Lorry lisence.. which one?!!

[Arniebear]

Im 23 and unfortunatly my mother lacks interest in spending all day in the cold at an event! God knows why!! so getting out and about is getting harder and harder! so im thinking of doing my lorry lisence but im a bit confused by it all!!

Can anyone help??

i have limited funds (around £1200) is it do-able with these funds??

i would do my trailer test but we have no trailer or decent 4X4 so it would be a tad pointless!!! We do have a 7.5 tonne lorry although im not too sure if i cant get insured on it.... will look into this! something to do with my age??!

So my questions are;
1) do i do the 7.5 tonne test or a HGV?? whats the difference???
2) Does anyone know roughly how much it will all cost? ive never driven anything other than a car!! so will need practise!!!
3) someone told me the HGV is really hard to pass so i should just do the 7.5 tonne?? as its got a higher pass rate??
4) what does the test actually involve?
5) does anyone know any good places to do either test in cambridgeshire??

thanks in advance!

 

[Speckleification]

Hi,

I'm 22 and did my LGV (which is up to 7.5 tonnes) two years ago when working for an eventer,

I found a place that you spent three days at and did the test on the afternoon of the third day, it cost about £800 in total including the practical test.

You will have to pass a basic medical to apply for your licence, very basic stuff can be done by your GP but it costs about £70 to do so,

Then there's the theory test, pretty standard, much like the car test but slightly different criteria

Like I said I went away for a few days and learnt in a large van spent two 1/2 days learning all the manoeuvres and how the sorts of things you need to know for day to day running, it was really helpful, and then on the third day you take your test,

the test for the LGV is much like your driving test, you perform manoeuvres and then head out onto the open road, you will have to do emergency stop (but it's not quite the same as in a car) reversing into a bay, reversing into a parking space etc

I would recommend doing the LGV first or at least having a couple of lessons, my aim was to then take my HGV after a few years driving the LGV lorries but that was enough for me and I couldn't get to grips with the HGV lorry we had.

Insurance can be got, but it will be expensive, however, there was a loophole, as if it's part of your job they take on younger drivers, some companies only take those under 25, some 21, but talk to them over the phone rather then through a website as you'll get a much better deal,

as for finding places to do your test, I used google to find mine

The difference between HGV and LGV is the weight basically, LGV anything up to 7.5 tonnes, HGV anything up to 48 tonnes (and they don't come much bigger then that without towing which is an altogether different thing)

Hope this helps,
Feel free to PM me if you would like to know any more or I have missed anything out,
Kind regards,
Speckleification

 

[Super_Kat]

I went straight in and did my HGV (I'm 24), had 6 4 hour lessons then the test the day after. The only difference between the 7.5t and the HGV is the HGV is a touch bigger (but the one I used was only a touch bigger than my 7.5t Horsebox!) and you have to use a split gearbox which really is dead easy to get to grips with! I paid £1500 and I insure my 7.5t with SEIB and its just over £600 per year and its insured for anybody over the age of 21 to drive.

 

[Arniebear]

Cant quote on phone! Thank you very much for your replies they are most helpful an have answered pretty much all my questions so thanks! Think im guna ring round a few centres and get some quotes

 

[ROG]

The difference between HGV and LGV is the weight basically, LGV anything up to 7.5 tonnes, HGV anything up to 48 tonnes

The HGV system stopped in 1991, over 20 years ago, so mentioning the two can get a little confusing.

The LGV system is much simpler
C1 = any rigid from 3.5 to 7.5 tonnes
C = any rigid from 3.5 tonnes with no upper limit


OP - check out the HHO LGV INFO CLINIC in my signature below

 

[Arniebear]

Thanks ROG!!!