firstly wanted to say what a top site this is for info and advice, i went in blind and called the first training school i saw advertised on the net! what a mistake i could of made without first reading the posts on this site, after about 2 mins of rapid fire answers from the ■■■■■■■ the other end of the phone she actually askd me for the long card number off my card!! alarm bells rang immediately as she hadnt even told me what id get for my money. wow i thought extreme sales tactics or what, im not saying i wouldnt have got what i paid for but if these middlemen really think thats the way to deal with peoples futures and careers theyve got to be steered clear from.
Anyhow ive decided to go with J Coates who are local to me in Birmingham, i wondered if anyone had been with the Birmingham training school as i would like to order the course from them and if they had good experience with them?
Well this is my firs post but ill sure to be back with more during my training etc hopefully to bounce a few questions off you experienced guys.
A little look through this lot may prove helpful as well as the links that Tonka will shortly supply
TIPS & RECOMENDATIONS
All the LGV TRAINING TIPS, including the Recommended LGV training schools that have
been recommended by members, can be accessed by clicking HERE
The link includes THE INITIAL DRIVER CPC which started on 10 Sept 2009.
If you click the link in my signature (under this message) it will take you to an excellent thread with loads of information for before you start training - but then again semtex has already posted them boooo hissss…you spoil my fun im telling my mommy (only joking fella!)
However just for sheer fun…
The driving scene has recently been an employers market, with the more experienced guys finding work over the newbies HOWEVER this now seems to have changed and recent posts on this forum shows newbies are finding full time work It might be worthwhile looking at WORK FOR NEWBIES
This post might be useful if you do go doing the HGV route Job Hunting
Assuming you havent got C1 entitlement on your licence you will need to do the the INITAL CPC
It does appear so mate. I know he used to get in hot water on other subjects but do feel like newbies are missing out on his advice during training, but im just cannon fodder. I dont do politics
Hi Ya robvale and welcome ref J coates I trained for cat c with them in Slough and they were great for me nice guys sound training so hopefully is same across the board so you should be fine have you had an assesment yet or have you still to get provisional on licence yet ie medical etc
jennie x
Ive booked with J Coates today for their starter pack, theory etc etc. I cant work out whether ive got to order the CPC though which is extra and listed seperately. It seems as if im post 97 licence ive got to get CPC rather than DCPC.
Ive already done a bit of groundwork with a few local agencies regarding finding work for newbies, i emailed them saying id just passed and do they take on new drivers they said they work with local businesses so seemed promising, i thoughtid name drop them incase anyone from west mids area had just passed and was having no joy at the moment (not for want of tryin though im sure) they are called MCI Logistic solutions in Oldbury
Anyhows im going for a jar or two as im still revelling in the villas destruction of West Ham on saturday.
If you passed your car test before 1/1/97 you’ll have category C1 already giving you ‘grandfather rights’ so won’t have to do the initial driver cpc. You only need concern yourself with the DRIVER cpc requirements; the ‘normal’ cpc is not required at all to drive a truck.
I trained with J Coates, although in nottingham it’ll be the same instructors. I found them very good, not the most competitive price wise but all the same. I think I had just about every Coates instructor going - passed 4th time and had 3 tests cancelled due to the weather, ooh and one I forgot to turn up to! (long story ) . So what with all the ‘refresher’ lessons I had in between etc. I had most of their instructors. All really good guys but the one that stood out was Colin, brilliant instructor. I struggled a bit with what it actually was the examiners were looking for since every instructor has a different way of looking at stuff which is very confusing since I encountered something [zb]ing new with every instructor Colin seemed to be able to encapsulate(?) it all perfectly though, awesome guy.
 - A read of
robvale
It might be worthwhile looking at 
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