New HGV Test......

S7DiscoDown

S7DiscoDown

Well-known member
I have just read that from September the 20th the government are bringing in a new 'stream lined' test to get more people qualified. I mean that's 'fine'.

The new test will do away with the reversing part of the test (usually done in the training compound before you actually go out on the test). Now call me old fashioned and as someone who's failed an HGV test I'd say reversing is a pretty major part??

So we are going to let newly qualified drivers 'hit the road' and reverse onto all kinds of loading bays and small areas without covering it on a test? Also doing away with coupling and uncoupling of a trailer.

Throw in the fact driving hours are extended and an influx of newly qualified drivers who've passed a streamline test. Does anyone suddenly see the roads becoming more dangerous? These things are absolute lethal weapons in the wrong hands.

I hated every min of learning to driving one due to the sheer amount of concentration needed. I did pass the reversing part. Just not clipping a curb (maybe they could take that out 😂).

What do current HGV drivers think? I know shelves are empty but it seems a dangerous quick fix.
 
Holy **** really.

Used to drive PCV, twin rig refuelers and rigid with a trailer and never once wanted to go for my HGV 1 as it scared the hell out of me by the sheer size of them.

Take away reversing and in my opinion it`s recipe for disaster

HGV 1 is a beast and I`d guess a totally different driving experience than rigid

Big fat NO from me on what is being proposed
 
As part of the streamlining they have also removed the requirement for car drivers to pass a separate test for towing a trailer or caravan that has been a requirement since 1996. So it won't only be an HGV menace out on the roads.
 
As a Class 1 driver, and Management CPC holder, I can see both sides of this. I passed my Class 1 (C+E) in 2001, and we was taught to pass the test, including the little bit of reversing that it incorporated- A kind of none blindside snake manoeuvre into a made up docking bay. I'll be honest and say I could likely teach most people to do that manoeuvre in a few hours.
When you learnt to drive your not taught to reverse, your just pummelled into passing that reverse move. After driving artics on and off for 20+ years, I still can't reverse the bloody things :ROFLMAO:
 
S7DiscoDown said:
I have just read that from September the 20th the government are bringing in a new 'stream lined' test to get more people qualified. I mean that's 'fine'.

The new test will do away with the reversing part of the test (usually done in the training compound before you actually go out on the test). Now call me old fashioned and as someone who's failed an HGV test I'd say reversing is a pretty major part??

So we are going to let newly qualified drivers 'hit the road' and reverse onto all kinds of loading bays and small areas without covering it on a test? Also doing away with coupling and uncoupling of a trailer.

Throw in the fact driving hours are extended and an influx of newly qualified drivers who've passed a streamline test. Does anyone suddenly see the roads becoming more dangerous? These things are absolute lethal weapons in the wrong hands.

I hated every min of learning to driving one due to the sheer amount of concentration needed. I did pass the reversing part. Just not clipping a curb (maybe they could take that out 😂).

What do current HGV drivers think? I know shelves are empty but it seems a dangerous quick fix.
Click to expand...
Taking away the reversing part of the test is just plain stupid, as is the couple /uncouple part , I passed mine a few months ago , the company I work for employs agency drivers to drive the artics , and the amount of times I,ve had drivers come into the workshop asking us to couple up a trailer is beyond a joke , if you cannot do it you shouldn't be driving one
 
Wez68 said:
Taking away the reversing part of the test is just plain stupid, as is the couple /uncouple part , I passed mine a few months ago , the company I work for employs agency drivers to drive the artics , and the amount of times I,ve had drivers come into the workshop asking us to couple up a trailer is beyond a joke , if you cannot do it you shouldn't be driving one
Click to expand...
My 'experience' was around 10 hrs driving a class 2 and failing my test on the Friday. That was enough for me to have new found respect for drivers. I never had any intention on going full class 1.

I was physically knackerd after a 2 hr lesson. I only failed on one thing but it was enough for me not to go back😂. The only 'bonus' was I didn't pay as it was armed forces resettlement.

Just constantly trying to anticipate what other drivers are doing (due to breaking distances) and worrying about where the back wheels are etc. Also don't get me started on cyclists riding up your inside when turning left (I see why wagons have big signs on them saying 'don't undertake'). No wonder so many get killed. You simply can't see them.

Respect HGV drivers👏...... The thought of an easier test and folk wanting to make a quick buck is worrying.

I'm driving up to Cov.... I'll be moaning about middle lane hoggers soon. W*nkers are out in full force 😕
 
S7DiscoDown said:
I have just read that from September the 20th the government are bringing in a new 'stream lined' test to get more people qualified. I mean that's 'fine'.

The new test will do away with the reversing part of the test (usually done in the training compound before you actually go out on the test). Now call me old fashioned and as someone who's failed an HGV test I'd say reversing is a pretty major part??

So we are going to let newly qualified drivers 'hit the road' and reverse onto all kinds of loading bays and small areas without covering it on a test? Also doing away with coupling and uncoupling of a trailer.

Throw in the fact driving hours are extended and an influx of newly qualified drivers who've passed a streamline test. Does anyone suddenly see the roads becoming more dangerous? These things are absolute lethal weapons in the wrong hands.

I hated every min of learning to driving one due to the sheer amount of concentration needed. I did pass the reversing part. Just not clipping a curb (maybe they could take that out 😂).

What do current HGV drivers think? I know shelves are empty but it seems a dangerous quick fix.
Click to expand...

That seems absolutely ridiculous. I drive Class 2 (rigid vehicles) and whenever I park up at service stations it always amazes me how many shunts it sometimes takes Artic drivers to get in a parking bay. These are lads that will have been driving on Class 1 for years. Reversing a trailer of that size clearly isn't easy so to think someone could be out on the road in an artic with no experience of reversing is just plain dangerous.
 
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Technology could make it much easier or even unnecessary to be able to perform certain manoeuvres, but we’re just not there yet. As with everything else, this government is cutting corners to deal with a problem instead of doing what’s really necessary.
 
Lets push out a load of barely qualified HGV drivers right in time for the snow and ice starting to hit, what could possibly go wrong


Based on the state of their driving I see almost every day, its genuinely unbelievable they want to make the test easier
 
When doing my HGV3 back in the day - I struggled a little on the reversing ( that double de clutching was also a pain) - so to get past this, during the dinner break,I would instead go to the truck in the park and practice reversing at higher speeds,I found this a lot easier then at slow speeds. Come the test I was inch perfect. Instructor said I was pretty good and sure fire pass.
As it happened - the absolute worst driver on the course passed 1st time ( he was constantly letting his ass go up on the pavement - and forced relentlessly) - whereas I missed out.
Imma thinking that the useless guy had the serial killer vibe going.
With regards to streamlining? Utter stupidity.
 
I passed my test in 1986 and at that time coupling/uncoupling wasn’t a physical test, you just had explain the correct sequence (no1, find a suitable place to drop the trailer!) I don’t know if it was later introduced as part of the test and although I’m no longer working in the industry, I work alongside it. I’ve seen numerous serious incidents involving incorrect coupling, the worst was a runaway, the whole lot ran out of control, out of the place it was working, over a main road and smashed into the weighbridge of a recycling company; a miracle that no one was killed. I know the latest Mercs have a handbrake interlock on the door that would help prevent these incidents but I don’t think the training and testing should be watered down as it appears to be.
 
It's just the acceleration of the rolling back of any standards and regulations that limits profits for the disaster capitalists who are running the UK into the ground and its ultimate demise as it fragments into its constituent nations.
 
I genuinely believe it's almost a skill you are born with.
My Dad was a Lorry driver all his life and his seemingly nonchalant skill level was astonishing. I went away with him a lot as a teen. We used to go to a place in South London and there would be a small crowd of people watch him reverse through a gap I thought would have been tricky in a car. He used to get a round of applause :)
He died 15 years ago but I can't ever forget his road awareness. Driving a 38+ ton truck properly is really difficult.
 
This really is going to cause a lot of issues if it goes ahead , lets be clear here as it stands passing the test is just the start, remember you take your test in an unladen truck , a fully laden Artic is a different different kettle of fish to drive , imo the current test is maybe too easy to pass
 
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