Handbag straps for sale hurry whilst stocks last. 
Sorry sold oot 
I am
Class 1 is no harder than class 2. Itâs barely semi skilled work.
People who work flatbeds or car transporters, to me thatâs getting more into specialisation and I respect that. Closing curtains and back doors is the same whether itâs a rigid or trailer.
I prefer to see a nicely opened back door or curtains 
foresttrucker:
Class 1 is no harder than class 2.
The fact that someone who passed their test on a rigid when class 3 and 2 meant what it said can still drive 40-44t gross A frame draw bar outfits on grandfather rights.While passing a test on a rigid with a close coupled trailer now means âclass 1â which covers them for artics says it all. 
On that note. 
Class 2 :
Class 1 :
foresttrucker:
Class 1 is no harder than class 2. Itâs barely semi skilled work.Why then does it require a further driving test?
It is generally more skilful which is why it generally pays more money. Often easier work however. Any driving job is only semi-skilled so we agree upon that point.
A rigid is nothing more than a large van.
Judehamish:
foresttrucker:
Class 1 is no harder than class 2. Itâs Why then does it require a further driving test?A rigid is nothing more than a large van.
Historically the original idea of the âclass 1â driving test was specifically to reflect the âdifferentâ handling characteristics of artics v everything else.IE âdifferentâ not neccessarily more difficult and certainly easier to reverse than drawbar outfits.
While now it just reflects the difference between driving a truck with a trailer of whatever type attached.In which case as Iâve said rigid drivers were ( rightly ) deemed as being competent enough to learn all that needed to be learnât about driving a rigid with a trailer attached to it without needing to be tested for same.While its my guess that the average so called class 1 driver whoâs only driven and passed a test on a rigid with close coupled trailer would find both a rigid with proper drawbar or an artic as totally alien concepts.
Whereas previously the licence regime was set up ( rightly ) on the basis of a test needed for artics but not for drawbars.Not because artics were more difficult or heavier but because they were âdifferentâ in at least the sense of the way they handle and vision compared to everything else.
By your logic the so called âclass 1â licence has now been reduced to the analogy of a large van pulling a caravan.
While artics are just the same compromised weird handling ( IE âdifferentâ also often flawed especially going forwards).But ultimately not more difficult ( compared to a drawbar outfit ) and weight capacity challenged design they always were.But with effectively now no seperate test to reflect that.
While the proper wagon and drag is gradually being consigned to the history books because the ultimately higher skill set needed to drive it is gradually being lost.While ironically being the type of skill set which didnât need a seperate test.
Although having said that it would be interesting to see what the pass rate would be of supposedly superior âclass 1â drivers if all âC + Eâ testing was made compulsory A frame drawbar type. 
In which case even more ironically it was probably always more the case that if someone can drive a proper drawbar outfit then theyâll be able to manage an artic without a problem at least as much as,if not rather than,vice versa.
An A frame drawbar is a dream to drive forwards, but going backwards is a different story, having artic experience is more a hindrance than a help.
Iâm not sure why a separate test wasnât required to drive one, they are the most difficult legally allowed combination of vehicle to drive, an artic is a piece of â â â â in comparison.
Of course an artic with an a frame drawbar behind it is on another level again, a level so high that a rigid A frame combination is barely visible and artics can only be seen through a big telescope [emoji38]
im gonna be honest and admit ive not read all this thread nor do I have a class 1 licence , but reading the first few bits a quote from an old neighbour of mine comes to mind "the higher up a tree a monkey goes the more it shows its arse " draw your own conclusions
newmercman:
An A frame drawbar is a dream to drive forwards, but going backwards is a different story, having artic experience is more a hindrance than a help.Iâm not sure why a separate test wasnât required to drive one, they are the most difficult legally allowed combination of vehicle to drive, an artic is a piece of â â â â in comparison.
Of course an artic with an a frame drawbar behind it is on another level again, a level so high that a rigid A frame combination is barely visible and artics can only be seen through a big telescope [emoji38]
Although ironically the A train is more like a sledgehammer to crack a nut approach needed to provide an artic outfit with similar weight handling abilities of a drawbar outfit at the expense of 3 points of articulation instead of two and a mile of road space.Although admittedly with âsomeâ extra volume capacity.
But the relevant bit as I said previously is that 8 wheeler rigid pulling one or two drawbar trailers so,rightly,beloved of the fairground set,would be more likely driven by someone brought up on rigids and self taught in the art of handling the trailer/s.Just like the average Brit driver before artics ever arrived on the scene here in a big way and that probably explains why the old generations ( rightly ) decided that we didnât need a seperate test for drawbars.
While EU obviously think that hitching a big two axled caravan onto the back of a 12 tonner rigid is the same thing as driving an artic. 
I only had a class three licence to start with but there were not many people who would drive my Bedford KM with an A frame
ARRRR TICK ROALLL
I could just imagine this same argument taking place in the 1950âs and 60âs with the eight wheeler drivers looking down on their silly little artic driving counterparts.
Imagine trying to back that up, no power steering and a trailer that reacts to the slightest steering input. That would teach you all about positioning.
Which then raises another question were existing rigid/rigid and trailer drivers only given grandfather rights for class 2 or 3 when the original HGV licence test was introduced or did they also get a class 1 by default ?.
Assuming the former I could imagine the type of driver of that outfit being really â â â â â â off if he was turned down for a drawbar or an artic job in favour of someone whoâd got grandfather rights for class 1 by driving something like the artic in the pic. 
Dipper_Dave:
juice09:
Dipper_Dave:
Well I drive artics to compensate for my small todgerâŚI drive them to compensate for not having a todger
OMG you poor thing, if it helps I barely have a button mushroom meself, I have to tell everyone Iâm a grower not a shower.
Hang on your a lady, in which case I have nightmares (well and the odd fantasy TBH) about being in a 7.5tonner when an artic driven by a member of the fairer â â â pulls alongside at a services.
Pmsl
Have seen a fair few embarrassed looking men in puddle jumpers on the services⌠
@Carryfast, dead right because it depended on what you had been driving in the six month qualifying period. It happened to my dad and he was mightily peed off to say the least, he had been driving 8 wheelerâs, fridges & tippers, for the majority of the six months and as things worked out he moved on and managed to get BRS to pay for the upgrade.
Regards
Dave Penn;
davepenn54:
@Carryfast, dead right because it depended on what you had been driving in the six month qualifying period.Regards
Dave Penn;
Thanks for clarifying that I never knew the exact details of how the classes were decided for existing drivers.I can understand how that must have caused loads of aggravation and annoyance in the day.Especially being a generation of drivers whoâd been mainly brought up on rigids and/or rigids and trailers with artics probably rightly generally viewed as dinky toys by comparison at that time.
While now the EU have added even more irony to that by turning the old class 1 artic specific licence category into just a rigid with a close coupled trailer which is neither one thing or the other.
When the reality was/is that,contrary to the licencing regime then or now,if someone could handle a rigid with a proper drawbar then theyâd probably be able to handle anything notwithstanding the specific differences in the characteristics of artics v drawbars.With generations of drawbar drivers raised on the idea of learning to drive them on a self taught on the job basis long after the HGV testing regime had been introduced.As such the idea of the âclass 1â driver was always in reality an irrelevance,as opposed to the âbestâ.
I stopped driving for a living last October so I look down on all of you.