My first post here, so Hi to all. I appreciate the wealth of knowledge here and the generosity of all who contribute. Thank you!
I noticed a post on one of the facebook groups which suggested that some test centres are tougher on candiates than others. Also that some individual examiners have a ‘bee in their bonnet’ about candidates going staright from a car licence to C+E with this attitude being reflected in the pass rate.
I just wonder if any of you have any knowlwdge or opinions of this? Is any official data published?
I’m waiting on my provisional licence to come in the post and then I’ll be signing up with a training provider in either Plymouth or Exeter. I’m more familiar with the roads in Exeter and it’s about 15 miles from where I live (Plymouth is about 30 miles), so my instinct is to go with Exeter. But i’d sign up with Plymouth in a heartbeat if I thought I’d have a better chance of a pass!
Welcome aboard the good ship Trucknet and all of those who sail on her, never be afraid to ask any questions even though you may think you will be ridiculed, you will not be.
You are right to say some test centres are harder than others as there’s evidence of that near RAF and Army bases with higher than normal pass rates especially for Carterton the town where RAF Brize Norton is based.
You are in Gregory Distribution ltd territory down there, can they pay your training, and put you on their driver apprentice scheme?
They start you on what we call a puddle jumper or a rigid on multi drop pallet work, day work, home every night, or class one for away all week tramping , living in the cab all week or day work on class one, for example a run to a pallet hub and back to swap your loaded trailer there for one that has already been loaded or a live load, which means you stay with the trailer you arrived in , they tip it very fast, then reload it very fast and give you no time to strap it and they don’t let anyone stand on the trailer floor when loading either.
If someone else loaded it , the chances are that all the internal straps that you need to secure the load are trapped at the head board of the trailer or the straps are trapped by the pallets they loaded on top of them, over 400 kgs will need a ratchet strap over the pallet, below 400 kgs, it’s an internal strap.
There was a tight delivery spot in Gibraltar and it was a blind side reverse with no glass window in the back of the cab to see the trailer turning off the main road in to a cramped building site, five of us , male drivers, including me, couldn’t get it in, the air was full of acrid burning clutch smell and you could see the smoke.
This was worse than the punishment bay at the now long gone Woolworths RDC at Swindon, the bay was littered with broken mirrors, remnants of bits of truck and trailer ripped off in the punishment bay, if you arrived too late or too early, upset the security man, it was that dreadful bay.
Another one just as bad is an Arla milk factory in North London, clutch burn out is a daily occurrence there on a tight bay.
diced carrots:
I’ll be signing up with a training provider in either Plymouth or Exeter. I’m more familiar with the roads in Exeter and it’s about 15 miles from where I live (Plymouth is about 30 miles), so my instinct is to go with Exeter. But i’d sign up with Plymouth in a heartbeat if I thought I’d have a better chance of a pass!
I’d strongly recommend you learn/test on roads your familiar with.
I passed B to C+E in June in a area I had now geographic knoweage of.
I found, not knowing the roads a big problem during both lessons & Test.
When your already struggling to understand the truck and how it turns, not knowing how sharp or wide corners are and which Lane to use on a busy complex junction/roundabout just adds to the your stress level and tires up mental effort that should be focused on the truck.
ROG:
Be careful with general info about driving test stats as most tend to be about CAR tests
Yes indeed ROG, then there’s also the point about whether the figures are ‘aggregated’ (overall) statistics… Do we see the overall figures, or are we seeing the % of first time passes?
In other words, we don’t know whether second, third (or more) attempts at a pass are included within the figures given.
In the figures, how many % took their first test (at whatever licence category) gave up and never took a retest?
How do the figures provide sufficient detail for anybody to come to an informed choice if they’re not broken down in a useful way?
IMHO, the geographical aspect can’t be considered on the basis of the quality of the (raw?) figures given.
DieselDave, apologies for changing the subject but a while back a driver attempted to go under a low bridge, the unit got under but not the trailer and the trailer tipped over with a full load of fertiliser, he was following the sat nav down a tight narrow lane.
The residents were told to stay indoors as the police said it was dangerous and the village was cut off with of reports of people carrying their groceries back to their homes using wheel barrows.
The driver slept in the cab overnight.
My question is the safety for the driver and how fertiliser may react to precipitation or a worst case scenario bored kids starting a fire.
In your opinion, should he been allowed to stay in the cab, what fumes or any other chemical reactions could have been dangerous to the driver?
For Gregory’s there may be a long wait to get an allocated tractor unit if on long distance tramping, so may get all the rigid work that nobody wants on local runs.
At least you can sleep tight and safe at their numerous transport yards and warehouse for free and use their facilities and security is added bonus, they have bought several Scottish companies so camp out there too.
Tom Wellington:
The driver slept in the cab overnight.
My question is the safety for the driver and how fertiliser may react to precipitation or a worst case scenario bored kids starting a fire.
In your opinion, should he been allowed to stay in the cab, what fumes or any other chemical reactions could have been dangerous to the driver?
DGSA’s don’t advise on where a driver should get his head down. If the matter isn’t dealt with in The Big Orange Books (ADR 2023) it’s not a DGSA issue.
Speaking in non-DGSA mode, how did the driver sleep when the cab is on it’s side?
diced carrots:
I noticed a post on one of the facebook groups which suggested that some test centres are tougher on candiates than others. Also that some individual examiners have a ‘bee in their bonnet’ about candidates going staright from a car licence to C+E with this attitude being reflected in the pass rate.
No.1 rule of the industry, don’t believe anything drivers say in the canteen, yard, RDC waiting room or online, especially when it is a gripe.
Zac_A:
Speaking in non-DGSA mode, how did the driver sleep when the cab is on it’s side?
I thought that too, until I looked at the pics again. It looks like the trailer was so twisted that the back was on its side, but the cab was still upright.
