I hope your sitting down for this one.
Mine started back in May 2008. Went along to Stockport hgv, paid for my Medical/theory plus material/2 hour assessment. Had medical with their local doctor a week later, passed that no problems( maybe being 25 helped 
). I then went back to the Stockport hgv office where we had a brew and filled in the relevant forms to send off for my provisional and they gave me my theory book to study. I start reading the book trying to take it all in, 3 weeks pass then 4 weeks and no word from DVLA. After 5 weeks i ring them to be told your forms are with the medical team thats all i can tell you, ok i thought normal practice. We are now into july and still no word, now at this point id like to point out that on 17th December1999 i passed out in the trafford centre, spent 5 days in Trafford general hospital having all sorts of tests. Nothing was found so was sent to see a specialist who discovered i passed out due to exhaustion. 28th July 2008 i receive a letter from DVLA "we are sorry to inform you that due to previous medical issues you cannot have a hgv licence, you need to be free for 10 years from any black out without medication( i was like omg your kidding me it was exhaution due to not eating and drinking enough and it was too warm in trafford centre). I got straight on the phone to them and they told me there was nothing that could be done i would just have to re-apply once the 10 years was up. My heart sank as I really wanted to do this. In the meantime(Aug 2008 ) my little boy was born and all the cash i had saved for my hgv lessons got spent on him which wasnt a issue because he was my boy and worth it, however everything got harder to save the money again and hgv driving goit further and further away. I gave up on it and accepted it would never happen due to finances until Oct 2013, I received a letter regarding a endownment i took out when i was 16 and forgot about. Boom get in i knew exactly what i was spending it on.
18th Nov 2013
I went to Lgv4u, bredbury a sister company of Enterprise, booked in for my medical ect again, I paid a extra Ā£18 to get access to drivingtheory4all.co.uk/Publ ā¦ t-home.htm (very good site i found it better than the book). So 23rd Nov off i went to Enterprise Ancoats to see the doctor, very nice guy and a wind up merchant, he told me i was colour blind because i couldnt see one of the numbers in the colored dot pictures, then said im joking you have a deficiency to red and green( i knew that from school). All forms filled in and sent away which would off been on the monday 25th. Was told should only take 2-3 weeks to come back, 23rd november i ring DVLA and got told its with the medical team( oh no not again). Anyway after a few more calls to be told the same my licence arrived on 17th Jan.
11th Feb 2014
Theory and hazard perception test day. For some stupid reason i said yes to a 8am test time. I couldnt sleep the night before, i remember looking at the clock and seing 3;10am, alarm went off at 6am go a brew and toast then found myself sat outside the test centre at 7;15. Did a few last min revision bits off the notes i had written down over the weeks. I was only one doing hgv all overs were car. Sat down at the computer at 8;10 and i was sat back in my car at 9;05 having passed both tests(98/100 theory and 90/100 on hazard) i was beaming all day. My mum informed me that she had spoken to stockport hgv as she has applied fro a job there, she mentioned that i had applied there in 2008. they had a look and found me still on record, and because i have already paid they said i can have my 2 hour assesment with them too.
14th Feb
1 hour assesment at enterprise. Arrived in plenty of time saw the size of the truck and my back side fell out. Along came paul who talked me over a few bits and told me to jump in the passenger side and again went over the controls and gear box. Then we set of driving, i watched his every move asking loads of questions along the way. We pulled over and swapped over, i looked at the drivers seat thinking how the hell can i get my fat thighs under the sterring wheel i didnt know it was air cushioned. I had a few dry runs of the 4 over4 box(kept pushing past the reverse barrier, paul told me to use my thumb alot better). So i set off drove down the road nice and steady, paul said when its safe pull over to the left so i did. He said i was a good with the box and very smooth changes, and all round good start so far. He then said continue to the end of the road but at the restriction sign pull over, after that he said we need to U turn now and on the way back down i want you to hit 30mph and be in 7th gear. Got to the 30 in 7th no problems at all he was impressed, then asked me to pull over again and asked if i was feeling confident, āerm yesā i said ok lets go meet some other cars see how you do. Turn left at the end of the road the right at the lights, left turn spot on coming up to the right turn there was a learner car driver in front of me stopped at the lights. I press the brakes to start slowing and nothing was happening or so i thought so i apply more presure at which point we was licking the front screen, paul was laughing at me and i bet the learner in front was ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā it seeing a 13tonner not slowing down. So i do my right turn after stalling it because i thought i was in 2nd gear was my switch was still in high box (6th)opps, then i did a left turn and took the kurb with me to which i said " oh great iv just failed my test" paul just laughed at me but reassured me. We pulled back into the yard and shut the truck down, he said i did really well for my first drive and thinks i need between 16 and 20 hrs. Got a call from stockport and i have my 2 hours with them on Monday, so should be good to see the differnce now i know a bit.
Overall enterprise are very good i just dont think a hour is long enough for a assesment as you only get about 15-20 min of actual driving time and i found the brake pedal very hard to get use to and maybe with a bit long i might of got the hang of it and need less hours, who knows. Any brake pedal advise would be great.
18th Feb
I had my 2 hours today with Stockport hgv and I drove a scania, much better truck me and the brake pedal were best mates today and got on great. It was a totally different pedal to the one in the DAF I drive on Friday. I enjoyed having a longer drive. Again the instructor Jim said I had done really well, smooth gear changes, nice spacial awareness. He is a top bloke, made me Feel very at ease sadly heās a massive blue but we had some good banter. He said I need 18/20 hours so Iām going for 20. Start lessons first week of March hopefully.
24th Feb
Had a call from Stockport hgv, looks like March came they had a cancellation and I start my class 2 training on the 26th Feb. Its now becoming a reality.
26th Feb
Did my first 4 hours driving, and my head is mashed, there is so much to think about. On a whole graham said I did really well apart from Hitting a bloody kerb.
27th Feb
Full day of driving. Went really well, I just need to work on my approach speeds and plan ahead for the junctions etc Iām leaving it all till last minute. No kerbs hit today which Iām Pleased about. About 3.30 we went back to the yard to practice the reverse and I nailed it every single time which Iām really pleased about. Test tomorrow 
28th Feb
Started lesson at 7:30, all was going fine. I got on top of my approach speeds, worked on a few tight corners along the test routes. Had a few more goes at the reverse nailed everytime so graham decided to make the course tighter for bit more of a challenge, nailed it again. We stopped for dinner at 12, he asked if was anything Iād like to go over before the test. I wanted to go and join the motorway at a junction I wasnāt 100% with, we then went to the test station. I parked the truck up between 2 artics and we went in side. I went to the loo for a pre nerve belly empty :p. The examiner came out and we went to the truck, he asked me to show how I would check if my doors/curtain and rear doors were shut secure, show how I would check the mud flaps were secure and tell how I would check the wipers. We then went straight out driving as the artics were waiting to do their reverse. I thought all was going fine until we was on the motorway and I moved to the middle Lane as the inside Lane was a run off to a slip road. I moved over but I thought I had done it too early and I said ābloody hell iv moved over too earlyā nothing was said from him. I was kicking my self the rest of the way. We got back I nailed the reverse again, he jumped back in and said OK Iāll just write up. Then āthatās the end of the test and Iām pleased to tell you, youāve passedā I was over the moon. He also told me I didnāt move over too soon I was spot on, said I used my mirrors spot on, it was a very good drive and I should be proud. Got 4 minors on my approach speeds, which has been my main problem since day one. Iām Buzzing
Just reading back through my blog and i missed a vital part out.
A massive thank you to Stockpot HGV (stockporthgv.co.uk/) very good company, amazing instructors and price inline with going rates. I would recommend anyone to use them. They are family run business of 34 years. Eve and her husband(peter) set it up, then carl(son) joined them and is now instructor and office side also his wife sorts of the office too. Sadly peter passed away a few years back. They have contracts training drivers for big haulage companies nationwide, Esso/shell.royal mail to name a few. They do C C+E and cpc training so you can do all your training in one place. I belive they will also sort out accomadation for anyone who wants to travel.
I think I will be dead by Friday, plus iv just moved and working as a taxi driver doing nights, Iām just so drained itās Untrue
