what’s normally involved in an assesment drive with your training place? I’ve got one booked C+E which I’m quite excited about really so what should I expect?
Happy to be taking the first step towards my “second” attempt, just hope I have better luck this time round!
A licence check
Questions on your previous experience
Explanation of what will happen on the assessment
Explanation of the controls
Once the assessment drive has started, the instructor will take about 10 mins to find out your competency and then decide where to take you - easy, medium or more difficult route
A quick vehicle check may be done depending on the time allotted
there might be a short demo done by the instructor but in your case - no chance as you have done some training before
had a feeling it’d be you who answered Rog, thankyou. Pretty much as I expected really then, I guess the instructor will tend to stay mostly on test routes for obvious reasons which is good as I’d like to see some of it. Would a reverse be part of it or don’t they normally bother?
darkseeker:
:lol: had a feeling it’d be you who answered Rog, thankyou. Pretty much as I expected really then, I guess the instructor will tend to stay mostly on test routes for obvious reasons which is good as I’d like to see some of it. Would a reverse be part of it or don’t they normally bother?
They don’t need to stay on test routes for an assessment
A reverse may be part of it if conveniently available
Hi Darkseeker,
DSM takes youup the bypass down skellingthorpe road through the Birchwood left onto left down to tritton road right towards newark road and then back to swinderby where he’s based.
I passed my C + E with him this morning first time and C back end of last year…Nice bloke to …
Best of luck with whoever you decide to go with 
Jon
. Welcome Mash .
Mash:
I passed my C + E … this morning first time
JOB HUNTING 
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Thanks Mash, and congrat’s! I’m not going with anyone very local as I hate driving round Grimsby and have failed three C+E tests at peterborough so would like to go elsewhere 
Asessment’s monday lunchtime ish, I know it doesn’t really get me much closer to a license but I must admit I’m looking forward to it. Have to admit though, with the type of work I’ve been doing recently on class 2 I’ve not been practicing very well - I’ve been concentrating more on getting the job done in time and I do feel the general standard of my driving has slipped a little 
Hopefuly it wont take too much to get me back on the right track.
I did a night’s shunting a few months back with a top bloke who let me get on with it and kept a careful eye that I wasn’t going to hit anything and I put it straight on the bay each time and from some strange angles. I was going to ask for a couple more nights like that (I’d do it for free obviously)to boost my confidence but I heard a week or so ago something terrible has happened; Dave was stood on the back of the shunter talking to the guy driving it (stationary), the driver looked away and when he looked back dave had gone - he’d fallen off! No-one knows if he fainted or what but he hit the back of his head on the floor and died the next day in hospital Poor bloke was only in his 40’s and I for one will miss him.
did you not have an assessment when you 1st did your trainin
i have been round several local to me & only 1 took me on or near the test route this is due to the geography of there centre & the test routes itself
good luck hope you do it this time
darkseeker:
Thanks Mash, and congrat’s! I’m not going with anyone very local as I hate driving round Grimsby and have failed three C+E tests at peterborough so would like to go elsewhere
Many thanks to you and Rog for the congratulations. I understand what you are saying about Grimsby. A good friend of mine has failed his Cat C 4 times up there !
DSM uses Watnall test center in Nottingham.
Best of luck with the assessment 
Ah right, I’m probably thinking of someone else, there’s a few with initials near here. Thanks for the kind words though, no, never taken an assessment.
I had finished and passed my ‘C’ only a few weeks before hand so was still pretty fresh on what the standards were therefore our driving assessment (C+E not C) involved basically an 45mins drive around the local routes.
Beforehand it was a quick tour around the vehicle and breif discussion regarding the new length of the truck and just general reassurance.
The instructor lead off for a couple of miles just explaining the new principles of a larger vehicle and just keeping me calm.
After that like I say it was a chance for general driving, nothing out of the norm of what you been doing just with a larger vehicle.
The only thing I would say to you is, learn from the previous failures but dont put yourself under the undue pressure of Ive failed before I cant do it again etc etc
To be honest, the failed tests are a strange thing for me in that I don’t really blame myself; don’t get me wrong, I’m not blaming the examiner as such it’s just that the first two were failed for such petty things and with few minors (3 on one 4on the other iirc) it’s dissapointing the examiner didn’t let one of them go and just offer stern advice for the future, The one even said “it’s a shame really because everything else was so good” 
The third test’s locked away in a cupboard in my head, never to be remembered
Nerves is the one thing that lets me down really, I’m quite shy normally so driving tests are well out of my comfort zone. Money is the only thing that puts pressure on me, I’m tight as a duck’s backside so throwing money at something I know I can do is quite painful for me I just hope the two and a half years’ experience in rigids will help me (at least now I can work the gears without thinking about it).
We’ll see anyway, it might be a few weeks at least until I can afford it.
While we’re on the subject though, anyone got any experience of prescribed anti-anxiety drugs and driving tests? Yes - I really do have a problem with it to the point where this might be a viable option.
In my current job (aviation) we have a drug called ‘Ativan’ which is used for people who get stressed and anxious flying. It’s just for passengers though not for pilots 
it calms them down but there may be issues taking anything like that whilst driving.
Why not try something like reflexology (foot massages in a way but very specific) just before the test. Tell them why your there and they may be able to help specifically. I’d go that route rather than the medication route. Probably book a session on a practice day and see if you notice a difference. My other half had reflexology for work related stress and it worked wonders.
Passed my C test yesterday and my heart rate was better than the first day of training. Mind you my stomach was doing cartwheels and ready to chuck up! 
. Welcome Diversion2 .
Diversion2:
Passed my C test yesterday
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Thanks for the welcome and the fireworks too ROG.
darkseeker:
it’s dissapointing the examiner didn’t let one of them go and just offer stern advice for the future, The one even said "it’s a shame really because everything else was so good
My diary is on here somewhere, so I can totally agree with you on the above point. I clipped a kerb on an island whilst on test in the W&D, thankfully the examiner had sense to alter the original route and take me around a few tight spots and what i can only think was every island in Stafford.
The debreif afterwards explained that I picked up a minor for the kerb. He altered the route to see if that one kerb was just a momentary lapse of judgement or a regular thing. He saw it as a numpty moment and gave me the benefit of the doubt.
Like yourself there is always going to be nerves there. For some people it will be their first test since passing their car test x amount of years ago. Coupled with that examiner who sits there staring a hole into the back of your head without saying anything.
However ultimately thou, I do think there are some examiners who are understanding of this and try to reassure the candidate weather that be thru a good natter whilst driving or that quick joke to put you at ease.
But as i said before you now have experience of commerical driving/gearbox etc etc so your already gonna be on a winner. Your not gonna be falling over the stooooopid basic stuff that , like me, a newbie would be
God I wish I’d had that examiner for one of my tests because I failed for clipping a curb Asked to pull into a kind of layby and mis judged where the n/s/f wheel was. I didn’t mount the curb and only had three minors other than that.
The second test I set off at a roundabout as a car went past the front of the cab, I think the examiner panicked or something - I knew the car was there and was aiming to have the truck moving just behind it i.e. I was going to take a moment on the clutch and by the time we were moving the car would’ve been long gone but there’s little point arguing the toss now. The third is best left in the past
Even the thought of doing a test gets me full of adreniline and my heart raceing, I bet I’m white as a sheet when I get to the test centre. It doesn’t affect my concentration really but it seems to make me rush things.
The wierd thing is; I used to shoot with the British squad (target shooting) and I know how to relax and shut pressure out etc I’ve shot in international matches including finals but it just doesn’t seem to work in this case
ROG:
A licence check
Questions on your previous experience
Explanation of what will happen on the assessment
Explanation of the controlsOnce the assessment drive has started, the instructor will take about 10 mins to find out your competency and then decide where to take you - easy, medium or more difficult route
A quick vehicle check may be done depending on the time allotted
there might be a short demo done by the instructor but in your case - no chance as you have done some training before
LoL ROG, I took my assessment frive with C&G europe (gloucester) on friday, after passing my Theory and CpC Mod2 last week. When i got to the training centre, the instructor that i would be going with was out, so i had a 20min wait (It felt like ages and i was [zb] bricks!!)
As soon as he got back, he came in and we chatted abit about how much experience i already had (which is next to [zb] all!) and he just said that we would be going out in the wagon (18tonne ERF curtainsider) about 7 mile round trip, just so that he can see how i drive and how many courses i would need after…which is standard i wouldve thought. Anyhoo, He handed me the keys, no checks and we got into the wagon, then he asked me if i new where the indicators were… i answered “yes”…“do you know about the 8 speed bang gear box that we would be using”?..“no” I nervously muttered…“Ah, ok. Well 8 speed knock is 2 range, low shift-1-2-3-4, knock the gear box to the right for high range, hear the PSSSCCCHH and then 1-2-3-4 becomes 5-6-7-8” Knock it back to the left and your in low range again"…“got it” i said quite confidently.
Anyways, to me, apart from telling me about the gears, i felt like he just threw me the keys and said “DRIVE”… "OH [ZZZZZZZZBBBBBBBBBBBB]. i`ve never drove anything like it and i sure as hell had a huge eye opener too. During the drive, he used a mark sheet to mark down my good…nah they were all bad points!! if it was a test, i wouldve failed a total of 12 majors…not using mirrors, not checking blindspots, driving too fast aproaching junctions and roundabouts. 
…i could go on
Hell, the guy even said that at one point, he was going to jumpout of the wagon and let me drive back to the yard on my own!!!
Like i said in the beginning (and to everyone thinking about taking you HGV, who have never driven before). I was under no dis-illusion that it would be a peice of [zb] but hell, Before i start my CAT C license in august, i would like to tip my hat to every lorry driver, big or small that there ever was! The patience and skills u guys have…Hell, you should getting £1000 a week (after tax)! FAIR PLAY TO YOU ALL AND I HOPE SOMEDAY, THAT I WILL BE SOMEWHERE NEAR AS GOOD AS MOST OF YOU, TO BE ABLE TO CALL MY SELF A PROFFESIONAL DRIVER.
Im 100% committed to doing this and anyone that is goingv to gain HGV just for the fun of it, U might aswell spend you money on a new car or something.........Youll buckle!
Any tips would be grand and im now going to study the [zb] out of my "official guide to driving LGVs" 
You could not have been that bad otherwise the instructor would have taken over the driving
I reckon he wanted to see what you would be like when shoved in at the deep end which is certainly one way of doing it
I’m guessing that the first road you went on at any sort of speed was a dual ■■
ROG:
You could not have been that bad otherwise the instructor would have taken over the drivingI reckon he wanted to see what you would be like when shoved in at the deep end which is certainly one way of doing it
LoL, he sure did throw me in m8! Good point by the way, if was that bad he wouldve taken over…i feel abit more at ease, thanx All in all, i enjoyed the drive, but hesitated on way too many occasions, i even pulled out on a car, going round the J13-M5 roundabout. the young girl wasnt impressed either
ROG:
I’m guessing that the first road you went on at any sort of speed was a dual ■■
The very first road we pulled out on was the A419 in stonehouse (no link whatso-eva to my name ), it a wide, single lane road and a few side roads to boot. LoL, just as i started to go up the hill, there was a police camera unit at the top and you could feel my instructor tense up I think he thought that i was just gonna hammer the [Zb] out of his wagon and not notice the five-o sat in waiting.
i think we followed the A419 till about, the services near standish and then came back. He was gonna take me down a stretch on the M5 too but after the first half hour, his nerves got the better of him
I start my course on august 4th for 5 days so am just gonna try to process as much advise as possible. ive been reading the tips on roundabouts, reversing exercise and other things that i think need real work on… Hell, it sure is going to be a big jump from driving forklifts