C Now Passed

Evening folks have been mulling over taking my LGV C test for the past 12 to 18 months, well after christmas made the decision and start my 5 day driving course this monday with RTT of Ipswich. However it was only recently that I found this website, doh! There’s a lot of great information on here for us newbies, so thanks to those who give their time and experience its much appreciated.

I expect i’m in the same boat as a lot of other beginners in that I have very little experience in driving lorries and the knowledge required that goes with it, (I drive mwb transit for work ). I see from the posts that even if I pass, the biggest hurdle will be getting experience so I’m in a position to convince a potential employer that I’m employable .

The training is 2:1 am looking forward to monday and will post again Monday night (as long as things go ok )

We like daily training blogs so if you are up for it then great.

If you can use this thread for them all then it will help us follow your progress.

Good luck punchy hope you enjoy it as much as i did jenx

hello and good luck punchy, I did my training and test in ipswitch, hope all goes well for you, which im shure it will, I look forward to following your progress…

Hi and thanks for the posts.

Well I survived the 1st day and so did the instructer and fellow trainee (who takes her test wednesday). She had the 1st couple of hours while I watched intently, gear changes, mirror, mirror, blindspot and oh yes more mirrors.

Then Kevin said it was time for the switchover and asked me if I was ready. At this point my inner confidence went and he quickly spotted my hesitation in saying yes!

Kerry then drove to a nearby Industrial estate where after instructions from Kevin I took off. Thank god I did this as although everything was clear in my head whilst observing there suddenly came into play the unmanly ability to multitask! left mirror, right mirror, blindspot .

Roundabouts are an absolute hoot! approach speed, right gear, oncoming traffic, watch for the blocker, go go go, left mirror right mirror,stay in lane, indicate befor existing up the gears left mirrror, right mirror, dont hit the kerb on entry or exit, it didn’t seems five minutes before my 1st 2 hour stint had passed.We had to open the windows in the cab, I never knew I could produce so much sweat just from sitting in a chair!

Kept mainly to the outer ring road around Ipswich and the bypass.

The truck is a mercedes Actros (converted artic unit apparently 400bhp) gearbox is um, semi automatic? (forgotten the technical name) but push the knob and then you can operate the clutch then or after, for it to go in gear.

Not a bad 1st day, really enjoyed it, but have some serious learning to do on the mirror and blindspot front. Kevin kept reminding all day I wasn’t ignoring him but found it difficult to keep checking them whilst turning the wheel. thats it for now. Cheers

You had a good first day - I like the diary - keep em coming

Are some of those training tips now making some sense

punchy:
serious learning to do on the mirror and blindspot front.

Just done my training recently and dont worry by wednesday those mirrors and blind spot will be second nature i had same trouble only try not to hit ur head on the window when u check ur blind spot as i did many a time gets the mess thru though when u have a big egg on ur head !!!

Day 2 or is it Round 2
Had 2 town runs today, started with a gentle run up the bypass just to ease me back in, then headed back, kevin asked me if I was ready and I was happy to give it a go.

I think this lasted about half an hour, wow head was spinning, lots more mirror work, lane control/positioning, tight turns, one way system changing lanes,traffic lights and the good old pedestrian crossings ! which just seem to turn red as you’ve decided its gonna stay green and you’ve increased your speed accordingly, and of course my favourite the magic roundabout where I’m definately a Brian at the mo!

Didn’t make to many errors and think I received some praise from the instructer when he said ‘that wasn’t to bad was it?’

Unfortunately the afternoon session was not quite as good. Started pulling away from the roundabouts in too low a gear, the motor enables you to pull away in 4th and generate a bit of speed to get you going but on occassions I’d got it into 2nd or 3rd so would try to pull away when there wasn’t really enough time to get clear of traffic from the right, also clipped the curb ,and was once again not doing enough mirror work watching my position in relation to the kerb. Ahh yes went left when I should have carried on straight.

At the end I was feeling annoyed with myself but thanks for the encouragement on the m’s Jenx I hope to have a more positive report tomorrow and Kevin did reiterate this was quite common for learners.
So here’s to tomorrow

Nice report Punchy, things do go bad before they get better but everything will drop into place just at the right time … The mental exhaustion doesn’t help either … Good luck

punchy:
also clipped the curb

I was clipping the curb quite a lot at first but once u get the knack of positioning that back axle and know where it needs to be to get u round happy days !!! I had many bad days where i knew i could drive the truck just kept making silly mistakes dont panic learn from ur mistakes and move on lets face it if you could get in atruck and drive it straight away u wouldn`t need any training would you look forward to hearing how u do today jx

punchy:
Kevin did reiterate this was quite common for learners.

It is - it usually happens on day 3 of a 5 day course so you had yours early

Day 3
Sorry its late but its a shorter version, as my mind is still on today (day 4 which follows on)

Day 3 was better, lane discipline and roundabouts improved and my driving was becoming smoother, I think the morning helped my mirror and blindspot manouver as the traffic was start stop in town ,so lots of inching forward and handbrake work.
The other good news is that the young lass had her test lunchtime and passed with 1 minor. She deserved it as the 2 days I was with her she was very controlled.

Day 4
A full day as I was on my own with the instructer, new manouvers downhill, uphill starts and the controlled stop.

Lots more town work with tight right hand turns at signalled junctions. you know the ones where the front whell musn’t hit the nearside curb hurredly followed by ensuring the back wheel or end of the truck dosen’t hit island curb or the traffic signals!

Caught the curb twice today both at 2 lane juntions where I turned left. I was there 1st but Kevin advised me I was to concerned with preventing the traffic going straight on rather than getting my position right for the turn, hence I had no chance of missing the curb

Was pretty knackered when I finished but glad I had a full day things are getting smoother, but still need to plan and look ahead as it says in the TIPS.

Looking forward to tomorrow and hoping to get rid of those niggly habits before my lunchtime test. Hoping to post a positive report tomorrow afternoon if not I will be on the PC booking my retest.
Cheers and thanks for all your kind comments and support

good luck for tomorrow all i can say is you will have good drives and bad drives just have to concentrate for about an hour thats all the test is and you will be ok keep on going and believe in yourself by the sound of your blog pretty much mirrors my experience and i passed so you should be ok jx

D day

Really pleased to say that test went well and I passed today

had a good practice this morning beforehand with my instructer letting me carry out those moves that I needed more practice on.
must admit thought I’d failed before I got out of the test centre. Did the reverse and the controlled stop ok and just as i was about to leave the test compound realised I hadn’t put my seat belt on

I thought this might be a fail but of course had to carry on, kept my head together and carried on, felt resonably relaxed and just tried to concentrate on the driving, which is what kevin had been trying to instill in me all week.

Clipped a kerb not long before I was back at the centre and thought oh well I’ll have to rebook!

I was surprised when the examiner said I’d passed but really chuffed, Kevin explained that I wasn’t on the highway when I didn’t have the belt on so counting my lucky stars that I put it just in time.

Must thank Kevin my tutor for excellent manner, patience and controlled repetitive instruction and explaination in how to carry out the manoeuvers that I needed to grasp and improve.

Must book the next part of the CPC required for me to become eligible for the road.
Good luck to all others who taking their LGV’s .

how about editting the first post and changing the title to include something like - NOW PASSED C

well done punchy, Ive been following your progress on here, and saw rogs stars flashing before I’d even started to read your post ,so knew all was well… good on ya

Well done punchy really chuffed for you jx

Well done punchy an a good diary aswell. I hope il be able to get the flashing banners in 4 weeks.

cheers