Week 6 - LGV C+E (Class 1 HGV)

OK, stripped all the pics from this posting, formatting went all wonky, will replace them when I can. So here's the text anyway !

Day 5 - Passed C+E, hooray ! Had a fantastic drive even though Keighley was absolutely heaving ! 3 minors on the drive and into the 'gargae' in one. Well chuffed !
My mate Bob, didnt fare so well; he knocked over Pole B and the cone so I'm afraid that was that; his test lasted all of 5 minutes. I feel for you Bob, maybe another time eh ?

Day 4 - Well I guess thats the end of the training again ! Back down the yard first thing tomorrow for a couple reverses, controlled stop and an uncouple/recouple ! Confidence is high, just need to hope for a little luck on entering some of these fine Yorkshire roundabouts ! Between the two of us we didnt kill any cones or bollards and mounted a grande total of ZERO kerbs !!!

Day 3 - Pictures today are on the trg area with me at several angles during a practice reverse. Great day today, few momentary lapses of concentration, but havent killed any bollards or cones and not mounted any kerbs; YET ! Reversing went well and uncouple/couple went fine. Feels well weird driving the artic unit on its own ! I think I'm back in the same boat as I was on day 3 of the rigid training; confident in driving the wagon, positioning, gears etc, BUT, its going to be the 'speedy' car entering a roundabout thats going to hurt me ! I guess at the end of the day, on test day its going to be a bit of a lottery. Bob was having a bit of a 'mare' today mostly with the gearbox but hey, tomorrows a new day, positive attitude Bob; you can do it !

Day 2 - Much more confident with the wagon today and have now been back round all the 'tight' bits in Keighley and Skipton. At least I'm starting to recognise the place (Class C test was out of Steeton 5 weeks ago). Its quite something going back round all what I thought were 'tight' bits in the rigid but now with an extra 20 ft !!! Pulled up in a layby today for a leg stretch and driver change and took notice of another artic parked at a funny angle on the verge ahead of us. He'd only a couple of mins to go before he had to have his break and knew that that this layby was the only chance; but it was almost full ! So he pulled further forward and left himself on the soft verge; although he hadnt noticed at this point it was quite so soft ! He couldnt get traction to pull away so had started to uncouple to try and get the tractor wheels onto more solid ground but wasnt getting on too well ! Our instructor leant a hand and some advice and eventually after trying to uncouple/recouple he got himself sorted out and away. Really felt for the guy; he was filthy, hot, bothered but also relieved that he was now rolling again. If the grass looks nice and green its probably for a reason ! Lesson learned; stay off !!!

Day 1 - Well here I am in my final week of transport training and finally got my hands on a 54 footer (16.4m) !!! This is whats its all been about ! Had a very good first day even though we had to enlist the help of ATS before we got going this morning ! If you look in the 2nd pic you will see a bolt that completely punctured one of the rear trailer tyres. (Approx M8 x 15-20mm) Driving again with Bob, who I trained with on the Class C 5 weeks ago. Considering that this wagon is almost 20ft longer than the rigid, it is remarkably straightforward to drive ! Easy does it, bit extra room at junctions and roundabouts and round she goes ! We both tried our hands at reversing (had 3 goes each) and a couple of controlled stops. With guidance from Gary the instructor we both got the artic in the 'garage' with only me taking 1 shunt. Looking promising !!! So, tomorrow off to bash the streets at Steeton, Keighley etc.