So it’s been a while since I last posted.
Have to admit that it was partly down to disappointment in not having been successful first and second time round on my C+E, but also down to the fact that I decided to change training schools and, after having been for an assessment drive, could not get booked in until mid-September.
Glad to be able to report however, that I passed my C+E today with 4 minors (and managed for the first time on either rigid or arctic test to do the reverse in one!).
For anyone in the area I would fully recommend Tyne & Wear LGV Training.
Great staff, good trucks and an all-round solid setup.
So it’s been a while since I last posted.
Have to admit that it was partly down to disappointment in not having been successful first and second time round on my C+E, but also down to the fact that I decided to change training schools and, after having been for an assessment drive, could not get booked in until mid-September.
Glad to be able to report however, that I passed my C+E today with 4 minors (and managed for the first time on either rigid or arctic test to do the reverse in one!).
For anyone in the area I would fully recommend Tyne & Wear LGV Training.
Great staff, good trucks and an all-round solid setup.
Had to make this brief as it’s now beer-o’clock
Jon
I went through them and play football with the brothers who run it!
great lads , who you working for then?
got a start if I want on rigids at breaks in durham or class 1 with a firm , 4 runs a day , local but long days.
rigids pay more but harder work with 1 Saturday in 3,
Thanks everyone for all the replies - especially Rog and Pete who have each helped selflessly in their own capacity since I found this forum and started asking questions.
Have to say I really felt a sense of achievement (and perhaps a little relief) on passing C+E.
Not sure, but for me, I felt that C just kind of ‘happened’ and sure, I was happy, but not to the extent that I was on Wednesday.
Anyways, that’s the easy bit over, as they say.
Time to find a job now and actually start learning something ‘real’
And on that note I have just come back from an interview for Class 1 work with Stiller at Newton Aycliffe. I should hear a yay or nay next week.
Jack - not sure about the brothers, but I trained with Dave - and if you’ve been there then you HAVE to know who he is! I’m still recovering from my time with him mentally, and a bit physically too I think
As for your choice, best advice I can give is what I have heard - Brakes tends to be ‘graft’ with plenty of multi-drops in all sorts of awkward places.
No problem if you like/want that type of thing and the extra dollar.
Personally I would go with the Class 1 work and get experience on there… then look to trade-up for better wages when you can.
Based on where you are though, there should be a load of people around your neck of the woods - would recommend joining ‘North East Truckers’ FB group if you haven’t already as they often talk about jobs on offer and employers who will take on newbies.
Good luck either way.
eagerbeaver:
Well done Jon. No longer a lowly rigid driver.
Now a driving God.
Cheers Eager… was thinking of taking all my underpants to be altered and ‘expanded’ this morning - but then though why not just go and buy a whole new set from the special, Class 1 section of my nearest truck-stop.
And thanks Evil - no problemo, when I catch up with Eager after I get on the road, will give him a slap across the face with my now exceedingly lengthened todger
animal:
I did my cat C with Tyne & Wear started doing my C+E with them but wouldn’t recommend them at all sorry
Terry & Colin the brothers that run it are good lads but some of the trainers they have / had were not so good
Yep I am also a member of North East truckers on FB but have a job ( but on the sick atm with a fractured ankle ruptured achillies & torn ligaments )
Hey Animal,
I would say how’s things, but it seems you’re in the wars
Hope you get sorted as quickly as possible, but that sounds like a rough gig and good bit of recovery time.
As for T&W, I fully respect what you are saying, and if that was your experience, that’s what you should report.
Perhaps I should have mentioned who I trained with in the OP rather than half way through this post - but I think it brings up a decent point.
Schools that have a good handful of instructors, even though they have a good set-up, support staff and a well maintained, modern fleet can totally vary in the experience they deliver to trainees through the individual ability of the trainer you are paired with.
And it’s clear that some trainers are simply going to be ‘better’ than others no matter what controls the school puts in place. Probably worth saying that there is also the ‘personality clash’ issue which could lie at the heart of the problem.
I have to say I was ‘lucky’ in the sense that I got Dave - but I did also take my assessment drive with him and got a positive feeling right from the outset.
I think that only reinforces the point to anyone wanting to sign themselves up how important that assessment drive is - and make sure you get the same instructor you met. I know the problem with that is, those people who fall foul of the brokers and don’t even get an assessment drive just end up sent to some school or other - but that’s onto another topic we all know well already.
