One minor!!! 
WOW!!!
Well done!! 
Just read through this thread, as the previous lot have said, very nicely written accounts, and good to see you passed second time round. At least the one minor and almost clean sheet can satisfy the perfectionist in you 
When are you doing your artic? 
Well done !! 
Now the learning really starts!!
Regards
Paul
Great stuff
Well Done!!
Richard
Well done mate,
how many people have you told so far? i told loads.
keep smiling and keep it shiny side up dude!
Well done mate,really pleased for ya,excellent read as well 
Simon
Congratulations!
I’ve just read through this thread too, very interesting, and I can relate to nearly everything you said. I hope you enjoy class 2 work as much as I do.
All the best.
Reef:
**Well done !!!! "Drive"** :smiley: :sunglasses: :wink:
Ta mate!
Walked into the warehouse last night and nnounced in a loud voice that from now on they were to address me as “Drive” and that, as an officially licensed “Trucker”, from this point forwards, I would no longer respond to anything else.
The night manager gave me a thumbs up (at least I think it was a thumb - didn’t have my glasses on) and told me that I could “Drive off!” and muttered something about being a “Mother Trucker” or something…it was kind noisy, so did not hear very well…
ROG:
spd0121:
Cheers mate!Have to be back at work in about 3 hours so off to grab a few zzzzzzzzzz’s
Will check back in tomorrow.
Night all.
floats off glowing
Shall we expect a full account of your test run tomorrow
Still waiting 
Okey dokey then…
Despite everyone’s advice and even my own innate knowledge that it was not the right thing to do, I could not sleep when I finished work. Too keyed up. So, gave it up as a bad job and headed Norwich way. Got to the yard and sat there re-reading some material. …Woken up about an hour later by Roger knocking on the window!..Sheepish grin…“Sorry mate, could not sleep,err well at home anyway!”. 
After admonishing me, for being a ‘numbnuts’, Rog says, “Since you’re here, you may as well ride out with us.” and introduces me to the latest victim, David. He is a young lad, 21, and seems very keen, even if he looks like he still ought to be putting playing cards in the wheels of his Raleigh bike rather than driving a car, let alone a truck!! Very obviously a country boy and turns out that his Dad has driven for donkey’s years and it’s all he has ever wanted to do. Apparently he has been driving tractors and trucks on the family farm since shortly after emerging from the womb! He is wearing a ‘houndstooth check’ flat cap and I can’t help feeling that i am riding with ‘Cleggy’ from ‘Last of the Summer wine!.’ Thoroughly nice kid tho’. Nice to see somebody that age with no doubt about what he wants to do for the rest of his life. Well spoken too…not a single ‘innit?’ or ‘Ya know wha I mean?’ all day! LOL
Off we trot to the practice area…reverses and sudden stops all perfect…and into Norwich for the daily ‘Dodge the suicides’ exercise.
David drives well…really well…and I can’t help but think that, “this kid aint gonna have any problems”…Very impressed!
Swap over time and now I am suddenly dreading it…“OMG, what if I have forgotten everything…Don’t wanna be shown up by a kid for Gawd’s sake!..Please Lord, don’t let me Fu…errrr…mess up too badly!”
I swear that as I pulled away there was an almighty “Click” in the old brainbox and it all came flooding back! An hour or so later I hear Roger say, “Fantastic job. Pull into the car park there and lets grab a brew!”…YESSSSS!
Turning around in the car park…I graze a kerb…with the front tyre! FFS! Roger gets that look on his face…you know, the one where your favourite dog has just made a mess on your nice new hardwood floor…Bugger!
Never mind, move on.
A few brews later we head off to the Test Centre and David heads into the ‘executioners chamber’. Roger and I watch a poor sod doing his artic test…it’s fairly obvious that he is struggling and he has that ‘Deer in the headlights’ look! David does his reverse and sudden stop…both look perfect…away out of the centre he goes. Rog and I walk down to store on the corner for a burger and another brew.
Upon our return, the Artic ‘testee’ is back in the area doing his ‘Unhitch and Re-hitch’ bit. Even I can tell that it is not going too well. The trailer is crooked and he is having trouble getting the tractor parked up nice and paralell. Then on the ‘Treat the tailer like it was the first time you walked up to it’ inspection bit; It takes him about 30 minutes to do the walkaround inspection, It is almost possible to read the examiners thoughts and he is just about tapping his foot in exasperation. Not really my worry, but it is the examiner I am gonna be using and I am just praying that he isn’t too miffed and therefore in a bad mood later!
David returns and parks up. We wait…Roger is not called over so we are hopeful…Yes! He gets out clasping the oh so precious bit of blue paper in his sweaty paws and wearing the mandatory ‘ear to ear’ silly grin! “Nice one Roger”. says the Examiner as he walks by. “He did well”.
David is chuffed to bits - 6 minors. Well done lad!!
Back in the truck and we are gonna drop david at the yard then head back into town for my test. “I’d rather just stick around and ride with you, if that’s OK?” sez he. “No problem”. sez Rog. “Oh s**t!” thinks I. More pressure to do well…
Anyway, I do another hours drive…no problems… and back to the Test Centre we go!
The Examiner appears, same one as before. This time tho’ we immediately start chatting. Not about the test, but about all sorts. Into the truck…reverse…perfect! Sudden stop…great! Usual blurb about directions etc and it’s time to go. All of a sudden, my mouth went absolutely bone dry…‘cotton mouth’ I think they call it. I swear, it’s a good thing they send off the licence for you…I could not have summoned enough spit to lick a postage stamp!! I ask the examiner if I can grab some chewing gum before we actually head out. He laughs and says, “Look, don’t worry, you were very, very close last time. Just calm down, relax and drive it normally.” He then proceeds to tell me that he has just had an ‘evaluation test’ ride that morning and that he gets nervous too, even after 12 years.
I don’t know if he made a conscious decision to try to keep it relaxed, but we spent the whole drive chatting about anything and everything, from my flying to his Son in the Royal Marines. The time absolutely flew by. As mentoned in my previous post, everything went really, really well. After about 45 mins, I realised that I was actually enjoying it…weird or what?
Pulling back into the yard he was actually smiling, so I was fairly sure that i had passed, just slightly worried about the kerb brushing incident previously mentioned. Even so, it was a great relief to hear the magic words, “Congratulations Simon, I am pleased to say that you have passed”.
Short debrief where he tells me about the ‘clean sheet’ business as mentioned before…Oh well, maybe next time. He then says, I look forward to seeing you for your C+E. Wow!
The rest as they say is history. as I am sure you know from my post last night, I am delighted to say the least!!
Anyway, apologies for the long ramble Rog et al, but…you did ask!!
Still grinning!
Cheers,
Simon
Congrats on your pass, and thanks for the great training blog.
I still grin every time I think about my artic test, although it’s more a “why the whatsit did you pass me?” grin than anything else! And you got a minor less than me as well, I think I’m gonna have to redo my test 
Going straight for the C+E then?
Alex
spd0121:
Anyway, apologies for the long ramble Rog et al, but…you did ask!!Still grinning!
Cheers,
Simon
No apologies necessary - I enjoyed every bit of that
Your style and manner of writing about your training is very relaxed and refreshing.
I hope it will have the same effect on other newbies who read it as it shows them that although it is a ‘test’, there is not a great deal to worry about if they are capable and well trained.
When is the C+E ARTIC blog due 
alexc:
And you got a minor less than me as well, I think I’m gonna have to redo my testGoing straight for the C+E then?
Alex
LOL Blimey, another ‘perfectionist’! Does your SWMBO call you a “Pain in the ■■■” too?
In all seriousness tho’; I don’t think my grin would have been any less wide if I had made it with 15 minors! Ultimately it’s only the result that counts; dontcha think?
I think that one of the biggest things I have learned over the last two weeks was summed up perfectly by another ‘blogee’ when they were apparently told that they were not being taught to drive but merely “upgrading their licence”. A great attitude I think; If you can convince yourself.
As for C+E; I wil be embarking on that journey ASAP. SWMBO and I have made the decision to sell my van and most of my tools immediately to fund the course. I was gonna sell all the tools but ‘Her indoors’ said I have to keep some for ‘projects’…sheesh! Personally, I would not care if I never saw another nailgun, hammer, saw or trowel again!
A big motivation for me is that I have been offered a job by an acquaintance driving nights on an ‘artic’. Despite the current slowdown, he appears to have more work than he can handle. The work is a mixture of ‘Reefers’, 'Bulk carriers and ‘Curtain siders’, so will be a lot of good experience. He is a thoroughly decent bloke and has said that he will ride with me for a week on each, to show me how it’s done. Another steep ‘learning curve’ coming up I reckon!
So, as this thread draws to it’s inevitable conclusion, apologies in advance; I feel another set of ‘ramblings’ coming on. First with the ‘Bendy truck’ training and then the experiences of a ‘newbie’ on the road!
God help you all!
Cheers,
Simon
Well done, Simon!
Thanks for a great read, all the very best for your new found career.‘:D’‘:D’
Stu
dinosteveus1:
Another great read.
Sounds like you were a bit unlucky on the day.
Yet another competent driver is being held back why should luck have anything to do with something of this importance .I dont know the exact figure but a retest must cost about £3oo with test fee labour and use of vehicle all accounted for.
hi,
wel done mate
did that guy mike pass?
Robin_A:
hi,wel done mate
did that guy mike pass?
Thank you
Yes, Mike did indeed pass, I think I noted it in one of the threads, I was well chuffed for him.
Cheers, again,
Simon
Well done
regards
Paul