Hi all,
So after almost 2 years of driving a van on the weekends to save up for my Class C and C&E, and after a few lockdown-related delays on my multiple choice and hazard perception tests earlier this year, I finally made the trip from South Wales up to Peter Smythe Transport Training this weekend to do my Class C training on Saturday and Sunday, with the practical test and Mod 4 booked for yesterday morning.
As the trip was a bit further than 70 miles, PSTT kindly booked me in to my free accommodation 5 minutes away from the training centre. With free parking on site, a clean, welcoming hotel, and with unlimited options on takeaways in Sutton-in-Ashfield, I was settled as soon as I arrived on Friday night. After a KFC, I got a good night’s sleep ready for my first day of training on Saturday morning, bright and early!
Arriving at the training centre, I was immediately impressed by the setup they have there. Modern facilities, with a great range of vehicles. My nerves kicked in a bit when I realised I was going to be training in the largest of the 3 class C vehicles, but after a quick chat with my trainer Helen, she drove to a local industrial estate where I would drive a lorry on the road for the first time. Eek!
I loved it from the very start and the roads were quiet - perfect for me to get comfortable and accustomed to the size of the lorry. The hours flew by on Saturday and I was really happy with how natural it all felt. I must say, the information I had read on the LGV Training Tips post forum (especially viewtopic.php?f=46&t=44667&p=503943#p503950) was invaluable and I feel that the preparation that it allowed me to do whilst driving cars and vans, made the transition to a bigger vehicle a lot easier.
Helen and I were both really happy with how the first day had gone and the main 2 things I thought I needed to work on for Sunday were my shoulder checks for the blind spot on moving off, and identifying the height/weight limit signs earlier. The reverse was almost there by the end of training on Saturday, but Sunday morning was going to start with getting the reverse locked in, and that’s what we did.
The traffic was so quiet on Sunday morning that it felt like driving for the sake of driving, and I was now confident with my left mirror, right mirror, blind spot, left mirror procedure and spotted all the weight/height limits with plenty of time. The best compliment of the weekend was Helen saying that she was getting bored of my driving 
.
It did get a little busier early afternoon and we increasingly found that I was often going through the traffic lights while they were on amber. My approach to traffic lights was a bit fast, and I wasn’t anticipating the change to amber in time. So by the end of the practical training on Sunday, that was my only concern going into the test on Monday morning. We finished off with the Mod 4 questions and the daily-walk around check ready for my Mod 4 test 8am on Monday morning. I couldn’t have asked for more from Helen and the weekend of training. It almost felt as if it was too good to be true and I was more nervous for the Mod 4 test than I was for the practical…
Monday morning - Mod 4 done, nice and easy. I don’t know why I was worried about that part. 100%, then for the test…
The test started with the reverse and show & tell questions. Reversed it into the bay nice and easy and I didn’t need to leave the cab for the show & tell questions. All good! Out onto the road we went and I started off really well, plenty of mirror checks and the traffic was pretty quiet for the time of day. I didn’t feel nervous, but I was making the odd mistake with lane decisions and doubting myself. Those weight/limit signs weren’t so clear in my head on the test either.
I found myself in the right of 2 lanes going right a couple of times, but managed to resolve the situation both times - not a good impression for the examiner though. I also got way too close to a lamp post with my mirror on one of the times the examiner asked me to pull up on the side of the road. I’m guessing that’d have been an instant fail if I’d have hit that! I also questioned the examiner when she asked me to turn right onto a road with a weight limit further down the road - My brain was too focused on the 7.5t weight limit symbol and not what was underneath it. How embarrassing!
By the time I was asked to do the independent driving, I had already notched up a few things in my head that might have caused me to fail, but I managed to follow the signs for Derby A38 no problem and back to the test centre with no further incidents. My thought was that if the test wasn’t aborted before the independent driving, I still had a chance of passing!
The time had come for the result, and when the examiner said “Congratulations you have passed”, I was over the moon, if not a little bit surprised. As I suspected, the silly mistakes I had made were noted, but they were only minors thankfully! I had racked up 5 minors during the test and I don’t think I made 5 mistakes during the previous 14 hours I had been driving over the weekend, but I guess that is the pressure of the examiner sitting there and a pass is a pass.
Sorry for the long post, but wanted to say thanks again to Helen and the team at PSTT for a great weekend of training and a pass at the end of it - I would definitely recommend them to anyone looking to start their training. As soon as my licence comes back from the DVLA, I’ll be getting my C+E booked in with them to do it all again but with a trailer this time!
Thankyou for the informative post, Im due to go to PSTT for the theory training day in the next few weeks and have booked into the same hotel because of the distance.