Hi There,
Just hoping someone might be able to give some advice on the following,
To cut a long story short, my employers bought a new Mercedes Atego 816 in May 2009 to use as a mobile project. We had previously had a 30 year old Leyland bus which was driven by 2 experienced PSV drivers. When they got the Merc, they ditched both of the drivers and my colleague and I ended up driving the lorry (very reluctantly, after only about 40 minutes ‘training’!) as we both already had C1 on our licenses. First and second gear on the Merc are very stiff and it was almost impossible to get it into reverse. After months of trying, during which I sustained an arm injury, a Merc fitter explained that you had to lift the clutch slightly whilst engaging reverse. Is this true? There is nothing in the manual about it, but it does make reverse slightly easier to engage.
I had to stop driving the lorry some time ago, leaving my colleague to do most of the driving now. We have never had any proper training and I’m not even sure if my colleague should be driving it at all as she had her license revoked on medical grounds in 2006 after suffering a blackout. Although it was returned with the C1 intact, would my employers be obliged to offer her a medical as a precaution? I have tried searching the DVLA site but there don’t appear to be any clear guidelines on this, although there is the suggestion that someone suffering even an isolated blackout may need to refrain from driving larger vehicles for five years or more. We are both, ahem, over 45 and wear glasses for reading, but haven’t been offered an eye test by out employers.
Oh, I’d ask my employers but their Health & Safety record is pretty dire to say the least.
Any advice would be appreciated!
Cheers 
Welcome to TruckNet-UK honey59 
As far as I’m aware if your colleague had cat C1 on her license when it was returned then she can drive the vehicle, if the DVLA wanted her to have a medical they should have said so but as they’ve renewed her cat C1 entitlement it seems reasonable to assume that she does not need a medical until it expires.
It’s your responsibility to ensure that your eyesight is up-to the legal requirement and there is no obligation for your employer to pay for an eyesight test, though they would almost certainly be breaking the law if it was proved that they knew your sight was not good enough for the legal requirements.
As far as the gear problem is concerned, it sounds as if there could be something wrong with the vehicle, I wouldn’t have thought a 7 1/2 tonner should be so hard to get into gear.
I’ve never heard of having to slightly lift the clutch whilst going into reverse gear
I’m sure some of the members here with more mechanical knowledge than me will be able to give better advise on the gear problem so I’ll leave it to them but it certainly doesn’t sound right.
Thanks tachograph,
Your comments are much appreciated, especially about the reverse gear. The Merc has been looked at three times, but my employers say there is absolutely nothing wrong with it, although the second warranty invoices says ‘shift adjust’ and the third one appears to have mysteriously gone missing. My employers know I use reading glasses and I am aware that I am responsible for my eyesight, which is fine for driving cars, Ijust wasn’t sure if there were more rigid eyesight tests for drivers of LGV vehicles.
Thanks! 
Well, I’ve emailed Merc Customer assistance and they’ve told me that it IS incorrect to suggest that the clutch pedal should be slightly raised when selecting reverse gear . Since I was told this by a Merc fitter, I don’t think they are very pleased about it (they’ve offered to contact dealership if I would like them to query this). Does anyone else have problems with the Atego 816? Has anyone found out what makes the gears so hard to use? Any further info would be great.
Cheers
honey59