just passed my c+e yesterday. chuffed to bits!! big thanks to tockwith training, they were excellent.
on the ongoing question of auto vs manual for training, i passed in their brand new fh auto but i did my first day training in their old fh manual, so i think my opinion is valid.
first, it takes a certain driver to drive a truck, ride a motorcycle etc etc. anyone can drive a car. my opinion is that car drivers that couldn’t control bikes/ trucks etc are the sort who use a car as a means to an end, following the methods they were taught but have no real instinct as far as what they are doing or why. drivers who handle other than the ‘necessary’ car, can simply drive.
second, the first time i drove a truck it had a manual, then i passed my test in an auto. in all honesty, if you pass in an auto and get given a manual as your first job, don’t worry, you can drive a truck! the rest is shifting gears!! it hasnt got a clutch that works the other way round or a gearbox that you need a sledge hammer to shift! your new company should go through what you need to do, and if you can handle an artic, you can shift the gears!
once again, huge thanks to tockwith training, brilliant company. if any guys are close enough to york and want to get their licence i cant recommend them highly enough, and if you really want to have a test drive in a manual, i’m sure they will take you for a run in their old truck.
Sounds cool, bet that’s a great buzz and a load off your mind , hope you get many years of pleasure from it, ive got my “C” test soon then maybe aim for C+E if I enjoy the work. many wishes for the future.
Thanks Rick, I’m sure our instructor Darren was chuffed that you passed too. Nice write up, seems some think it would be a disadvantage passing in an auto, I think it could be an ego thing! You put it well, I passed in a straight six gearbox - same as a car then ended up working for Keedwell in at first a slap over 8 speed, then a 12 speed Scania and 16 speed DAF, i picked it up quickly and like you say - if you can’t do that you might not be as capable as you should be.
In my mind with all my vast experience, anyone who trains in a manual truck is CRAZY! Its pointless, why make life hard for yourself, once all driving schools get round to putting their hand in their pocket and buy a new truck customers will have no option, trust me no school is going to run manuals. We have adopted them early because we look after our customers, do other schools that are not investing in new trucks deserve to get business?
Maybe I shouldn’t say this, but our 1st time pass rate has shot up from 75-80% to 95%, we go weeks without getting a failure, with the manuals we got normally one per week, now its one every 3/4 weeks and we turn over about 600 drivers/customers per year.
Here is a picture of Rick, hope you don’t mind me posting it. Keep on passing on the good news about us by recommendation, our business depends upon it, and be sure to give us a wave, on an average day i must wave at about 15 previous customers in oncoming trucks, good for the ego!
dont mind at all!! darren was great, as was Ian for my cat c. this was a big investment for me, and i’m glad i made it with you all. wish you all the best with your future plans.
Brilliant result.
And although I’m not quite as verbal about the joys of auto, I basically agree with the above.
We, too, have invested heavily having bought 4 autos this year - 2 of them brand new.
Buying manuals is not high on the agenda; I guess that by 2016 we’ll be 100% auto.
Pete 
Well done. Congratulations.
I took my class 1 test in a DAF LF drawbar, but my first proper class 1 job was driving a 2014 Volvo FH and they’re great runners, the only pitfall is that handbrake which is too easy to release by mistake. But very comfortable and the mode selector is just like in an automatic car.
Well done man! That is a seriously nice truck to drive I bet. I also agree with you on the whole manual vs auto thing. I passed in an auto, I did the hard part of actually learning to drive the thing gears took maybe a day or two to get my head around and everytime I drive a manual unit now I get better at it.
rick parfitt:
just passed my c+e yesterday. chuffed to bits!! big thanks to tockwith training, they were excellent.
on the ongoing question of auto vs manual for training, i passed in their brand new fh auto but i did my first day training in their old fh manual, so i think my opinion is valid.
first, it takes a certain driver to drive a truck, ride a motorcycle etc etc. anyone can drive a car. my opinion is that car drivers that couldn’t control bikes/ trucks etc are the sort who use a car as a means to an end, following the methods they were taught but have no real instinct as far as what they are doing or why. drivers who handle other than the ‘necessary’ car, can simply drive.
second, the first time i drove a truck it had a manual, then i passed my test in an auto. in all honesty, if you pass in an auto and get given a manual as your first job, don’t worry, you can drive a truck! the rest is shifting gears!! it hasnt got a clutch that works the other way round or a gearbox that you need a sledge hammer to shift! your new company should go through what you need to do, and if you can handle an artic, you can shift the gears!
once again, huge thanks to tockwith training, brilliant company. if any guys are close enough to york and want to get their licence i cant recommend them highly enough, and if you really want to have a test drive in a manual, i’m sure they will take you for a run in their old truck.
I’m currently waiting the return of my licence with provisional entitlement on it, out of curiosity… as I’ll be starting to learn my C the c+e, how long has it taken from start to passing?
Hi mate. I sent off for my provisional licence and booked my theory test. did theory at the end of august, booked class 2 end september and passed. booked class 1 straight away, but there was a wait til end of first week in november to take it. i used the two days training on class 2 and 2 days training in class 1 to go towards my drivers cpc and in between the 2 courses i did a day in the classroom to finish the 5 days. the main problem is that you cant book the next stage til you’ve passed the preceding one (obviously in case you fail) here’s hoping you wont fail!! good luck!