Anyone got a pdf doc of the new reversing area, ready reckoner.
Peter ■■?
Today was the first day of the new smaller area, I know some trainers (PSTT) are already using the new dimensions before todays change, anyone with any horror stories, or success
Noworries:
Anyone got a pdf doc of the new reversing area, ready reckoner.
Peter ■■?
Today was the first day of the new smaller area, I know some trainers (PSTT) are already using the new dimensions before todays change, anyone with any horror stories, or success
I have reversed/tested on both. I found the new (smaller) one the easier of the two.
Seems to be no real difference - had someone testing on C1 today and she found the reverse easy enough. Have to say it looks tighter than it probably is - if you’re trained well it won’t be a major issue.
Hi i took my class 2 today with the new distances.my instructor said its about a third less than the old area but as ide trained with the new area i didnt find it to difficult
I’ve posted this a couple of times already - maybe it should be a stickie??
The width of the area is 11 metres
The length of the area is 3.5 length of a rigid vehicle and 4 times the length of a vehicle with a trailer
There are still 2 vehicle lengths between A and B cones
Garage length is a vehicle length with a maximum of 12 metres
There are no other changes. We have experienced no problems and have been operating with these dimensions since Oct 2011.
I have spent most of yesterday afternoon reversing in the new area with Lancaster Training Services at Heysham and found it to be OK. Although the info LTS were given showed that the ‘A’ cones were starting from the yellow line. This is where we started and managed to get in to the garage area, sometimes with a shunt. By late afternoon the DSA had been in contact with LTS and now the ‘A’ cones are 1m from the yellow line. This does make things better as you have more room to swing the cab round.
Vehicles with trailers have always had the A cone set in 1m from the yellow line and there is no change. All rigid vehicles start off with the cone on the yellow line as normal. So no change there at all.
I believe that there was some confusion between LTS and the DSA as to the position of the cone. It has now been sorted.
As I had my C+E test today I have been able to do it for real and found it can be done as I got in to the garage in one. Very close to the ‘B’ cone though to get the right line.
We had our first 2 tests on the new reversing setup today with no problems at all. It is far easier than the old size and a lot quicker to complete. I timed it at around 30 seconds from when the vehicle started moving backwards to completion.
I just passed my class 1 last week after passing my class 2 about 10 month ago.
The reverse dimensions changed during my training for C + E licence. I did my test in a wagon and drag and I personally found the new dimensions easier mainly because you don’t have as far to travel across the yard before getting into the bay. Just made the manoeuvre flow better for me…Glad it’s done haha
Did my class 2 18 months ago in the old area and my class one 2 weeks ago in the new area, no problems with either, just do the same thing everytime you reverse
I believe the change was to allow more training centre yards and the like to be used as test centres, allowing DSA to use more private premises for tests. In areas where there are enough privately owned test centres allowing members of the public as well as their own candidates to take tests, DSA can close the existing test centres, reducing their rent bill to to VOSA and other landlords.
Did my class 1 today on the new one as already stated it’s no more difficult than the old one i didn’t know anything about the new one untill 2 hours before my test i was bricking it all went well in the end though
Saw a strange thing on the reversing area today that I have never seen before in 30 years. I took my 2 lads to the test centre to watch the 10.15 test do the reverse as they had only trained at weekends and had not seen a live performance and they were testing at 12.30 and 14.00 today.
The unfortunate lad hit both the right hand yellow line and the centre cone ‘B’. The other trainer then stepped onto the area and questioned the cone layout, in particular the distance between the 2 start cones, known a ‘A’ and ‘A1’
The examiner paced it out and was adamant it was correct but the trainer was more adamant and stuck to his guns about the distance. Subsequently the cones were moved about a further 12" apart and the candidate allowed to start again. He then completed the reverse nicely.
What I have never considered before is that there is actually no precise way to measure either the width of the 2 start cones or the width of the box. Both should be the vehicle width X 1.5. At Chelmsford the box is always set to the same width regardless of vehicle size (Cat C and CE, not car & trailer). Metal studs in the ground that look like like cats eyes are used for the cone positioning.
Our truck is 2.4m wide but the other trainer insisted his was 2.7m. If that was the case the extra 0.3m X 1.5 would be quite significant.