CPC today.

[robroy]

Did my 3rd session today, 3 down,.2 to go.

On the plus side I know the guy who presented it, he’s done a bit of driving, he’s a canny lad, he presented it well,.and tried to make it as bearable as he could with a few laughs…plus he made the course quite interesting (it pains me to say )

He started by saying ‘I dont know everything, I look forward to your input,.a two way discussion not a lecture so feel free to argue’

It was about drugs and alcohol,.effects etc.,.and what you can and can not get done for in different scenarios…not the official title but there ya go.

On the minus side, see what you think about this, me and a few more called b/s on a couple of points.

1.Picture this as Debbie Harry once said …
I’m having a bbq in back garden, so.some opportunist scrote nicks my car keys from front of house,.and crashes my car 200yds down the road,.and does a runner.
The Police can arrive at my bbq, breathylize ME (after me having numerous cans of beer at the bbq…as you do) and arrest me on suspicion of crashing the car myself.
My argument was they would need to prove ne guilty rather than me prove innocence,.so I would more than likely refuse.

2…on another subject, .He matter of factly said… ‘Nobody today who drives a truck uses a car sat nav.
I said ‘Wrong,.I do and have never owned a truck sat nav,.and never needed nor wanted one’’
He looked at me like I had ■■■■■■ in his kitchen,.and told me it was totally illegal,.and that I would get done for it.
Again I called ■■■■■■■■ on it.

Comments?

[yourhavingalarf]

robroy:
2…on another subject, .He matter of factly said… ‘Nobody today who drives a truck uses a car sat nav.
I said ‘Wrong,.I do and have never owned a truck sat nav,.and never needed nor wanted one’’
He looked at me like I had ■■■■■■ in his kitchen,.and told me it was totally illegal,.and that I would get done for it.
Again I called ■■■■■■■■ on it.

Comments?

I think…

We’ve found the originator of ‘it’s £10 for every turn of the winding legs’ mate.

[robroy]

yourhavingalarf:

robroy:
2…on another subject, .He matter of factly said… ‘Nobody today who drives a truck uses a car sat nav.
I said ‘Wrong,.I do and have never owned a truck sat nav,.and never needed nor wanted one’’
He looked at me like I had ■■■■■■ in his kitchen,.and told me it was totally illegal,.and that I would get done for it.
Again I called ■■■■■■■■ on it.

Comments?

I think…

We’ve found the originator of ‘it’s £10 for every turn of the winding legs’ mate.

As I said, the guy is ok, and I dont really want to slag him off…and tbf he did say his points were open to discussion.

[edd1974]

End of the day the job involves getting from a to b .safely avoiding weight limits and low bridges.

Does it matter if you use a car satnav. Which I do.

You could use road map. /A-z
Could go off written directions
Could use Google maps.
Even navigate using the moon and the starse

Long as you get there in 1 piece what’s the problem.

So on his basis you have to use a.truck.satnav…say it decides send you down a weight limit or towards a low bridge . What do you do then .carry on regardless as your satnavs always right

Remember when I did CPC course fella said if you’ve had a drink after parking up on a night out place the. Keys on the dashboard as it shows you have no intention to drive off and you cant be done for it.

[sploom]

Ive never used a truck satnav.I use google maps with the low bridge add on,all free.Also,there are roads in Leicester with no weight limit or low bridges but you would really struggle to get a truck through them ,with all the parked cars ,tight bends and everything,but that truck satnav would send you down them,because they are good as far as it’s concerned

[robroy]

edd1974:
End of the day the job involves getting from a to b .safely avoiding weight limits and low bridges.

Does it matter if you use a car satnav. Which I do.

You could use road map. /A-z
Could go off written directions
Could use Google maps.
Even navigate using the moon and the starse

Long as you get there in 1 piece what’s the problem.

So on his basis you have to use a.truck.satnav…say it decides send you down a weight limit or towards a low bridge . What do you do then .carry on regardless as your satnavs always right

Remember when I did CPC course fella said if you’ve had a drink after parking up on a night out place the. Keys on the dashboard as it shows you have no intention to drive off and you cant be done for it.

That was another discussion point.
You are parked up for the night in a lay by next to a busy road.
A car buries it’s self in the back of your trailer.
You have had 2 or 3 cans of lager earlier with the supper you have cooked in your cab.
You are booked off with intention of 11 off, the accident occurs in the first hour of your 11,
The Old Bill breathylize you,.and you are over limit for driving, and for the sake of your argument, you would have been under when you booked on…(just go with that bit) with no intention of starting before the planned time, but they nick you anyway for being in charge of a vehicle over the limit.
My argument was a good brief would get you off that one.
My question was…What about the same scenario in a camper,.where you have no minimum limit of a rest period before setting off, I would have said that scenario in that camper would make you more susceptible to getting nicked…but no, because it’s a different type of vehicle …apparently.

[robroy]

Are you on here Luke?
What are your opinions on these points as a DCPC guy yourself?

[bigtruck3]

Made up stories they are the worst kind, most people would have a different way of dealing with with them,
Sounds like a course he put together the night before
Google maps is the same as car sat nav so it must be illegal to use that as well, from your trainer point of view

[jakethesnake]

It’s very difficult to be a good classroom instructor. You really need to know your stuff 100% and if you get asked a question you don’t know the answer of you need to admit it or say you will find the correct answer later. Absolutely no bluffing.
Done 1000’s of lessons and heard plenty others too. Some very good, some ok and some pretty bad but these bad ones were dealt with not like in DCPC unless of change recently.
Thankfully I have never had to go near DCPC but I have heard so much about bad instructors mostly on here.

Personally when I did my last CPC the guy was fine, not perfect but he made it interesting especially when he took us all out for an assessment drive. That was a real eye opener for me to see how bad some current drivers (at the time) were.

Are DCPC instructors regulated or checked these days? I know they weren’t checked very well a few years ago if at all.

The whole thing needs refreshing and made more relevant. IE Assessment drives and practical loading etc but has to be someone that knows the score 100% or it never will work.

[m_a_n_rules]

The whole thing needs refreshing and made more relevant. IE Assessment drives and practical loading etc but has to be someone that knows the score 100% or it never will work.

NO, the whole thing needs binning… END OF…

[jakethesnake]

m.a.n rules:
The whole thing needs refreshing and made more relevant. IE Assessment drives and practical loading etc but has to be someone that knows the score 100% or it never will work.

NO, the whole thing needs binning… END OF…

Fair enough, any suggestions?

[m_a_n_rules]

jakethesnake:

m.a.n rules:
The whole thing needs refreshing and made more relevant. IE Assessment drives and practical loading etc but has to be someone that knows the score 100% or it never will work.

NO, the whole thing needs binning… END OF…

Fair enough, any suggestions?

YES, a all inclusive training/ test programme, it may take 4/6 weeks depending on ability but better than the dross that is poured out after 4/5 days poor training…

[jakethesnake]

Excellent idea, something to get rid of all the d/heads on the road. Make it far tougher to drive a truck and make sure high standards are maintained in every aspect.

[commonrail]

+1 make the test harder…and periodic retests,harder still.

[toonsy]

I know there was a thing calling on the ban of car satnavs in hgvs a while back but don’t think it’s seen light of day. Pretty sure it was from councils in areas where they have issues with trucks getting stuck/hitting bridges often.

I mean I get the theory of their idea but it’s filled with holes. Being a truck satnav doesn’t make it infallible.

Likewise the Google maps overlay someone mentioned, not perfect and misses loafs of bridges including the 10ft one near me.

Same with a truckers atlas which also misses out that same bridge.

That’s just bridge heights… a map won’t give you suitability for a road or such either. It wont tell you some ■■■■ has parked on a junction making an achievable turn unachievable and so on.

There is no perfect solution apart from looking ahead and paying attention

[robroy]

Loving the way some of you want to make the CPC much harder when a few years ago at the time wheen it was about to come out,.virtually EVERYBODY was against it.
It seems as if you keep drumming hype and b/s,.the age old propaganda process kicks in,.and before you know it, people go on to have totally opposite opinions to what they previously had.

At least in my own personal case,.I have been totally consistent, I was against it then,.and I am against it now,.and you can ram the idea right up the ■■■■ orificre of me taking periodic tests, no need/cba.
Jakey will shoot me down here stating the developing bad habits theory (which is right btw) but drivers who CAN actually DRIVE a truck,.who fully realise it aint like a car.and can adapt as such,. are not the problem here, …it is the system!! ,in terms of where the results of that ■■■■ poor system have come back to bite us on the arse where d/heads have slipped through that net and managed to blag a Class 1.

It was only a few months ago when they lowered the standards of the test, in the reversing excercise ffs, … dumbing the standards down to the minimum.

Fact is that It is the grass roots level where the problem is,.the rest of the stuff is the symptoms, it’s obvious ffs.

Sort out the standards of training, include stuff that DRIVERS actually understand the importance of as where d/heads do not.
Bin off the weeks training to a minimum of 3 working weeks (15 days) training and assess progress where that progress determines continuation…in other words if they are sh they do NOT get through.

As for dealing with the present d/heads we see daily who think they are truck drivers…Actually POLICE the roads and sort the ■■■■■ out with fines and re.tests …make it a privilege (term used very loosely ) to hold a licence,.and an encouragement and a motive to keep it,.not a casual god given right as it is now where not only Tom and Harry pass a test…but also ■■■■.

But whatever tf they do just leave me and others who are proven sufficiently competent, tf out of it !! ,.and if I/we do happen to ■■■■ up,.then and only then come down on us.
I ain’t saying I am perfect driver,…because I aint.
I ain’t saying I know it all…because I don’t.
What I’m saying is the problem is not with or caused by me,.and MANY drivers like me.
But if they want to keep up appearances of standards being maintained…asses drivers as to how much of a refresher they actually NEED, every 5 years,.maybe 8 hours or so,.but certainly not 35 ■■■■ hours of needless tedious boredom .
Or some other sensible alternative aimed at those who need it.
.

What I am saying is do not include or involve the babies when chucking out the bath water , if a driver’s record is at a suitable standard, leave him tf alone,.I have better stuff to do with my time off …abd especially if they are not going to pay me for it.

[robroy]

jakethesnake:
It’s very difficult to be a good classroom instructor. You really need to know your stuff 100% and if you get asked a question you don’t know the answer of you need to admit it or say you will find the correct answer later. Absolutely no bluffing.
Done 1000’s of lessons and heard plenty others too. Some very good, some ok and some pretty bad but these bad ones were dealt with not like in DCPC unless of change recently.
Thankfully I have never had to go near DCPC but I have heard so much about bad instructors mostly on here.

Personally when I did my last CPC the guy was fine, not perfect but he made it interesting especially when he took us all out for an assessment drive. That was a real eye opener for me to see how bad some current drivers (at the time) were.

Are DCPC instructors regulated or checked these days? I know they weren’t checked very well a few years ago if at all.

The whole thing needs refreshing and made more relevant. IE Assessment drives and practical loading etc but has to be someone that knows the score 100% or it never will work.

As I said I am not slagging the instructor off,.out of the 7 hours there were only these 3 things he covered that seemed a bit ambiguous.
On the rest of the stuff he was very informative, and he discussed rather than lectured, …and anybody who can make me of all people , mildly interested and entertained with something I have little interest in,.can not be too bad as a teacher.

[robbo99]

Unfortunately I feel that the whole industry has turned into one big clusterf**k. I mean reducing the age to pass the test, making easier the test by the nonsense with reversing, (reversing being probably the skill most struggle with), keeping the DCPC in its current format for years, (I won’t go there),

It’s not long ago the dft were sending out begging letters to drivers who had chucked driving to try and encourage them back into the industry, wages went up and even plenty of coverage on TV heralding what a great industry it was to be in.

Wind the clock forward and in my area there are plenty of firms paying not much more than minimum wage, treating their drivers like dog crap on management shoes, working them into the ground and on top of this requiring all of their professional drivers to have a “can do attitude” and be “customer focused”, the drivers reward, free parking or even a cycle to work scheme…wonderful!

[manalishi]

robbo99.:
Unfortunately I feel that the whole industry has turned into one big clusterf**k. I mean reducing the age to pass the test, making easier the test by the nonsense with reversing, (reversing being probably the skill most struggle with), keeping the DCPC in its current format for years, (I won’t go there),

It’s not long ago the dft were sending out begging letters to drivers who had chucked driving to try and encourage them back into the industry, wages went up and even plenty of coverage on TV heralding what a great industry it was to be in.

Wind the clock forward and in my area there are plenty of firms paying not much more than minimum wage, treating their drivers like dog crap on management shoes, working them into the ground and on top of this requiring all of their professional drivers to have a “can do attitude” and be “customer focused”, the drivers reward, free parking or even a cycle to work scheme…wonderful!

My guess is they now that they have increasing access to large quotas of ‘new arrivals’ at their disposal chez Dover,they’re duly filling their boots? Hearing a lot of reports of them cropping up increasingly at container ports these days, given container hauling tends to be the least demanding in haulage to pursue.Useful now that UK wage stagnancy has enabled EE hordes to return to their ‘raised boat’ economies as the same model gets to work it’s upgrades on the economies of Eritrea,Albania,Libya ? although i have doubts many will be pencilling in a return to those places of origin.?

Not too difficult to master the modern truck.No map-reading skills needed (cheapo satnavs),gear shifting ability required,just the type of worker bee,culturally disconnected demographics the globalists have long coveted.‘Kalergeism’ in it’s most stark expression essentially.?

[commonrail]

robroy:
Loving the way some of you want to make the CPC much harder

I was talking about the actual driving test.
The cpc is a load of ■■■■■■■■…all its given us,is drivers that know how to do manual entries…but still can’t drive.