Long post alert…
A number of years back, a good mate of mine bought a gem of a book titled “The Large Goods Vehicle Driving Test” by David P. Soye. Having heard that I was going for mine very soon (have suffered a severe setback - will post elsewhere) he kindly lent it to me. Still in pristine condition - he understandably wants it back. Faithfully wash my hands before I pick it up!
This particular edition was published in 1991 - had gone through various updates since '76.
Chapter 1 is about the LGV licence itself and the route you have to go down to get a hold of it. This is when the EU licence was coming in and it went into detail about the fact that separate HGV and PSV licences were no longer being issued by the DVLA, but were all contained in one document. A fact that came as a surprise to me was that from April 1991 was that a provisional licence was needed for driving PSVs - I thought that this came in just after the HGV licence.
It then went on to explain that the old HGV Class 2 and 3 licences were being replaced with the new LGV Class C licence. This also gave C+E restricted to drawbar entitlement.
HGV Class 1 drivers got LGV Class C+E unrestricted entitlement. As it is only 1991, no mention was made of staged testing, as you could go straight for your C+E without bothering about the C at that time.
To get your provisional back then you had to send in the application form, medical and your full car driving licence (I didn’t think this came in till 1997). This is the same as it is today - except you also had to send in a fiver along with it. I got my provisional C (and D!) for a much more agreeable price…!!
A lot more palaver to get the full licence when you passed - you had to fill in yet another application form(!), your licence, your test pass cert - and (the cheek of it!!) - a tenner! Forms had to be sent to Swansea - I thought in those days you had to send them to the Traffic Commissioner.
Chapter 2 went into more specific issues about the LGV licence. The forms you had to fill in received special attention. The average cost of the medical back then was in the region of 40 quid. Renewal time for licences was the same as now - 45 yrs old and every 5 yrs after that. You could not get an LGV or PCV licence if you had any sort of epileptic attack since the age of 5 - nowadays you can have one if you haven’t had epileptic seizures for 10 years. Eyesight standard still the same. Seems you could still get a licence if you were diabetic and injecting insulin - wouldn’t be issued with one nowadays.
Mentioned the need for good driver conduct - said that the DVLA would look into motoring offences in general, and pay particular attention to offences related to drivers hours and records, loading and vehicle condition. More than 4 penalty points meant that the Commissioners had the final say in the granting of the licence.
Provisional conditions at this time - the learner had to be supervised and display either car or good old HGV L plates. It is a pity that they have done away with the latter option… 
Mentioned that car learners couldn’t drive on motorways, but LGV learners could. Also mentioned that LGV provisional licence holders were allowed to tow unlike their car counterparts. Apart from the sad demise of the HGV L plates, none of this appears to have changed much with the following exception. If you pass a car test nowadays, you have to pass another test before you can tow trailers.
One last word here - driving licence fees were as follows - provisional car £17, exchange - £5, duplicate - £5, motorcycle - £5.
Driving test fees - £19.50 (car), LGV - £45.
Chapter 3 was about penalty points and endorsements. Won’t bore you with the details…
Chapter 4 - now we’re really down to business - it was on the actual real deal LGV test itself!
The first paragraph mentioned that the gear change had been modified (if another thread here is to be believed, then it’s due to be phased out next year - YIPPEE!!! 
) and that the forward steering exercise 
was being eliminated.
Next on the agenda was the application for the test. Pointed out that a common mistake regarding test vehicles was not taking the OVERALL MEASUREMENTS. Did the examiners get a tape measure out before the start of tests back then!?
The author baffled me with the following - he said that needed to have your driving licence with the provisional LGV on it. He then went on to say that the test will not be cancelled if you forget it - but that the examiner needed your driver number and current address. Would writing this info down on a scrap of paper do nowadays just in case? (especially handy if you’re prone to forgetting your way home I suppose!).
One other thing of note - the length of the test had been reduced from 2 hours to 1.5 hrs.
Comparing this book to the DSA’s own up to date guide shows that the actual test was not all that much different back then to what it is today.
But one of the most interesting parts of the whole book was reserved for the section titled “Primary Failure Points”. The author revealed that the most common causes for failure were - 1. Act correctly at road junctions - 2. Make proper use of gears (once again confusing - how can it possibly be dangerous to simply be in the wrong gear?!) 3. Make proper use of mirrors. Implication here is that simply looking isn’t enough. The follow on part on how to deal with junctions (approach, negotiation and departure) is so well explained I now put this into practice religiously. Feel that my overall standard of driving has improved because of this - and in the space of a fortnight! Just imagine what a week with an LGV instructor will do for me!!!
Other failure points were - Exercise proper care in the use of speed and Make normal progress to suit varying traffic conditions (undue hesitation?).
The end of the test is different now of course - no Highway Code or road signs now. Vehicle safety questions are asked at the beginning now instead of at the end as then.
A final section on “Popular Misconceptions on the Driving Test” concludes this chapter.
Chapter 5 is on coupling and uncoupling trailers. You didn’t have to do this on the test then - but you had to answer questions on it.
The procedure for fifth wheel and automatic couplings was explained. Apart from the mysterious “automatic” coupling (I haven’t even seen anything on this site!) that I’d never heard about until reading this, it seems to be the same as today.
When the new licence regulations were drafted back in '91, they stated that it was possibe to use drawbar trailers on test. Back then, this idea seemed very strange. Drivers who passd a Class C test got this entitlement anyway - and the only additional benefit that Class 1 C+E licence holders got was the ability to drive artics. Things are no better in this day and age - staged testing is IMO nothing more than a benefit for training companies and the DSA - because of this ability to drive artics after passing a test in an easier combination. This to me makes a complete mockery of the idea of passing a test in a rigid vehicle before tackling one with a trailer but I digress…
Anyway, the author explains that the free standing drag needs a second person to ensure correct alignment (therefore they’re useless for test purposes) while the pre-set drag can be aligned by the driver. As this was completely new at the time of writing, no conclusions could be drawn on this - but until 1997, I doubt anyone passed a C+E test by this means.
Chapter 6 was about the PCV test - as this is a trucking forum no further mention of this is required.
Chapters 7 and 8 were about loading restrictions and traffic signs - these are now covered by the theory test - which of course got no mention in this book.
All in all, a thoroughly interesting book that I suppose would have been the industry standard as I don’t believe that there was a DSA book dedicated to LGV driving. A lot of it was stuff that hasn’t really changed over time, but the sections on “Reasons for Failure” and “Popular Misconceptions” added value to a book that in 1991 cost £8.95 - rather a lot of money at the time. I will be sorry to see the back of this book - but for me it has served its purpose, so I won’t feel its loss too much.
Has this book been updated in recent years - or has the DSA’s version forced it into premature retirement?