Training Journey Class C Passed Class C+E Passed!

NEW AND WANNABE DRIVERS (INTERACTIVE)
41

Test Day.

My test was not till dinnertime so had all the time in the world to let the nerves kick in. Morning drive was good no major issues just needed to prepare for hazards more in advance. (Maybe hazard perception test was correct :laughing: ).

Back at the test centre and onto the reverse pad, nailed it everytime.

Test time came and first and off he went with the questions. One that made me laugh was :- What do you check before placing your key in the ignition. I replied handbrake applied, gear in neutral seat belts work and seat position. Then silence from him as if waiting for something else, so what did I say make sure that the indicator and light stalks if applicable are not broken snapped. We then moved on.

Reverse pad first and on reversing back as previously mentioned decided I was going to stop short and get out to have a look before hitting the barrier. Reversed back no problem into the bay. Stopped short got out had a look. If gone back any further would have hit the barrier, turned out to be perfect if do say so myself. Onto the road and couple of mistakes that I kicked myself about before being told to pull over. Hill start and did not switch the switch down. Luckily realised before taking handbrake off so reset myself and started again off we went. Out on the road and onto the motorway we go. From the roundabout and joining the slip road sure I took too much of both lanes. Once on the motorway couple of overtakes and no problems. Started to settle down a bit. Once off the motorway and recognised where we was became to complacent relaxing to much. What happens go to do the overtake on a bus as I pulled out and got level with the back of the bus he signalled and set off pulling out causing me to brake quite hard. Think I got an apology from the driver as on passing him within a minute later he put his had out as an apology I take it.

Back to the centre and on pulling up, the magic words YOU HAVE PASSED.

Very happy just need to complete my cpc and onto my C+E.

42

Congratulations! And all the best with the CE.

Pete :laughing: :laughing:

43


:smiley: :smiley:

44

Congrats Darren! Told you Frank wasā€™nt a monsterā€¦well, not much of a monster :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:

45

Excellent news well done!

Paul :smiley:

46

Thank you to everyone so far for there congratulations. Looking forward to the future now.

47

Well on Monday I started my C+E Training. Mixed bag for first day. Driving a CF Daf with four over four box, same box as class C. Just had to get used to the clutch which feel did not take to long.

First day did driving along a straight stretch of road, a couple of roundabouts and back down again. Roundabouts what are they all about. I have either been setting off to soon and causing someone to break or crossing lanes to much. Put me on a straight road all day!!!. I have been told most people fail at roundabouts.

Did a couple of turns and no curbs hit. Back to the yard which is a tight right turn seemed to do that ok. Onto the reverse. Broken down into three parts. Reverse wagon in a straight line ok, Reverse from the angle, OK. Put it all together and it all goes wrong. Will be taking a shunt on test day at this rate, but not a bad thing.

Overall first day happy enough seemed to be approaching junctions slow enough to get everything done in time i.e mirror signal braking gear change then concentrate on the manoeuvre apart from feeling it all went to pieces at the end with the reverse, came away very positive.

Tuesday.

Have I just learnt to drive!!!

Out we go on the road no problems at first nice and steady, got to learn to drop back more from the car infront. To be honest always been a problem with my own driving. Corners might seem daft but find it easier to turn right than left. Getting confident enough today to get upto speed and block changing is fine and like that you can do a lot more in the high range. Roundabouts!!! I hate them I panic I flap I hit kerbs. Two kerbs today hit during the day and a solid white line crossed. They come in threes lets hope they are my three. My confidence has took a right knock today as at one roundabout I was stationary waiting to go. Roundabout was clear nothing coming round. Set off checked left mirror for trailer look to my right and a gold coloured 4x4 had appeared from nowhere. He had to break yes and then a long sound of the horn. To be honest he must have been flying around it as my instructor agreed it was clear when I set off. This did knock me for a while where everything went wrong and could not put a full manoeuvre together. I would make the turn ok but then screw up the gear changes or come into the junction/turn or roundabout in the correct speed, position and gear then screw the move up and have to do correction in the turn. One of the turns I brushed the kerb however was fully aware what was happening it was not a shock what was happening as could see it developing in my mirrors. Became hesitant in going into a box junction to turn right, held back as there was one car already in it, traffic from other direction was not busy and when he turned and by the time I entered the lights changed, I made the turn ok but was to hesitant in entering the box junction (see just could not get a complete manoeuvre correct today). Straight road with bends no problem.

Feel like I am back at day one today. As soon as I did anything wrong I was kicking myself as to why I had done xyz. I do not feel today that I have learnt by my mistakes.
Back to the yard to finish with the couple/ uncouple. No problems with that at last I did something right.

Sat here typing this feeling absolutly gutted/ annoyed and frustrated with myself. I am not feeling hopefully at all for test day on Friday.

Anyone any advice for roundabouts and turns greatly appreciated. My trainer is great and keeps telling me to stop punishing myself for my mistakes as he believes I am thinking about them for a while afterwards and thus making more. Just cant see it all coming together for Friday. :frowning:

48

Darrenb:
Well on Monday I started my C+E Training. Mixed bag for first day. Driving a CF Daf with four over four box, same box as class C. Just had to get used to the clutch which feel did not take to long.

First day did driving along a straight stretch of road, a couple of roundabouts and back down again. Roundabouts what are they all about. I have either been setting off to soon and causing someone to break or crossing lanes to much. Put me on a straight road all day!!!. I have been told most people fail at roundabouts.

Did a couple of turns and no curbs hit. Back to the yard which is a tight right turn seemed to do that ok. Onto the reverse. Broken down into three parts. Reverse wagon in a straight line ok, Reverse from the angle, OK. Put it all together and it all goes wrong. Will be taking a shunt on test day at this rate, but not a bad thing.

Overall first day happy enough seemed to be approaching junctions slow enough to get everything done in time i.e mirror signal braking gear change then concentrate on the manoeuvre apart from feeling it all went to pieces at the end with the reverse, came away very positive.

Tuesday.

Have I just learnt to drive!!!

Out we go on the road no problems at first nice and steady, got to learn to drop back more from the car infront. To be honest always been a problem with my own driving.

Corners might seem daft but find it easier to turn right than left. Getting confident enough today to get upto speed and block changing is fine and like that you can do a lot more in the high range.

Roundabouts!!! I hate them I panic I flap I hit kerbs. Two kerbs today hit during the day and a solid white line crossed. They come in threes lets hope they are my three.
My confidence has took a right knock today as at one roundabout I was stationary waiting to go. Roundabout was clear nothing coming round. Set off checked left mirror for trailer look to my right and a gold coloured 4x4 had appeared from nowhere. He had to break yes and then a long sound of the horn. To be honest he must have been flying around it as my instructor agreed it was clear when I set off.

This did knock me for a while where everything went wrong and could not put a full manoeuvre together. I would make the turn ok but then screw up the gear changes or come into the junction/turn or roundabout in the correct speed, position and gear then screw the move up and have to do correction in the turn.

One of the turns I brushed the kerb however was fully aware what was happening it was not a shock what was happening as could see it developing in my mirrors. Became hesitant in going into a box junction to turn right, held back as there was one car already in it, traffic from other direction was not busy and when he turned and by the time I entered the lights changed, I made the turn ok but was to hesitant in entering the box junction (see just could not get a complete manoeuvre correct today).
Straight road with bends no problem.

Feel like I am back at day one today. As soon as I did anything wrong I was kicking myself as to why I had done xyz. I do not feel today that I have learnt by my mistakes.
Back to the yard to finish with the couple/ uncouple. No problems with that at last I did something right.

Sat here typing this feeling absolutly gutted/ annoyed and frustrated with myself. I am not feeling hopefully at all for test day on Friday.

Anyone any advice for roundabouts and turns greatly appreciated. My trainer is great and keeps telling me to stop punishing myself for my mistakes as he believes I am thinking about them for a while afterwards and thus making more. Just cant see it all coming together for Friday. :frowning:

Great write up :smiley:

49

Roundabouts - there is a lot to think about, so a set routine helps. The point is to end up not doing indicators, mirrors, range change, slowing down, watching oncoming traffic, checking where trailer is and deciding whether to carry on all at the same split second.

I think the easiest way is to get down through the gears in plenty of time, and be at a steady speed in low range and 4th well before the line.

Then you are going a nice slow speed and can watch the trailer in the left mirror and make sure you are not about to hit the kerb and you have a couple of seconds to look at traffic approaching and decide if you are carrying on or not - if you are 4th is fine, if not you can easily stop, just concentrating on steering and braking. Then you are already in low range for a move off gear. (I suggest you donā€™t go for 5th until you are clear of the roundabout as there is too much steering to do needing both hands)

The amount of time to get an artic (even under half laden) around a roundabout is so much longer than a car, and as you found the slightest thing they do can scupper your plan! So approaching slowly is the thing and being ready for the crazy kamikaze nutters.

Once you get into set habits for gears for roundabouts and turns, you have more brain space to deal with it all and it gets easier.

You still have plenty of time to get it together; accept that when learning you will make mistakes (we all did and still do!) and chill out a bit and you will do just fine.

50

Cheers th2013 just feel like rubbish I think the saying is trying to run before you can walk comes to mind. New day tomorrow.

51

Howā€™s it going?

52

th2013:
Howā€™s it going?

My guess - he has had the usual 3rd day training dip where it often seems as though you have forgotten how to drive at all :exclamation:

If he has then a good nights kip will sort that out and on day 4 it will all come together :smiley:

53

Rog you are wrong, I hope.

Wednesday
Today the third day everything seemed to start to click into place, except the reverse.

Started the day with the reverse again broken into three sections. Put it all together and not happening. I WILL at this rate be taking a shunt however I hope I have figured out what I am doing wrong. I feel that once I have done the right hand down then the left to avoid the line and brought the cone into sight I am turning to soon. Lets see tomorrow.

The split. Am interested in people opinion regarding this as on reading the tips page it mentions about the numberplate, however instructor told me to forget about this, will still mention it on the day. The split went with no problem and not worried about this one single bit (Just remember the word BLACK)

Out on the road and curbs not a problem roundabouts not a problem. Left and right turns bring it on. (hope not being to big headed to soon, just full of positivity today.)

Main problems today was distance between vehicle in front and stopping a foot earlier. Really positive about today and pray not knocked tomorrow.

Thanks must go to th2013 as approached roundabouts a lot slower and tried my best to be in fourth to take the turn. however approached one roundabout today and should have took fifth however held out for fourth and did not happen.

Need to pick up on my awareness of speed limits/road signs. Was taken down a couple of routes today where got asked for speed limit and did not have a clue. Decided sod it if unsure take it as 30mph then not a fail for speeding and a minor for not keeping up with the traffic.

Can not at this point give enough praise to my instructor Steve who is determined to make me pass with as little minors as possible.

Tomorrow Steve is going to do a bit of driving just to make me aware how to emphasise the mirrors. I am doing them honest, however feel they are not being picked up by the trainer, have to hold them a bit longer.

So excited about tomorrow, feel like a kid at Christmas. Fingers crossed.

54

Well done! Coupla things might helpā€¦

Reverseā€¦ you are finding the same bit hard that I did.
1 - take a shunt if you need it, sod pride!
2 - When the front is parallel with the line (bit of space on right), look in left mirror tomorrow and try and estimate where trailer is pointing. In an artic, the left hend (far) garage entrance cone can be a good guide, donā€™t know about W&D. If you can still see this cone, try going back straight a bit until you canā€™t (i.e. the trailer has bent more and is now blocking it). The first bit will be slightly different each time, and having this reference point helped a lot, but again, that was artic so might not work!
3 - Itā€™s not a race. Slow and steady, one thing at a time, take your time.

Stopping locationā€¦ I was told make sure you can see the wheels touching the road of the vehicle in front. I can hear instructor now in my head ā€œIf he broke down, could you get past him? If not you have turned a 3m hazard into a 20m hazardā€¦ā€

Split - no harm in touching number plate on way around and saying this is where Iā€™d take it out. And again when you check trailer over.

It honestly does sound like itā€™s all coming together nicely, and you sound more confident which is nice to hear! All the best. Tim

55

Split Day Today.

Out on the road nice and early after all the checks and a few questions. No major problems I felt at first, seemed to approach hazards a lot slower and get the gear earlier. Sometimes not slowed down enough for the gear and cruising in neutral for a distance not good. A few roundabouts and no major problems until I come to one which I know is a tight left off the roundabout. For some reason I let a transit van bully me over and could not go into the roundabout at the angle I wanted. Should have held back let the van go then move over, only needed a foot. What happens next is just clip the curb/polish it. Again let it effect me and does so for the next few minutes with stupid mistakes, nothing fail or serious but enough to get marked on the sheet.

Next ā– ā– ā– ā–  up and take the curb was a sharp left turning back on yourself. First time I did it got ideal position in the road and started the turn perfect. You have to go on the opposite side of the road as long as it is clear to do so. If not hold of let them past then take the road. I just turned the wheel too sharply to the left and of course nice lot of curb taken. Round we go again to have a second go. This time exactly the same again however had a car come up towards me so panicked and pulled it all left along with the curb. Third time round as I began to start the turn all clear, check the left mirror for the rear and on looking forward a car has come up however slowed down as could see what I was doing and had blocked the road. Completed the turn no problem no curb and a nice smile on my face. (three attempts is poor, two fails there alone)

Rest of drive seemed to go ok and no being told I am doing things to slow and need to get a happy medium, for me I will take it to slow and get a minor if they feel i deserve one rather than to fast and hit a curb an fail.

Back to the yard for the reverse and nail it first time no problem. Second attempt if that bay was one hundred foot wide I would not have got it in. A bad end to the day. Uncouple and couple fine just need to exaggerate things I am doing.

Mixed bag today. I know I can do it but have these moments of madness where I just mess it all up.

56

Is tomorrow test day?

57

It is Rog yes, feel ready just need to stop madness.

58

Round we go again to have a second go. This time exactly the same again however had a car come up towards me so panicked and pulled it all left along with the curb. Third time round as I began to start the turn all clear, check the left mirror for the rear and on looking forward a car has come up however slowed down as could see what I was doing and had blocked the road. Completed the turn no problem

If you could stop without any impact then that should be your first reaction and only do what you did to avoid an impact with the car

59

If any consolation my day 4 was where I finally hit the ā€œdip in trainingā€ and probably the worst of all four days. Did loads of things on day 4 that I hadnā€™t done all week. Part of it was pure tiredness!
As ROG said earlier, decent nights sleep, treat yourself to McDonalds breakfast in morning, stay calm and you can nail this.

Very best of luck for test.

60

Well I am sorry to say I today failed my C+E.

I am going to keep this short and will try and give a full update when calmed down.

I failed on a left turn got a serious. I have enclosed a link to the google street view of the junction. I basically put to much left on. Other than that would have walked it with seven minors.

instantstreetview.com/2pm9i1z3das8pz4clzr5z0