kk that is such bad luck i really feel for u got to get yourself all syched up again , but on a positive it was a pass up until then so I gather the reverse went ok and did you do couple uncouple before you went on road or was he leaving that till you got back , you got it in the bag for next wed just think like that and you will pass no problems , oh and hope they are paying for retest as the fault was with the lorry not you
Jen x
Hope you had your nanas 
Unfortunate events though 
at least you can take away some positive from it though and you have the experience of how it went.
The clutch went on my class 1 test! Passed on the next go with no mishaps. Bad luck KK…
Yo KK really bad luck, Was waiting to hear it went well and a pass, just have to wait a few more days 
as you say, take a chill, relax and all will be well for next week 
Sam Millar:
Hope you had your nanas
Had my nanas Sam. Worked a treat for my nerves.
Jennie:
kk that is such bad luck i really feel for u got to get yourself all syched up again , but on a positive it was a pass up until then so I gather the reverse went ok and did you do couple uncouple before you went on road or was he leaving that till you got back , you got it in the bag for next wed just think like that and you will pass no problems , oh and hope they are paying for retest as the fault was with the lorry not youJen x
The uncouple/couple is done at the end of the on road test so never got to do it. Managed the reverse with the two shunt, not ideal but I was dangerously close to the cones on the right of the bay. Im still not getting when to bend the trailer and how much just right. I’ve been getting different results every time. Yeah, GTG will be paying for the retest and Im getting some extra training the night before my test too. My instructor is going to stay behind for me.
craigiej:
bad luck kitty kat im raging !!! thats so not fare !!! rant over you were doing so well aswell just keep your chin up and keep in the zone
I know craigie. I wish he would have just cut it short and let me pass. GTG have swapped some tests around to get me in for next week though I have to use the artic with the slightly smaller trailer. Don’t know if this will make any difference. They are covering the resit fee and I get some extra training out of it too. I just wanted it all over and done with too. 
He could of taken you on a route without right turns! Never mind, good luck for next time.
SB
i seen it in the morning did the guy who was training with you have his test it was at arkleston roundabout , i let it out as i thought it was you , helpfull guy me… its good that gtg have done that for you he should just have gave you that blue pass paper and sent you up the road … was it that andy guy ?
Just be aware of that smaller trailer, shorter and smaller trailers are harder to reverse so make sure you make the most of those extra couple of hours KK.
Sam
craigiej:
i seen it in the morning did the guy who was training with you have his test it was at arkleston roundabout , i let it out as i thought it was you , helpfull guy me…
That must have been the other artic maybe. His test was at 2.30. No his name was Paul craigie.
Sam Millar:
Just be aware of that smaller trailer, shorter and smaller trailers are harder to reverse so make sure you make the most of those extra couple of hours KK.Sam
That’s all I need lol. Wil try my best.
Bad luck KittyKat hope things go better on ya retest. Btw when is ya retest
jackg:
Bad luck KittyKat
Thanks Jackg. My re-test is next Wednesday at 8.45. Not an ideal time but was only one available. They had to convert two cpc tests back into a driving test for me. They didn’t really want to have me waiting weeks for a re-test.
KittyKat:
I wish he would have just cut it short and let me pass.
Unfortunately there is a legal minimum length for the on-road element of the test, and 20 minutes is far too short. It sounds as if the examiner did his best to help sort the problem, but it wasn’t to be.
I wish you well for the second attempt next week.
Don`t mean to be rude to ask 
but do ya have to pay for this retest or is the training company paying for it as it was not your fault.
djw:
KittyKat:
I wish he would have just cut it short and let me pass.Unfortunately there is a legal minimum length for the on-road element of the test, and 20 minutes is far too short. It sounds as if the examiner did his best to help sort the problem, but it wasn’t to be.
I wish you well for the second attempt next week.
This may be, but you could turn left out of the test centre and someone has a crash in front of you and you could sit there all duration of the test and still pass.
jackg:
Don`t mean to be rude to ask
No I don’t have to pay for it. The training centre will fund it, same as if the weather is really bad like snow. They won’t conduct a test in it.
shorter and smaller trailers are harder to reverse
The jury’s out on this one and has been for years. Shorter trailers generally react more quickly which can completely flumax an experienced driver. But, unless it is half the length your’e used to , you probably wont notice any great difference. To say that shorter trailers are harder to reverse is, frankly, nonsense.
you could turn left out of the test centre and someone has a crash in front of you and you could sit there all duration of the test and still pass.
Sorry, but that’s just not true. The road drive has to run for a minimum of 50 minutes (anything with a trailer) or 60 minutes for rigids. But in that time there are a number of exercises that are mandatory and it would be out of the question to sit for the entire duration of the test and pass. This happened to a candidate of mine in the early seventies and nothing, in that regard, has changed.
Sam, I sincerely wish you all the very best with your training and test and I’m pleased to hear it seems to be going ok. But beware of dishing out “transport cafe” stories as fact. It could be very misleading and I know that’s never going to be your intention.
All the best, Pete
Peter Smythe:
shorter and smaller trailers are harder to reverse
The jury’s out on this one and has been for years. Shorter trailers generally react more quickly which can completely flumax an experienced driver. But, unless it is half the length your’e used to , you probably wont notice any great difference. To say that shorter trailers are harder to reverse is, frankly, nonsense.
you could turn left out of the test centre and someone has a crash in front of you and you could sit there all duration of the test and still pass.
Sorry, but that’s just not true. The road drive has to run for a minimum of 50 minutes (anything with a trailer) or 60 minutes for rigids. But in that time there are a number of exercises that are mandatory and it would be out of the question to sit for the entire duration of the test and pass. This happened to a candidate of mine in the early seventies and nothing, in that regard, has changed.
Sam, I sincerely wish you all the very best with your training and test and I’m pleased to hear it seems to be going ok. But beware of dishing out “transport cafe” stories as fact. It could be very misleading and I know that’s never going to be your intention.
All the best, Pete
I’m only going by what the instructors have told me and you’d expect them to know what they’re talking about 
so in actual fact i’m not dishing out ‘transport cafe’ stories, my journeys out haven’t brought me near a truck stop yet.
I’ve also heard from MANY drivers that the shorter the trailer the harder it is to reverse, or to catch. These are people I fully trust, stories i’ve heard from RDCs I take with a pinch of salt. Not all of us have your experience Pete. 
I’m only going by what the instructors have told me and you’d expect them to know what they’re talking about
You would hope so wouldn’t you. But remember there is no compulsory qualification for an LGV instructor apart from having held the licence for 3 years.
my journeys out haven’t brought me near a truck stop yet.
Time will come - then you’ll really hear some garbage talked!
I’ve also heard from MANY drivers that the shorter the trailer the harder it is to reverse, or to catch.
Like I said - some drivers are easily flumaxed by a different length trailer. But really should make minimal difference for training purposes.
stories i’ve heard from RDCs I take with a pinch of salt.
I’d try a bucket of the stuff if I were you!
Not all of us have your experience Pete.
which is why I spend loads of time on here trying to help. I had to learn as well (and am still doing).
All the best, Pete
Sam my instructor said a lot of thing to me on my CE training which I took with a pinch of salt as he said it to try to make him lok big & clever but didnt work with me just made himself look a bit daft although I said nowt to him just smiled & said yep
As he also didnt believe in “BLACK” or anything else I had suggested just pulled me down hence why I am going else where next time
Hi KittyKat,
I think you’ll end up putting this one down to a ‘free’ experience.
You turned up, you did everything that you should have done (and correctly) then it all went wrong due to something completely beyond your control.
Please don’t blame yourself because of a mechanical contrivance that failed to work, cos it’s not as if you broke it.
Looking for something positive… you have now experienced the test (or at least the start of it) and you’re that bit richer in experience for it.
Good luck for your next attempt.
If it’s any consolation, I failed my first LGV test for thinking that I could rescue a bad reverse exercise without taking a shunt, so that one was down to me.
I next went for a re-test, but I didn’t even get to the test center because the engine started banging its brains out due to a failed big-end bearing. We’d checked the oil and water before setting off, there were no top-ups needed, but the gods simply weren’t with me that day.
Once it’s coupled to a tractor unit, every trailer has a pivot point that the driver has to learn, so I’m not convinced that a shorter trailer is any more or less difficult to drive/reverse.
