The dreaded Lorry LGV test!

[natalia]

I've finally given up and have decided I MUST get round to doing this! I've found a company quite local whom I'm planning on using but couple of questions;
1. what cat do I need? I want to drive a 7.5ton horse box, what's the cat for hgv?
2. Should I bother with the pass protection they offer (if you don't pass first time they let you take again 2 more times with no more fees)
3. What's the failure rate? Is it easy to pass?

I'm calling in the morning to hopefully book a course, would it be best to do all 5 days in a week or spread out? I can drive lory on L plates inbetween if this helps?

 

[wizbit]

1. Ive got my HGV and im pretty sure my license is cat C (but dont quote me on that!). not sure what it is for 7.5tonne.
2. Yes i would, if you've never driven anything bigger than a car before then its worth it as it take time to get used to the size of the thing with tight turns etc.
3. dont know what the failure rate is but they dont make it easy to pass! its a very dangerous thing in the hands of someone that "might be ok"! its easy when you get used to the sheer size of it.
That said i did HGV, so i can drive anything that isnt articulated. If yr just after something for a 7.5tonne its probably easier!
Good luck its great fun

 

[Abbeygale]

Up to 7.5t is category C1 - any rigid vehicle (so over 7.5t) is category C. I decided to do my HGV rather than just up to 7.5t, as it was the same amount of money - and everything was the same - but I would be licenced to drive much larger vehicles should I ever need to. They might have changed things since I did mine (about 8 years ago) but they were just charging for a daily rate for training and so the actual test you were doing at the end didn't make a difference to price.

I think failing the test does depend on the kind of driver that you are. I have always found driving came quite naturally to me, and once I had got over my initial nerves of driving such a large vehicle, I didn't have much of a problem driving the lorry.

If you are a more nervous driver, or if you don't find driving such a natural thing, then you could take their pass protection thing - or just ask them for additional days training. I did 8 days training when I did mine - but they gave me extras because I was only just 21 when I did it, and they figured that the young little girly needed extra training! It turned out that I probably could have passed my test after 4 days - but I was glad to have those extra days to really get my confidence up!

Good luck - I hope you enjoy doing your training and test as much as I did!