Who drives a 7.5T? What are they like? Had a trial shift and starting work next week in one.
First surprise was that it’s a manual! I had assumed that like all I have heard about class 2 & 1 going auto (as well as Asda delivery etc) it would be auto. 2ND GEAR IS A PIG! plus it’s always telling me to change up a gear 
Anyway, looking forward to getting used to it without the watchful eye of an assessment. And hoping it will be good experience for learning class 2 - surely they can’t be much wider still? 
stu675:
The 7.5T Class 3 thread
From what I remember the old HGV class 3 was a vehicle over 7.5 tonnes with 2 axles
The old Class 2 was a rigid over 7.5 with more than 2 axles
I’m starting on 7.5t next week as well, but I’ve got 5 days of training first before driving the week after. It’s going to be mainly going over driver’s hours, tacho use and use of the parcel scanning equipment etc. Don’t know if there is any getting used to the truck or not. Hoping it will be an auto as I don’t fancy all the clutch work I will have to do around west London.
Good luck for next week, hopefully you will have some tips before I start driving.
Unless it’s an older 7.5 tonner most of the recent hired 7.5 ton trucks we had at my last job on hire were auto boxes much like C and C+E. So they do come as auto these days. But then again they are usually a manual gearbox so no different to a car other than depending on how they have been looked after can be a pig sometimes.
I had a very old C Iveco that jumped out of 6th all the time in early 2000’s that we had a large lacky band on gearstick to keep it in 6th lol otherwise you had to hold in 6th all the time.
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stu675:
Who drives a 7.5T? What are they like? Had a trial shift and starting work next week in one.
First surprise was that it’s a manual! I had assumed that like all I have heard about class 2 & 1 going auto (as well as Asda delivery etc) it would be auto. 2ND GEAR IS A PIG! plus it’s always telling me to change up a gear
Anyway, looking forward to getting used to it without the watchful eye of an assessment. And hoping it will be good experience for learning class 2 - surely they can’t be much wider still?
It will do you the world of good in preparation for C. I jumped onto 7.5t after failing my C and when I went back the instructor could believe how much I’d benefitted from it. I just made sure I kept my driving at or around test standard (Well what I thought it was). Good luck with it all, you won’t look back from here.
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ROG:
stu675:
The 7.5T Class 3 threadFrom what I remember the old HGV class 3 was a vehicle over 7.5 tonnes with 2 axles
The old Class 2 was a rigid over 7.5 with more than 2 axles
Oh well, I stand corrected.
I saw one job advert refer to a 7.5 as class 3
1van:
I’m starting on 7.5t next week as well, but I’ve got 5 days of training first before driving the week after. It’s going to be mainly going over driver’s hours, tacho use and use of the parcel scanning equipment etc. Don’t know if there is any getting used to the truck or not. Hoping it will be an auto as I don’t fancy all the clutch work I will have to do around west London.
Good luck for next week, hopefully you will have some tips before I start driving.
My agent told me I’d be going out for training as a 3rd man of a 2 man team before being sent out for real, but the client didn’t say anything like that on my assessment. So I’ll find out soon enough on Monday.
Being an assessment rather than training I didn’t get a lot of chance at familiarisation!
Can’t remember the reg, but it didn’t seem very old to me 65,000 on the clock. Will that be kilometers? Probably 65 weeks old at a guess?
stu675:
1van:
I’m starting on 7.5t next week as well, but I’ve got 5 days of training first before driving the week after. It’s going to be mainly going over driver’s hours, tacho use and use of the parcel scanning equipment etc. Don’t know if there is any getting used to the truck or not. Hoping it will be an auto as I don’t fancy all the clutch work I will have to do around west London.
Good luck for next week, hopefully you will have some tips before I start driving.My agent told me I’d be going out for training as a 3rd man of a 2 man team before being sent out for real, but the client didn’t say anything like that on my assessment. So I’ll find out soon enough on Monday.
Being an assessment rather than training I didn’t get a lot of chance at familiarisation!
Can’t remember the reg, but it didn’t seem very old to me 65,000 on the clock. Will that be kilometers? Probably 65 weeks old at a guess?
I’m definitely glad I’ve got a week of training even if it is just going over the drivers hours, tacho etc, just to get it reinforced in my head. Hoping it will be an auto but I’m sure I will soon get used to a manual box. I will have to check the thread on manual gearboxes. I hope you will keep this post updated on how you get on.
1van:
I’m definitely glad I’ve got a week of training even if it is just going over the drivers hours, tacho etc, just to get it reinforced in my head. Hoping it will be an auto but I’m sure I will soon get used to a manual box. I will have to check the thread on manual gearboxes. I hope you will keep this post updated on how you get on.
Working 11 hour shifts is a shock to the system! And doesn’t leave a lot of time for the forum!
Done 2 days, now got 2 days off to recover [emoji57]
The hardest thing is still the gearbox, so still looking forward to the big trucks if they are all auto?
On the job training is certainly good for the tacho and WTD hours learning. Eg just learnt that after your first 15 min break you have a whole other 6 hrs before you need another WTD break ! The govt is so generous letting us work so long!
stu675:
1van:
I’m definitely glad I’ve got a week of training even if it is just going over the drivers hours, tacho etc, just to get it reinforced in my head. Hoping it will be an auto but I’m sure I will soon get used to a manual box. I will have to check the thread on manual gearboxes. I hope you will keep this post updated on how you get on.Working 11 hour shifts is a shock to the system! And doesn’t leave a lot of time for the forum!
Done 2 days, now got 2 days off to recover [emoji57]
The hardest thing is still the gearbox, so still looking forward to the big trucks if they are all auto?
On the job training is certainly good for the tacho and WTD hours learning. Eg just learnt that after your first 15 min break you have a whole other 6 hrs before you need another WTD break ! The govt is so generous letting us work so long!
Thankfully dpd seems to be looking after me. I’ve been told to take a 50 minute break before completing 6hrs of work. They do everything by the book, which I’m really happy about. I won’t be doing enough driving hours for me to worry about eu regs. I’ve just done 2 days in the classroom, today and tomorrow I will be shadowing another driver. I learnt a lot more today with the driver than the previous 2 days. I have a driving assessment on Friday hopefully that will go ok and then starting work properly on Monday.
The driver I went out with had a manual box but thankfully it was a 5 speed box so not too daunting. Is the truck your driving 5 speed as well?
I drove a 7.5 on the assessment, then a 5T first day and then back to 7.5
They were all 6 speed, but first is so low you can pull away in 2nd and up to 5th by 20 odd mph and 6th by 30-40mph or so.
stu675:
I drove a 7.5 on the assessment, then a 5T first day and then back to 7.5
They were all 6 speed, but first is so low you can pull away in 2nd and up to 5th by 20 odd mph and 6th by 30-40mph or so.
Thanks for the update. Passed my hazard perception this evening, passed the theory test last week so just the driving test to do 
. Hoping that dpd will pay for me to pass my CE in the new year, I will be tied to them for 2 years but I think it will be worth it. Just need to pass the driving assessment tomorrow 
If it all goes pear shaped at least I will get paid for the week
Well done so far! I’m sure you’ll be fine on the assessment. Just don’t overthink it, take your time, check your mirrors, read all the road signs especially the height, width and unsuitable for HGV’s !
I think they would rather be reassured that you’ll be bringing the truck back in one piece rather than you being fast enough to do [emoji817] deliveries in a day!
stu675:
Well done so far! I’m sure you’ll be fine on the assessment. Just don’t overthink it, take your time, check your mirrors, read all the road signs especially the height, width and unsuitable for HGV’s !
I think they would rather be reassured that you’ll be bringing the truck back in one piece rather than you being fast enough to do [emoji817] deliveries in a day!
The 7,5t drivers seem to have a lot less pressure on them than the van drivers. I haven’t done my assessment yet as the guy who does it wasn’t in on Friday, I’m not too worried about it as they seem to prefer you to take it easy and not dash about.