So I’ve seen all the stories about how the country is desperate for drivers and thought why not give it a go. I’ve been driving a standard family size car for over 30 years but I’m expecting getting inside a LGV to be quite different! I’m wondering how others have found the experience. Exciting, daunting, nothing out of the ordinary etc? My other thought is how the heck do you manage the perception of width in such a large vehicle?
Fun but scary went from only ever driving a 7.5t to a 26t three axle and having to reverse in between two listed buildings!
Some of the older guys will probably tell you they started by stoking the fore before setting off!! [emoji6]
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First run out was an agency job out of Spitalfields in Stratford. 18t Fridge on a Friday night doing restaurants around London and surrounding areas, had a drivers mate who knew the route so wasn’t too bad as only had to drive the thing where he told me. He was also in process of getting HGV so was quite good as he tolerant of inexperience.
Next shift was a Saturday 3pm start at Hoddesdon doing milk to Tesco express stores in South London, was out solo for that so having to map read and figure it all out for myself. Truck was a 6w fridge so much longer and had a range change gearbox to contend with and most of the shops were petrol stations so had to try and reverse in off main roads.
It was a nightmare, all milk dollies were inexplicably marked with different colour cards to denote which drop they were. All the shops kept giving me loads of empties to return which filled up the space that I was creating making getting the new stock off difficult. When one of the full ones rolled onto the tail lift hit the stop and toppled off to the ground about 11pm at Forest Hill I was at quite a low. Trying to pick up milk out of the gutter as there were buses and people about was soul destroying. I had to dig deep to carry on and not park the truck and get on public transport to take me home. Finally finished feeling broken at 3am, transport office clerk was fine said I’d done well enough as a difficult run and gave me a couple of extra hours for sticking at it.
Looking back that was a particuarly nasty route and I’d not relish it now, but I’d have lots of experience on my side. It was all part of the learning I suppose, after that most other jobs seemed easier
Most folks first experience in a truck is with an instructor at their side. So, provided you’ve selected a good one, all will be well. A good instructor will gauge very quickly the rate at which you should move on through the course. That way, whilst challenging, it should never be frightening!
For the width, mirrors. Then some more mirrors and then a few more.
Easy peasy. Pete S 
It depends on the person mostly imho.
Spacial awareness etc all play a part.
I passed my car test and within no time at all was driving long wheel base vans which I had no issues with driving them.
I then started to drive 7.5 ton trucks and again just got in them and drove them.
Then my boss at the time put me through my C licence and the day after passing it sent me into central London in one.
I then decided to take a job shunting trailers in a yard as I’d always put off going for my C+E. That was probably the most daunting time for me, worrying about reversing such large trailers. But after a couple of days training at work it became much less daunting and I just cracked on with it.
Took my C+E with some training school I’m sure no one has ever heard of, not like they are a sponsor of this site [emoji6] in 2016 and been on the road ever since driving artics.
So for me personally it was a natural progression from car to large and larger vehicle. But none really bothered me except C+E initially when I was shining trailer around. I also am adamant that shunting in a yard helped immensely with reversing and my confidence in the truck for my lessons. Learning to drive a tug and trailer in a yard where there is a lot less pressure than being out on the road helped a lot.
On the flip side some people just are not cut out to drive even a car let alone anything bigger. And yet a great deal of them manage to get a car licence and even HGV licences.
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I’d suggest spending a few minutes walking around the truck and looking at the size of it before getting in. Study the length, width, and height, and look at the distance and placement of the wheels.
After that, spend a few minutes sat in the drivers seat just looking around and seeing what you can see out the window and in the mirrors, and be sure to glance at the passenger side door as well, as this will help you to gauge how wide the truck is vs. your car.
Excluding training, my first experience was driving a class 2 from Widnes to Stirling Services, swapping vehicles then driving back. Nice and easy, straight up and down the motorway, which was pretty much empty since I started at midnight.
All went pretty well, until I reversed into the fence when getting back to Widnes and smashed the tail lights (which I of course denied).
Also, I might have messed up the manual entry when swapping vehicles, or just not taken enough of a break (although I’m not 100% whether I actually messed up or not, I just suspect I did)
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Terry Cooksey:
Excluding training, my first experience was driving a class 2 from Widnes to Stirling Services, swapping vehicles then driving back. Nice and easy, straight up and down the motorway, which was pretty much empty since I started at midnight.
All went pretty well, until I reversed into the fence when getting back to Widnes and smashed the tail lights (which I of course denied).
Also, I might have messed up the manual entry when swapping vehicles, or just not taken enough of a break (although I’m not 100% whether I actually messed up or not, I just suspect I did)Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk
woops! wonder how my first day will go 
Lou88:
Terry Cooksey:
Excluding training, my first experience was driving a class 2 from Widnes to Stirling Services, swapping vehicles then driving back. Nice and easy, straight up and down the motorway, which was pretty much empty since I started at midnight.
All went pretty well, until I reversed into the fence when getting back to Widnes and smashed the tail lights (which I of course denied).
Also, I might have messed up the manual entry when swapping vehicles, or just not taken enough of a break (although I’m not 100% whether I actually messed up or not, I just suspect I did)Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk
woops! [emoji38] wonder how my first day will go
Thankfully it got better and easier from there! There can be so much to think about and remember when first starting out, but after a while it all becomes second nature.
Just take it easy, and slowly if you need to (it’s better to be late than not arrive at all because you’ve had an accident because you were rushing).
Most importantly, ask as many questions as you can. You won’t know the answers, so find people who do.
And, almost as importantly, enjoy it! You’ve chosen this as a career now, so don’t be stressed or worried about it. It might take a while to get used to, but so does anything else new. Knowledge comes with practice and experience, give it time and you will be a pro in no time!
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