Hi all, just thought I’d say hello. I’m Craig, 26 from Rothesay on the Isle of Bute.
I have just signed up for Cat C training etc with Highway HGV training and they are booking my theory test tomorrow morning so hopefully I’ll be going for it soon.
Can anyone give me some advice for the practical training and test? Also what is the Driver CPC course like?
Thanks in advance
Craig
Hi Craig - and welcome!
It sounds like you’ve already committed to training with Highway. I believe they are are broker so there’s no knowing who will actually do the training for you. With luck it will be a good trainer who will give you all the advice and help you need to pass the test. So far as the driver cpc goes, don’t worry about it. Correcyly trained candidates have no problem with this.
As a footnote, unless you’ve already parted with your hard-earned, I would consider changing your training provider.
Good luck with it all.Pete 
Hi Craig,
Wellcome.
I would confirm what Peter has said. The company you are going with are a Broker / Middleman and really you should have gone direct. Having said that you didnt know they werent a broker.
Please check out my website (google my user name and 1st in natural listings)
You will find a wealth of info that should help and prepare you for your HGV training.
Good luck
hgvlgvtraining
Hi & welcome to the mad house
A copy of this may help
businesslink.gov.uk/Transpor … hicles.pdf
But as Pete & hgv have said if you get a good provider you will have no probs with the dcpc
As they are booking your HPT & theory are they providing the disc for you to practice with 
have you had your medical yet also have you had an assessment yet
Good luck with it all & enjoy your training
Welcome 
blueovalcraig:
Hi all, just thought I’d say hello. I’m Craig, 26 from Rothesay on the Isle of Bute.
Hi Craig, 
Good luck with your training and LGV driving test. 
animal:
As they are booking your HPT & theory are they providing the disc for you to practice withGood luck with it all & enjoy your training
They have provided online theory and Hazard Perception Training which is the same as the discs my Brother-In-Law used when he did his car test last year. I had my medical and got my Provisional in 2006 but then ran out of cash to fund everything else 
. My theory test is on Saturday 27th this month and now you come to mention it, they never said anything about an assessment drive, just that it would be 5x morning or afternoon 4 hour sessions with my test being on the last day. You’ve now got me thinking… 
This is the link to the online theory page highwayhgvtraining.co.uk/onl … ng-2/#DT4A
Hiyyaaa blueovalcraig & welcome
bonnie lass:
Hiyyaaa blueovalcraig & welcome
Hiya how you??
The theory training site is excellent. We use it and it’s very, very good.
Don’t panic about assessment unless you feel particularly anxious about driving a truck. The training you have booked is perfectly normal and will, if delivered by a competent trainer on a good vehicle, be adequate.
Before folk start shouting, my attitude to assessements is well known. They are a really good idea for anyone, as I’ve just said above, who needs to have their mind put at rest. Very valuable and I’m not knocking it. Also can be handy for someone partially trained who is changing training provider for whatever reason.
Apart from that, they have little use. Yes, a good instructor will be able to see how you’re driving now as opposed to what is required by the end of the course. But it’s virtually impossible to gauge the rate of learning. I’ll always through in some limited tuition during an assessment to try and ascertain the learning rate but, frankly, it’s more guesswork coupled with experience that will determine the outcome.
Many trainers use the assessment purely as a marketing exercise. That’s not particularly wrong - but it’s not providing what the candidate was expecting.
Tin hat on now and starting to run!!!
blueovalcraig:
bonnie lass:
Hiyyaaa blueovalcraig & welcomeHiya how you??
Hi, I’m fine thanks & yourself?, have you got to grips with the LGV theory questions - keep practising !!, like the others say, you would be better to go direct than through a broker. where will you go to take your training any idea yet Good luck for your test on the 27th I quite agree with what Peter is saying about assessments, & if you do have an assessment drive & are charged for it ask if that fee is deducted off the 5day course training fee 
let us know how you get on
the 5day course training fee
See what I mean? Sounds very much like a forgone conclusion to me
Peter Smythe:
the 5day course training fee
See what I mean? Sounds very much like a forgone conclusion to me
Craig you will find some very useful info on this site but as Peter has stated you dont need an assessment drive but it can be more useful for you than them
But have you been to visit them yet as you have had your medical etc yes I have had a look at there web site and well 20,000 jobs really it also stats that they will place you in work or your money back would like to see this
They also state they have a training provider in Newcastle wonder where as I have never heard of them tbh know the other 4
Many thanks for all your replies.
I am used to driving my Father-In-Laws 7 1/2t cattle float (with L plates on) so I have a good feel for the lorry on the road albeit a smaller lorry but still it’s bigger than a van
Yes they do guarantee a job or your money back… I am looking forward to this, maybe I’ll be a shelf stacker in a supermarket soon …
I’ll keep you all posted and I look forward to getting to know you all.
Regards
Craig
Peter Smythe:
Tin hat on now and starting to run!!!
Hi blueovalcraig, reply posted a link for you - hope it got through ok, I have trouble sending (signals terrible ) & still can’t use this pc properly 
blueovalcraig:
Yes they do guarantee a job or your money back… I am looking forward to this, maybe I’ll be a shelf stacker in a supermarket soon …
Craig, have you parted with any money yet? Because if you haven’t, please DON’T do it! These brokers/middlemen are an absolute disgrace - and more so, completely unnecessary to this industry.
They’ll get you a job alright, but it won’t be the full time permanent job they’re promising you. If you’re lucky (and I mean that sarcastically!) you’ll be sent direct to a driving agency who will then put you in their books with the promise of work! That’s all, nothing else! And it will most likely be a crap agency (there’s loads of them in the Strathclyde/Lanarkshire!) or even a half decent agency (they’re rare!) that will never give you full time work themselves AND they’ll NEVER find you a full time job anywhere else, because after all that would defeat the purpose of their own existence!
Agencies are there to fill a gap in the market. The service they provide is to supply drivers to haulage companies etc covering driver shortages due to holidays and sickness. If you want to sign up to an agency to get experience then great, but you don’t need to go through another agency (a broker), at your expense, to do that!
At the end of the day most brokers and driving agencies are morally corrupt. They have their own websites advertising their marvellous services to drivers and the false promises (lies!) of full time permanent work.
Brokers will charge you a non-returnable fee (trust me, you won’t get any money back) after promising you work that simply isn’t there (that’s illegal, therefore corrupt period!), whilst agencies are advertising “Full Time Permanent” jobs on job sites - including Jobcentre Plus - that don’t exist. The agencies aren’t doing anything illegal, but at the end of the day it’s false advertising by their staff - a ploy to bring you in to their office, get you signed up on that “promise” of full time work, therefore making themselves commission.
There are even a couple of driving agencies in Lanarkshire who are charging unsuspecting newbies a “small fee” with the promise of finding them work! Stay away from these dishonest, unscrupulous people!
Here in the Central belt of Scotland, the hard fact of the matter is, that there’s very little, decent, full time work. Any decent full time LGV jobs that are advertised on job sites don’t stay advertised for long, as many employed and unemployed drivers with years of experience, scramble to get their applications in!
The promise from any broker of a £500 a week full time permanent job “in your area” is ridiculous nonsense by any standard.
The broker you’re dealing with will most likely have to check what coast the Isle of Bute is actually situated off! And if they actually bother to check your location, don’t expect them to be honest and tell you that there is in fact very little work on the west coast of Scotland - especially Ayrshire!
If you haven’t parted with any money yet, then check in with the handful of decent, proper driving schools in the Central belt of Scotland. There is nothing a broker can give you that a decent driving school can’t. Then if you want to gain some experience, go direct to a decent driving agency and see what they can give you.
Sorry for what appears to be all gloom and doom, because it isn’t ALL gloom and doom.
But, there is a racket going on out there, performed by people who don’t give a ■■■■ about drivers.
Whatever you do or have done, best of luck.
aa
Thanks for your replies.
I’m not worried about getting a job at the end of all this as I only need my licence to drive for my Father-In-Law at weekends.
SimonB:
You will not have any joy with Highway.Si.
So far Highway HGV have been ok, regular communications with them to inform me of whats going on etc. They booked my theory test for me and I got confirmation today from DSA.
I know that Highway HGV are a broker but I did notice that there is another company called Highway LGV