looking on some of the posts and questions on the newbie forum.
There appears to be a large number of posts from newbies saying they are or have struggled when placed into a manual truck, especially when loaded and god knows how many, sometimes basic, questions about drivers hours and tacho laws that i would assume they should know already, especially as they would have done their cpc training.
I have always thought that the 2 years experience rule was a stupid one but to be fair looking at some of the posts from the newbie section I’m not so sure now.
Taking a test in an auto, a couple of ton on the back, reversing camera and markers on the back to help is not the real world at all.!
Any easier and might as well just send the licences out in the post after applying for one!
Tbf if i owned a 150 grand truck and somebody turned up for an interview telling me this i would be telling them to come back when they’ve learnt how to drive a truck too!
Everyone has got to start somewhere. It’s only once you’ve passed that you start learning. The training courses aren’t long enough, and don’t prepare a driver to an acceptable standard for test, hence why pass rates are so low. I know from when I passed I wasn’t good enough to pass, but got lucky.
How ready were any of us and how suitable were the truck we learned to drive in compared to what we were going to drive once we’d passed our test?
I did my training and passed my test in a 6 speed manual truck, with a window in the back so you could look behind, hooked up to a 30ft empty flatbed trailer and as you could go straight to artics the only truck I’d driven before that was a 7.5t Ford D series.
The first truck I drove after I passed my test was an F12 Volvo with 16gears (splitter and range change) hooked up to a 45ft fully loaded tilt trailer.
As for tachograph training there was nothing, I got a copy of the Headlight booklet on Tachograph Rules as my reference book.
And as for Newbie drivers asking basic questions on Drivers Hours Rules, there are plenty of basic questions from “more experienced” drivers on here, and plenty of wrong answers from supposedly experienced drivers.
muckles:
As for tachograph training there was nothing, I got a copy of the Headlight booklet on Tachograph Rules as my reference book.
So true, after passing my C, the bloke i went out with had to show me how to put my digi card in
Both lorries i passed in both had analogue tachos and were no use to me.
I learnt everything i know now from an online demo tacho
Coolrider:
There appears to be a large number of posts from newbies saying they are or have struggled when placed into a manual truck, especially when loaded
Driving a truck is no big deal, if I can do it anyone can. What employer still uses manual vehicles anyway? Things have moved on, new generation of vehicles for a new generation of drivers.
Coolrider:
Tbf if i owned a 150 grand truck and somebody turned up for an interview telling me this i would be telling them to come back when they’ve learnt how to drive a truck too!
I find this shocking to be honest !
I guess you’d have £150k worth of truck & goods sat in the yard with no one to deliver if there was an apparent shortage of drivers [emoji16][emoji15]
Coolrider:
Talked to a few drivers recently who have just passed their tests on C and CE and have been told that both had autos and reversing cameras on the trucks they passed in.
My first thoughts were how does this help in the real world
Well in regards to automatic gearboxes, pretty much everything now is auto and if you want a manual gearbox its an optional extra you pay for so I would say in that respect its no different.
This is nothing new. Since when has the test ever ever prepared someone for the real world? If anything the difference in t’ old days was more of a gulf and even less relevant.
The reversing test has always been a poncy chicane. I passed in a small draw bar and my first day in an artic was a Christian Salvesen FL12 6 wheel midlift unit with range changer and splitter pulling a gray Adams reefer at 0300 dark am in freezing rain outside Salvos dingy cold store down one of the back alleys. The next day an ERF twin splitter. The day after a hitler’s revenge powerliner 2 with that crap electronic 90s EPS gearbox
Some serious rosy tinted specs are being worn here. Remember, you didn’t have to pass SAS selection on the “fan dance” to drive back in the old days. We all did our best to muddle through on a course that was arguably less relevant to the vehicles and operation back then than today’s course is to today’s driving.
They are taught what is needed to pass a test…just like we were.
You teach yourself after you get to go out alone the first time and hopefully keep learning till you are competent and safe ! Admittedly I roped and sheeted as a kid and tied barrels down with rope and did some shunting at home in a variety of wagons.
But in about 35 yrs I have honestly never pulled an artic curtain sider . Tanker for most of my time and Flats with all sorts of machinery on . Moved the old skelly /containers probably less than a dozen times and twice I drove a wagon and drag combo .
And I have Driven an auto less than a dozen times too !
I feel sorry for new Agency lads that are in the deep end it must be a frightening first few weeks , so it’s no wonder people want two yrs experience as the kit is so expensive.
Perhaps we should BAN agencies and make haulage companies teach drivers and make them come up through the ranks so to speak ! But that would cost and be impossible in today’s crazy logistics world so we are where we are .
Good luck newbies I am glad I am Retired !!!
On your lessons, you don’t do a blindside reverse as it is not required on the test. You don’t run fully loaded either, so as others have said, you simply do enough to show you have the basic skills to control the vehicle.
You can gain a full CE license, by driving a 12 tonner wag n drag auto. The trainers don’t mind, because its a nice little earner for them, by offering a ’ conversion course '. In other words, come back for a couple of hours in an artic, and/or a manual gearbox.
Ker-ching!!
IMO, the training and test criteria, need somewhat toughening up. And before anyone thinks they are clever, yes I passed in a knackered 51 plate DAF CF manual artic.
There appears to be a large number of posts from newbies saying they are or have struggled when placed into a manual truck, especially when loaded and god knows how many, sometimes basic, questions about drivers hours and tacho laws that i would assume they should know already, especially as they would have done their cpc training.
I find this hard to believe unless they only had an auto car license. Most I assume have already been taught how to change gear so why would they need to taught again? If they cannot work out how to change on a loaded truck they should not be driving.
Regarding not knowing basic drivers hours etc that is their own fault for not learning or maybe they should have to pass a test on their CPC. Now that would stop a few getting on the road.
Driver regs are not covered that well for newbies but they could be if the authorities (EU) ever decide to take a common sense decision to change initial dcpc mod 2 to a test on the regs …
LGV trainees only learn on one type of gearbox and as there are so many out there then it makes no odds as to what they train with
All the practical training issues could be dealt with if all the trainees were prepared to pay a lot more for extended training but is that realistic as it could amount to about £4k for each course ?
haha
