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Exam conditions„,„
Page 44
Page 45
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After several years playing with the small toys, it was time for CM's chief van tester, Julian Milnes, to turn his attention to bigger stuff, but first he had to pass his Cat C test.
Words: Jutian Mimes It should all have been so simple and straightforward. One experienced Commercial Motor van tester takes Cat C truck test, passes first lime and drives off into the sunset with new, heavier partner.
However, reality has a habit of being rather different, and it took more than a year to get my hands on a Cat C licence.
Rewind back to the summer of 2008 and, having passed my theory test. I undertook a course of lessons with Leatherhead-based driver training company EP Training.
Having previously driven LWB 3.5-tonners and the occasional 7.5-tonner under the 'grandfather's rights' rule, I thought I was more than equipped to pass without breaking sweat.
The first day of training took a slight readjustment in road observation because it became apparent that a truck doesn't slow down at the same rate as a light commercial vehicle, and once you stop dead, there's a not inconsiderable effort required from the engine to get you going again.
And this, ladies and gents, requires a far more focused approach to reading the road. Roundabouts, road markings, road signs, junctions and traffic lights are no longer mere suggestions, they are indicators and prompts designed to inform and control your driving, which should be adjusted with constant and considered input.
Failure to do so will have you in the wrong gear, at the wrong speed, at the wrong angle, on a road that's too narrow or high... and this is wrong.
Oh yes, and trucks are bigger than vans, so hitting kerbs because you misjudged the discernibly larger turning circle is not smiled upon either — particularly by pedestrians
And so it was, having spent three days in a Mercedes-Benz Actros, in which time I had mastered the an of truck driving, I approached my test, albeit with far too much confidence and far too little concentration.
The former quickly evaporated as my examiner regularly added dashes to his clipboard along the way.
Having got to the point where he was running out of space, and appeared to be working on a dot-to-dot after the eighth kerb clip and poorly managed mirror observation, I just wanted to pull over, get out and set the truck on fire to erase the memory.
But no, there was another 15 minutes of driving time left on the test route, which was a little like waiting in the dock of a courtroom for the build-up to the inevitable guilty verdict.
Try, try and try again...
No matter, we put this one down to had luck, and anyway, history was on my side. A previous CM employee had taken five, yes five, attempts to pass their test, so a comfortable, and quotable, buffer was in place to use as defence against my peers.
I returned to the wheel with redoubled focus in spring 2009. This time there would be no cockiness, but there would he an almost magnetic attraction to the wing mirrors so as to show the instructor my near-Jedi levels of awareness.
After taking EP Training's two-day refresher course to get me back in the saddle, it was time for test number two.
But hold on a minute, who was this walking out of the Portakahin in almost goose-stepping fashion, sharpening his pencil? It was my nemesis from the first test. Hmm, tough crowd.
"OK, we can do this," I thought, but it turned out that we couldn't. As well as the now-mandatory kerb clipping and mirrors mistakes, I chipped in with a Niter by attempting to go through an amber traffic light.., while checking mirrors. All that was missing was a bit of texting and it would be a nigh-on full house of failures...
And with half of the driving still to be completed after said major indiscretion, we made our return to death row, and the inevitable 'nil point' verdict.
Once again I returned to CM 'towers, tail between my legs, my (supposed) reputation in tatters, and my colleagues secretly — and openly — ridiculing my incompetence.
Under pressure
The months moved on and spring swiftly turned into summer with the test put on the backburner. However, there was a pressing issue that was forcing my hand — Driver CPC regulation.
It was just around the corner and failure to pass would force me to endure more training, so the heat was on.
Two days back in the cab of my now established home-from-home, the Mercedes-Benz Actros, and it was once again time to hit the mean streets of Guildford, Surrey, for test number three.
But this time was going to be different. Ibis time I had the weight of enforced extra training hanging over me, the humiliation from friends, family, neighbours and passers-by to endure.
But this time around, I passed.
In fact, I drove out of my skin, not even engaging the instructor in pleasantries at traffic lights.
I was nithless, I was focused, I was an assassin behind the wheel with a mission to kill — well, drive brilliantly, and obey the Highway Code while using my mirrors correctly.
Relief washed over me when I was given the good news.
And with the test now out of the way. I just have to pop my heavy test cherry, which will be coming to a CM near you in 2010.