Hi there, I thought I would share my story of my training
Firstly a bit of background history of me, I am 32 and work for a local authority waste department, mainly driving a tele handler but the job does entail driving a shunter swapping containers. I previously tried my class C 6 years ago on a 5 day course but my nerves got the better of me and learning in Aberdeen scared the crap out of me, so I never tried the course again. However as the years have gone on I have progressed up the ladder to the point I need my hgv to do a higher grade job, so I was pushed to try my hgv again.
This time it was with Moray Academy of Transport Training based at Elgin. apparently other colleagues had been there and said kev was a good instructor.
So the time comes and I get offered 2 days one on one with test the next day, you may find it strange I went down this route given my previous attempt, however I worked on the theory that I can’t blame anyone but myself if it goes wrong.
So day one comes round and I meet kev in elgin and he drives us to the test centre which is one his own airfield,
so with that he introduces me to the truck, a ex silent night daf with manual box. So after a few instructions regarding the show me tell me questions, I climb behind the wheel and drive around the airfield a few times to get a feel for the truck, then it’s time to hit the road, but even before I turn out of the yard I muck up and end up on the grass turning onto the road, so as we progress I am going round a few corners with kev explaining to use the range of the gear going round the corner, and finally a straight bit of road so I give it some throttle then for some reason as I looked in the left mirror,I took the wheel with me which resulted I half the verge going on the road, but kev never got annoyed, he simply told me where I went wrong. So we progressed along the route and I was far more relaxed, but knew I wasn’t getting up enough speed but I never got told off for it.
It’s amazing the bad habits you get into driving a car but I kept trying to keep myself right. So at the end of day 1 kev said I was doing ok but I had a lot to learn, mainly mirror work, gears and progress.
So day 2 comes round and off we set again, and go round a test route, and I kept making silly mistakes with the gears and not using the mirrors enough. So after a mid morning brew, kev announces that we are going to go round his “reality” route, which should sort out my mirror work, well he was right, the route consisted of going up and down tight streets, which meant mirrors were essential, as tough as the routes were it was really enjoyable and a challenge. After lunch he said that he wanted to see my new found confidence, and right from the word go there was far to much confidence and I was clipping kerbs and even pulled out in front of someone on a roundabout. So at the end of the day I thought I would be a fail but there was still a little confidence in me.
So test day comes and I am very early to the test centre so I get a cup of tea and a game of solitaire on the mobile to calm myself, so nearer the time I get the lorry warmed up and practise the reverse maneuver a couple of times, then it’s test time.so once the show me tell me bit is done, it’s on too the reverse, which went perfectly, then the examiner jumps in and off we go, we were progressing nicely when, I had to pull in, and then pull off on a hill, the start was fine however I got a bit ambitious and tried another gear which caused the lorry to nearly stall, so I thought I had failed, so we progress along the route, got a laugh watching a lad reverse a jeep and trailer in a drive, and once again I had to pull in to the side and set off again, this time I forgot to put the switch down and tried pulling away in 7th lol the rest of the test seemed ok, but I thought I had made heaps of mistakes, however at the end of it all he announced I had past with only 2 minors, for the gear changes. I was so relived .
So now to try and get my module 4 sorted out and I can get on the road
