I bow down to you all hgv drivers.

[muddyjames]

I have just been for my hgv assesment to see how many days training I need. All I can say is I wont be doing it.   

I have been told I need 6 days training at a cost of about £1100. I was bricking it the whole way round and to be quiet honest I just dont have the muscle power to do the gears. It is a fairly new lorry I was in with a new gear box but it is so stiff. Also being told to go into 7th gear which is 3rd in high range just confused the heebee jeebees out of me. I was just saying do I want to be in this gear next and pointing to where the gear lever would hopefully end up. The brakes. Well. Either through the windscreen or none at all.

So my friends. I have achieved a life time goal of driving an hgv, yeah ok isn't an artic but close but at the same time a dream has ended for now of becoming a driver for a living. You dont all need to get off the road now. It is a thing too far for me. I will stick to me caravan towing!

   

[V8MoneyPit]

Well done for having a go though mate. You never know if you don't try.

[muddyjames]

cheers.

I am quiet up set as I tow my 25ft caravan behind a lwb transit van sometimes which makes it 45ft long so thought it would be more natural to me than it turned out to be today. My dream since I was a little boy and my dream job shattered.

Never know. work might pay for it one day if I do it.

[pux]

im sorry to hear about this but maybe in the future, as this also proves a point to all those people out there that think "oh it must be easy driving a lorry blah blah" ;) its not hope you do have another go James :D

[LiftedDisco]

James

Sorry to hear of your experience, particularly after the saga that you had in getting your medical arranged etc..

Yes, they are very different to a car (or even a Transit...) but the secret is to remember that you have great big (sloppy) linkages and heavy duty gears so you need to plan ahead and work somewhat slower than you would in a car.  If you rush it, then the vehicle will fight you... and win!

If it was an assessment session, you were probably somewhat tense... that's why they have suggested 6 days to your test - it's all about building confidence in the truck and your skills.

To be honest, spatial awareness should be OK - as you say, you run around in 14m or so of van and trailer.

In reality, when you have passed, that's when the learning really starts... get a box with range change AND splitter to cope with and it's "Hello Confusion..."

Hope you take a few moments to think - yes, it's a skill... but at least you can already drive... our 12 year old mastering clutch control in the field last week was truly something challenging!

All the best in whatever you do...

Rob

[delski]

Well done for trying mate, I remember feeling like that when I first had a go. It really does just click eventually but it is a long road of running out of patience.
Leave it a week or two & then see how you feel after that, don't just give up on your first hurdle if its something that you really want to do.

[NiceBlueWellies]

Well done for trying.  I would recommend finding a haulage comany that you could work for, doing lighter stuff and work your way up the ladder there.  When they have confidence in you and your ability, they are more open to paying for the training and tests.  ;)

[muddyjames]

Thanks everyone for the kind words.

I think maybe if I could have relaxed more it would have been more fun and easier. Trying to do that stupid shuffle steer again is just crazyness in a lorry with very light steering.

I have 2 years until my theory test runs out so plenty of time. also finding out about the new cpc 37hour testing every 5 years is putting me off as well as that is guaranteed vast expense every year. Not something appealing to me.

Sorry for the very negative posts today, but reading your kind words does put a smile on my face brielfy as you are all so kind. :clap:

[Terranger]

Sorry to hear your dreams were shattered mate.

I had the luck to be brought up in a family where transport was our bread and butter; My Grandad had taxis and my Dad and Uncle had  a haulage firm, so, I had the uncanny ability to master driving at a young age, and drove artics at 12yrs old.

Glad to see someone has had the insight into the cab, and seen what we, as drivers have to cope with.

Chin up mate, I hope you find some way of fulfilling your dream in the future though.

[rangieman]

as everyone else says dont give up try and calm down before lessons and keep checking those mirrors,by the end of the third day it will all become clear.Good luck :) :) :)

[Jake]

Dont give up James
There's ways of getting your HGV for free if you dont mind putting in the hours...
A lot of the lads i used to work with (when i was drving arctics) started by driving the vans
The company put them through their cat C licence and some of them went on to get their C+E licence's
If your determined, there's always a way  ;)
Talking of gears on trucks, the Merc Actros that i used to drive had 16 gears, 8 high, 8 low.
The gear box was controlled by a sequencial gear box which you used before the actual gear change
You had to pre-select the gear you wanted or it would chose a gear for you
First time out i keeped getting it wrong because i wanted to change gear at the normal time
It took a couple of days to get my head round it but it soon became normal
They are complicated bits of kit but learn the basics, and the exciting stuff will come later
 

[kizz81]

go for it,
we need more british lorry drivers,
follow your dream too   :dance:

[mobi]

james have you tried with a different training school?
not all are the same and sometimes driving a different truck can help as the gearboxes are different.
another thing is to ask how much they can do it for cash  :shock: we had a driver do his class 1 for £600 cash for 5 days.
if not there is  government help as it is training of work and i think you can get 15/20% off. 

[BK]

Dont give up James
There's ways of getting your HGV for free if you dont mind putting in the hours...
A lot of the lads i used to work with (when i was drving arctics) started by driving the vans
The company put them through their cat C licence and some of them went on to get their C+E licence's
If your determined, there's always a way  ;)
Talking of gears on trucks, the Merc Actros that i used to drive had 16 gears, 8 high, 8 low.
The gear box was controlled by a sequencial gear box which you used before the actual gear change
You had to pre-select the gear you wanted or it would chose a gear for you
First time out i keeped getting it wrong because i wanted to change gear at the normal time
It took a couple of days to get my head round it but it soon became normal
They are complicated bits of kit but learn the basics, and the exciting stuff will come later
 

yeah,this is all correct james,DONT GIVE UP, the box on a hgv shouldnt be stiff you HAVE to take your time thro the gears,try another driving school,6 days is about right,its dear but worth it,most new trucks all semi auto now anyway and dont worry about the "shuffle steering" thats all bo****s after youve passed,if you dont try youll regret it big time KEEP GOING and another thing,you dont use all the gears when youve passed your test,you block change but the driving school wont tell you this.I tried twice to pass my HGV 1 it cost me an arm and a leg but its worth it,just think,pass this and you can drive practically owt on the road,and then youll be slagging car drivers off :lol:

[Landyman]

Hi James
I just thought I'd chip in my bit here. I have been driving class 1 hgvs for about 5 years now and it does get easier the more you do it. Also there are many different lorries with lots of different gear boxes. Maybe you should try a different firm that uses a different make of lorry for instruction. Another point I should mention is that although there is plenty of work about for drivers there are an awful lot of foreign drivers coming over here that are prepared to work for a lot less than us British drivers and the effect is that pay rates are starting to come down. Just worth thinking about if you were thinking of doing it for a living.

Paul..

[sardonicus]

Keep trying mate.  I went for an asessment for a cat.C+E  a while ago ,and same thing really! Thought I would try and do my test before all the new laws.But as I havent done much truck driving for a few years I'm a bit rusty and the instructor said I'd need a weeks training inc test. When I did my cat C the training company gave me the shortest legal truck as I was paying for it myself and they were sympathetic to that. Still took me a week,but after the first day its much easier after youve gone away and had a good nights kip,then start again the next day and it all falls into place. THe instructor  said that most experienced cat c drivers do the c+e in a couple of days... Try and get the free assessments of an hour off of as many different companies as you can!!

[Sider]

Hi James
I just thought I'd chip in my bit here. I have been driving class 1 hgvs for about 5 years now and it does get easier the more you do it. Also there are many different lorries with lots of different gear boxes. Maybe you should try a different firm that uses a different make of lorry for instruction. Another point I should mention is that although there is plenty of work about for drivers there are an awful lot of foreign drivers coming over here that are prepared to work for a lot less than us British drivers and the effect is that pay rates are starting to come down. Just worth thinking about if you were thinking of doing it for a living.

Paul..

No offence, Paul, but that is rubbish. I am foreign, and I will not work for reduced rates. For a start, I would be shooting my own foot, and to top it up, I would be working against my proffesional colleagues. We are not far from you (geographically), yet I am going permanent with my current company, and I will actually get an increase from agency rates. I shall be getting £11/ hour for class 2 with HIAB.

If you are willing to put the effort into it, you can find a 50 hour a week job paying £500+. If you are a lazy sod who expects to only do trunking or have the vehicle loaded and unloaded for him/her, you will only get rubbish wages. It is the old "Pay peanuts....." adage. If you are proffesional, responsible and hardworking, you can ask and get top rates.

@ James: Don't, under any circumstances, give up on the first attempt. Best advice I've read today here was Rob(lifteddisco)'s. Remember that the gear boxes on lorries are not designed for racing. You just have to gently but firmly guide the stick towards the next gear. Sometimes it will take you 4 or 5 second to change gear, but you will still have enough momentum and enough torque to carry on.

As for the brakes, well, just remember they are pneumatic, not hydraulic. With practice you'll get to master them.

[Landyman]

I only made the comment about pay from my own personal experience. I have been agency driving for the last couple of years for a couple of different agencies.
Pay varies from job to job but hovers around the £10 or £11 pound an hour mark with more on weekends and time and a half for overtime. But twice recently another agency employing Polish drivers has moved in and undercut the rates and paying their polish drivers £7 an hour flat rate with no weekend or overtime.
Now I cant pay my mortgage on that sort of wage and I have to move on to other jobs but if this happens more and more the Higher paid jobs will soon be very hard to find.
Somerfields in Huntingdon employs a lot of Poles and Romanian drivers but pays them the same rate as all their drivers and I think this is a good thing and have no problem at all with that. I just have a problem with the agencies aggressive tactics of undercutting to get the work and as I am an agency driver this affects me personally.

[sardonicus]

I saw an ad. in a paper in Rochdale the other week for a catC driving job.It said send all details etc. and 'state your expected wage' or something similar. Does this mean they will employ the person who will work for the lowest wage???!

[BK]

Ive been driving hgv,s(class 1)for years and with allsorts of different companies and i wish i could have got £11 an hour!!! the only drivers that get that kind of money is either trampers(away all week)or ADR drivers like shell/bp and they are on £40k plus a year but getting that kinda job is like trying to find rocking horse poo.

[gtomo2]

Keep at it mate i drive  for stobart nice and easy with a auto box ;) :dance:. And just be glad you don't have to use a eaton twin splitter box they are fun to drive as you have to get the revs right. But like the rest say dont give up it does seam very hard at first just like it was when you started to drive a car but now you don't think about that and it does get the same so to say with a truck. And there is good money out there are day drives are on very good money trampers like me do earn lots and internation guys earn even more.

[colin14]

Thanks everyone for the kind words.

I think maybe if I could have relaxed more it would have been more fun and easier. Trying to do that stupid shuffle steer again is just crazyness in a lorry with very light steering.

I have 2 years until my theory test runs out so plenty of time. also finding out about the new cpc 37hour testing every 5 years is putting me off as well as that is guaranteed vast expense every year. Not something appealing to me.

Sorry for the very negative posts today, but reading your kind words does put a smile on my face brielfy as you are all so kind. :clap:

can i be cheeky and ask how much your theory was and is the theory test basicly the same as a car just bigger questions. only asking as i got my hgv medical in 2 weeks then its time for the the theory and training.

[Sider]

Colin, the theory is a bit more extensive than for cars. Best thing to do is get yourself the syllabus and the official test question book (published by DSA) from your reputable local bookseller.

Who are you planning to use for your tuition?? I can point you in the direction of a very good stablisment in Ampthill, if you are interested.

[Damonski]

........ And just be glad you don't have to use a eaton twin splitter box they are fun to drive as you have to get the revs right.

Currently in my daily drive a Foden whilst my regular is away. But I have to say loving every mile!!!! and dont want it to go back to its usual role as the yard shunt :(