Written & posted by neil1024 on another thread: -
Having been a keen follower (and occasional poster) of this site for a while now it’s time that I put something back into what is an excellent source of information and help. To all of you who have (mostly unknowingly) helped me — thank you. 
And of course to Rog and other contributors in the New and Wannabes section of the forum for guidance on the whole process from the forms, medicals, theory tests and everything else.
I passed my C Test (first attempt) at Swynnerton two weeks ago this Monday, did an artic assessment drive last Wednesday and start C+E training next Tuesday with my test on Friday 13th. 
And it’s a good job I’m not superstitious!
I’ve tried to keep this as feedback to Rog’s training tips (and/or questions raised by others) rather than a blog. That’s elsewhere and I’ll post a link in due course when I get it finished. So grab a brew or something stronger and have a read….
Why and especially Why in the Current Recession?
I have always driven extensively as part of my job (Sales). Anything up to 1,000 miles a week and always had great respect and empathy for truck drivers. Having been made redundant four times in the last five years (and being over 50) I have finally taken the hint! 
I joined this site in 2006 while then out of work for 9 months. Just as I was about to start LGV training, I got a job in my old line of work that lasted until November last year. So out of work again it is either driving a truck - or a till or shelf in a supermarket. I know what I want to do!
So, yes I know how difficult the job situation is (even for experienced drivers) but while I have the time and money I am determined to get my licenses so that I have another string to the bow when things do eventually pick up. Even if I can get a job in the industry I came from (and that’s a big “If”) I will be prepared next time I’m dumped on the street!
For those that have asked before, no-one made false claims to me about getting jobs or shortages of drivers but that’s mainly because this forum kept me in touch with reality. I also chose the training departments of two large companies in the transport industry (though paying my own way at the going c. £2k rate, C and C+E) for both C and C+E courses on the basis that in better times there was a good chance of a job-offer with both them at the end of a successful pass, even for a newbie (they prefer their in-house-trained drivers). That route is pretty unlikely now too, but I felt the best option.
Pre Training Tips
Hugely useful Rog and thank you.
From the day I was made redundant (early October, I kicked off all the forms and got myself a £49 medical at driversmedicals.com and applied for a provisional C license), I dipped the central mirrors on the cars I drive and have not used them since. I drove everywhere (and still do) DSA-style, taking the full lane-width and thinking about kerbs and rear wheels a long way behind me. I even checked left and right mirrors and blind spot when moving off from the supermarket till with the trolley! The till staff still look at me oddly now!
At every tight roundabout or junction I would watch how other truckers took the line and learnt from it.
Knowing that my test was to be Swynnerton, I downloaded the test routes from the links you provided. As all the routes are places I had always driven past rather than through, I spent two or three days driving round the suburbs of Stoke-on-Trent, and the towns of Stone and Stafford and the routes in and out of the Test Centre.
Having said all that, there is of course, a world of difference between reading something and thinking that you understand it — and putting it into practise - especially when things go wrong. Which for a newbie is often! 
I did a one-hour assessment drive in early November (through the A34 Newcastle-under-Lyme ring road — what a learning curve!) But apart from mastering the four-over-four gearbox (Volvo FM 250) and general size and feel of the thing it brought out some key points. Many have been made already but there might be a few that haven’t:
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I thought that my MSM was pretty good but 40 years of bad habits is hard to fix and I have been SM-M for years (signalling and doing a mirror check at the same time, then moving) and this still blights me in a crisis now.
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I didn’t know it but I have always driven to the kerb (unless there are lane markings). After that drive (assessment) I suddenly realised what the white lines are for (especially the central white line) and subsequently drove the car to that rather than the kerbs. That helped a lot but needed further correction later as I became transfixed by them to the point that where they were narrow they pushed me onto the kerb, so I had to learn when to “pinch” or straddle the white lines to clear the kerbs.
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When reversing a car or maybe a van, we look over the shoulder and through the rear window to get the general line-up and use the door mirrors to check for clearance. My advice to newbies is stop doing this in the car for preparation and just use your mirrors to find the gap and reverse into it. Where I live I choose to reverse into a narrow, open-fronted shed/garage and also an archway to turn around. Find the gap in your mirrors alone and do the whole thing without looking over your shoulder (and don’t blame me if you hit something).
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Speed on Approach and Depth in Braking. This I think is the biggest step-change a car/van driver needs to understand and though Rog covers it well it can’t be stressed enough. It was the biggest single issue we both had. UNDERSTAND this newbies!!
I read this and took it in and tried to apply it in the car but didn’t realise what this really meant and why. I do now! And significantly my co-trainee suffered with this too perhaps more so than me.
Like most car drivers, we hammer up to a roundabout or junction braking hard and then do everything at once. Indicating, still braking, changing gear(s), steering, changing gears again and so-on. (And has been said on here about Reps before: while also eating a sandwich, talking on the mobile phone and checking this quarter’s sales figures at the same time). 
Once I had grasped that I needed to get plenty of depth (distance) and constant braking, for what initially seems far too slow early-on it changed my (dire) performance on roundabouts. Because if you get the speed right-down early on, you have then got loads of time to get your gear change in, assess the situation and plan your next move.
My instructor named me “The Juggler” and as a back-handed compliment said he couldn’t attempt to do what I (initially) did. Still braking, steering one-handed whilst trying to range change a gear-shift and indicate too!
Oh and when you are into the roundabout, just steer and don’t worry about a gear change. And if the rev counter is on the top of the green, leave it there and just steer (and mirrors of course). Then when you are clear and have indicated your exit, sort the gearbox out.
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Roundabouts and Approach Lanes (1): I had read this and sort-of understood it but couldn’t apply it until I met our infamous roundabouts on the test routes. The Walton roundabout on the A34 near Stone springs to mind for those that know the area. There’s also one or two on the Newcastle ring road. Must be that Staffordshire is fond of planting shrubs and bushes on roundabout islands to block your view! But I soon learnt to look over the bushes for the roofs of cars and vans that are on the inside lane and therefore coming round our way. My instructor’s words still echo in my mind now: “We are either going or we’re not. Don’t dither. And if you are not 110% certain, don’t go”. And “Look for your blocker” (traffic coming around the roundabout into the road we are coming out of that blocks the stampede from the right).
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Roundabouts (2): I would add something our instructor taught us that I found very useful. On approaching open roundabouts (wide with reasonable visibility of the approaches) look over the hedges/through the trees well into the road approaching from the right so we have a clue as to what we are likely to meet before we get there. This extended to looking over bridges or under/over road signs even on town roundabouts. It all gives you more time to make a decision. You still may get a surprise and have to stop but you are at least fighting better initial odds.
If it’s a closed junction (no visibility either way) assume we are stopping and go for 4 or 3 (depends on truck). A “lifting” gear as Rog says.
- Narrow country “B” roads: Extending the “over the hedges” concept to looking over the hedges across the fields on approaches to bends or junctions to see “if there is anything big” heading our way. So we are at least prepared and even easing-off in anticipation so we don’t meet them at the worst part.
C Class Training — Lessons Learnt
2:1 versus 1:1 Training.
I know much has been said about the relative merits of each system. I wasn’t offered a choice and was happy with 2:1 for my C training. My C+E is 1:1 (again not out of a choice but I am happy to try it) so I will give you more feedback on that later.
For my C training we started each day at 9:00am and finished at about 4:00pm with maybe a 45-minute lunch break and sometimes a brew at about 10:30am for 15 minutes or so. So I guess we each drove for about two 90-minute sessions each and apart from the first/last 10 minutes each day (A500) we were on test routes all that time. On top of that I had a 1-hour car drive to and from the yard at the start and end of each day.
As is common, we both (trainees) felt knackered at the end of each day and would have doubted the wisdom (and effectivity) of doing any more hours.
I was generally more than happy to climb into the “high” seat on the bunk behind driver and instructor and just chill out — especially if I was having a bad-hair day. Sometimes I would watch my co-trainee closely, re-learn the routes and approaches and mentally “drive” myself. Other times I would just turn off and sometimes (with low sun-angles, the visors down and being tall, had my head touching the roof of the cab) I had no choice as I couldn’t see anything.
Selfishly, my moral was boosted by seeing my cab-mate make the same (and different) mistakes that I did and overall I welcomed the rest and liked the system.
In another example as we neared test day, our instructor produced a typed-up copy of the DL25C Test Report and got each of us to critique the other just on mirror checks for about 30 minutes each. We both dropped about 10 mirror checks of one form or another in that time. Good practise for both of us.
Length of Course
Although I did a C Assessment Drive (no charge) this was more for the instructor to see what I was like rather than to set the length of the course as this was fixed at 6 days plus the Test Day (7 in total). They have found that this suits them and gets results and I would be very, very doubtful about my chances of doing a 4-day plus test on the fifth that I have often seen discussed.
I logged about 18 hours of driving, not including the test and had about one hour’s driving on the day ahead of the test (I was on at 10:30am).
My C+E course is 3 days at 4.5 hours of 1:1 driving each day and the test on the fourth day. Initially I felt this too tight but after the C+E assessment drive I feel I know what I need to learn and think it is manageable. We shall see.
For the C course we started on a Friday and were told that this day was just to get used to the size of the vehicle, the gearbox and brakes. There was little or no test-grooming; just lots of driving, correction and points made where necessary. This was excellent for confidence and just getting into it. Then we had the weekend off to reflect.
Then the following Monday to Thursday was all test routes and technique with Friday a mock test for each of us apart from the drive (50 minutes) each way to the Test Centre area.
I failed my mock test with 2 Serious (a kerb (Steering) and Use of Speed) and 12 minors and my co-trainee also 2 Serious (very bad kerb and too close to cyclists) and 6 minors. Had my test been on the Friday, I am convinced I would have failed, but I learnt so much from that experience.
The huge transition (that I haven’t seen covered on the forum) is when you go from where the instructor is calling the shots (lines to take on junctions, speed, gears) to leaving you to decide. And that’s where it all goes wrong and you realise that your confidence is based on having a co-pilot.
So we both left the yard on that Friday night with our tails down. On the following Monday I passed with 9 minors (more than I wanted and stupid mistakes) and my mate with 6 minors. Result!
Attention to Detail
Little things can make a difference. Being long-legged I had never felt particularly comfortable in the seat position. And it was only at about day 4 (when after a break I had the keys and was in the cab and our instructor was still outside the café (aka Portakabin) on the phone) I thought “I’m going to sort this bloody seat out”. So got onto the cab steps and looked at what the seat controls were saying and got the height, rake and seat-back right for me. What a difference!
And I am always one of these types who in any modern vehicle needs to get the heat and ventilation right. Our instructor learnt truck driving in the days when ventilation was the draught coming up from the gear column gaiter and badly-fitting doors and the heater wasn’t. So all week we were misting-up off-and-on and opening cab windows in all weathers. So after I had sorted the seat position I got the air vents and controls correct. And guess what? No windows opened (other than reversing) or misted-up windows!
Mirrors
As our instructor said “If you come back after a perfect drive and tell me you failed on mirrors, then don’t blame me”! And in fairness to him he more than got the message across. Both I and my fellow trainee have still got sore necks from mirror work (especially the n/s).
As one student told our instructor (having failed on mirrors) “But I am looking in my mirrors”. Yes, but not always at the right time as I found to my cost.
I picked up two Minors (not the under-21 type sadly) 
for Mirrors on Change of Direction — not looking as I turned (back-end swing on a tight right-hander and nearly produced a Nissan Micra cabriolet variant without the cabriolet! I had looked (many times) before I turned but not as I turned.
Daft Mistakes
We all have our particular faults and these were some of mine that I’ll add in case it helps others.
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Park brake on hill/gradient starts. Both of us struggled to get a smooth lift-off without leaping forward or rolling back and it was because we were trying to use the parking brake like a cable-operated one on a car or van and find a point of balance between braking and clutch pressure. Our instructor put us right and told us to find the point where the clutch bites (rev counter dips a little and/or the cab tilts slightly) then throw the parking brake off. By that I mean unlatch it and just let it fly off on the spring rather than try to gently move it to the off position. That fixed my problems though I still tended to roll back an inch or two and got two Minors for this on the test.
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Not tucking in tight enough to the left kerb on right-handers (especially if there is a wall there). This is because I am still not too sure where the front nearside of the cab is and fear I’m going to clout the wall. One Minor, Steering (clipped the centre double-white as a result).
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Appropriate Use of Speed. On a fast stretch of dual carriageway (60mph speed limit) I was running at 50mph but didn’t notice the speed drop off on an up-hill stretch and by the time I had noticed (45mph) the examiner had too. Minor, Making Progress.
C+E Training
As we had both now passed, what we really wanted was a date for C+E training. Again a subject of previous debate on the forum but I had the view that the general consensus was to keep going as you are in “training mode”. Indeed, our instructor had recommended that we do this earlier in our training week.
Whether it was our test results (too many Minors?) or a combination of that and a genuine instructor capacity problem with the upcoming CPC re-training of their existing drivers I am not sure, but the advice was “Go and get some C experience”. That’s easier said than done though in the current climate. And I think that here is a case where established drivers and instructors within large companies, don’t know just how bad it is for driving jobs outside of their familiar surroundings.
My upgraded C license was in my letterbox on the Saturday following the test on the Monday (not bad considering DVLA quote 3 weeks), so with that I approached a local haulage firm with an in-house training department and booked a C+E assessment drive.
I was more than apprehensive as our C instructor had positioned C+E as something much, much harder, even to the suggestion that maybe sticking at a C job might be a good idea. Overall I was surprised and pleased at how much it built on what I already knew and though I may be wrong, I feel that the move form a car to C is a far more difficult task than C to C+E.
My new instructor explained that the very first thing we would do would be the reversing exercise in their own yard. They have the Test Centre pad replicated with the “A” and “B” cones, dock, barrier and yellow-and-black painted bay markings.
First off he asked me to reverse the rig (DAF 85 and tri-axle Curtainsider trailer) straight back the length of the yard and to keep it straight. I had read Rog’s tips on keeping the trailer straight (equal amounts of trailer in both mirrors), but also someone who said “turn the bottom of the wheel in the direction you want the trailer to go” and this worked for me. Having towed boats of various sizes often enough, I found this was easy. He also showed me the piece of silver tape on the trailer rear mudguard and I lined this up with the top of the kerb (there’s a kerb behind the barrier at the Test Centre). Perfect!
Then for the exercise proper. I drove forward and lined up the rig with the left “A” cone and “B” cone just as with the C test and used the kerb mirror on the n/s to position close to the left “A” cone. And then full right lock to get the bend in the trailer, straightening out until the unit o/s wheels are parallel to the yellow line about 18" in (to leave enough room to get the front o/s wheel around).
My instructor told me to look for the trailer legs in the n/s mirror and as soon as I saw them to put the left lock on to follow the trailer and get the bend off. And hey — there it is! The much sought-after and squashed “B” cone. Then it was just a matter of keeping it straight as I headed for the dock.
I learnt on the C exercise that it was better to keep the rear o/s of the truck about in the centre of the dock (or even a little more over) initially (rather than go straight for the right dock cone) to put a bit of a curve in the reward track. Then get closer to the right dock cone as you straighten up. Someone else (forum) also talked about getting a curve in it (like Beckham!) and it helped me.
So I applied the same logic to the trailer and it worked well. Nicely into the dock but just a tad over-done from straight and wanted to move the trailer back-end a touch to my left. Put only a quarter turn of lock on which did straighten the trailer but now I had learnt something else: I had lost the view down the offside of the trailer and thus my reversing mark on the mudguard. My instructor calls this the “control” side and having lost it I was now in trouble. Prompted by him I took a small shunt forward taking the unit over to the left-hand kerb (or yellow line) which straightened us up nicely and then straight back in to the mark. Out of the cab to check and 3" from the barrier. Result!
“Well that’s a pass and good for a first attempt”. I was pleased. What’s all the fuss about or is it Rog’s diagrams and instruction up-front that helped?
Out onto the roads for some “A” and “B” road driving, roundabouts and some tight junctions in town. I found the DAF gate on the gearbox difficult compared to the Volvo (the latter quite “notchy”) but the DAF was more gentle and I was too rough with it and getting the wrong gears.
Apart from that I was surprised at how familiar it felt of course other than the length and judging the lines and turning points on roundabouts and junctions. My instructor helped initially but then at a multiple-lane, extended roundabout with some cross-hatched single carriageway sections left me to judge myself. I took all the room I wanted (perhaps too much) but was pleased to get around without mishap.
So I start next week and at the moment it looks achievable. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Thanks for all the tips so far Rog (and others): it has made the whole journey so much easier. Forewarned is forearmed as they say!
(Hope this helps someone - you can tell by the lenght of it I have too much time on my hands!!)
Neil
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TRAINING TIPS FEEDBACK: -
Are they… 
Q - Useful:
A - Very, very much so
Q - Accurate:
A - Yes indeed
Q - Too much of a personal view:
A - Not at all
Q - Missing anything that should be included:
A - Added above (my personal experience). But stress again Speed on Approach and Why
Q - Have I Included something that should not be there:
A - No
Q - Do they Cause any friction with other instructors when you go for training:
A - None
ADDED NOTE BY ROG :-
It is quite normal to have a dip in the learning curve when training.
Typically this comes on day 3 of a 5 day course when it seems you have ‘forgotten how to drive anything’
Do not be concerned as after a good nights sleep it all comes together the next day