n/a - psv licence

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Fri 6 Jun 2014 22:29
n/a - psv licence - dan86

At the moment I have a class 2 hgv licence I am thinking of getting my psv my lgv is a manual licence, if I did take my psv test in a automatic would I get a psv manual licence?

Thanks in advance.

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Fri 6 Jun 2014 22:32
n/a - psv licence - dan86

Another question I have already done my cpc training done my final instalment last month and have received the card. Would I have to re do the cpc for the psv licence?

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Fri 6 Jun 2014 22:55
n/a - psv licence - pcvpilotmick

Dan, your cpc counts for both lgv and pcv, no need to re take. If you have a manual lgv licence, upon passing your pcv test you will automatically gain a manual pcv licence, even if you take your test in an auto.

Interestingly, auto pcv licence holders who have a manual car licence are now able to upgrade their pcv entitlement to manual without sitting another driving test or any training on a manual pcv.. Myself and my manual licence holding colleagues all think this is a bad move on the government's part. Thoughts?

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Fri 6 Jun 2014 23:04
n/a - psv licence - gordonbennet

pcvpilotmick, i couldn't agree more, but our government are only doing as Brussells orders, no change there then

Can't get enough cheap enough bums on the seats quickly enough, lots of older drivers are giving driving for a living up this year when DCPC comes into play, and very real possibilities of not just a driver shortage but a licence holder shortage too...no doubt you understand the subtle difference 'tween the two.

I hope other posters here enjoy the continuing decline in commercial driving standards, thanks in no small way to this and other ''lowest common denominator'' moves, testing, training, vehicle design etc etc.

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Fri 6 Jun 2014 23:07
n/a - psv licence - dan86

I agree it is a bit silly as a bus with a manual gearbox will be more like that in a lorry not a car and if have driven a lorry or bus with a manual gearbox you'll know it's a bit different to a car.

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Fri 6 Jun 2014 23:11
n/a - psv licence - dan86

Gb you're right about decline in standards. Speeding to a colleague who only recently passed their lgv test it sounds as if they have made it easier. They no longer do the gear change excersise and aparantly no longer the break test.

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Fri 6 Jun 2014 23:20
n/a - psv licence - gordonbennet

Its not just the gears though Dan, everything is different, and making the things as car like as possible, especially the vehicle virtually driving itself, isn't helping IMO, driver should be controlling the vehicle completely, not just sitting there like a glorified mannequin attending only to the steering wheel and peering the correct number of times in the general direction of the mirrors.

Not so many years ago we had to perform a controlled emergency stop on a commercial test, no longer, we did one in the Mini we passed our car test in..oh thats fine them.

edit...sorry, i see you posted about those whilst i was doing my one finger sort of typing.

We also had to perform the gear changing exercise, go from crawler right up to top and back down through every gear, no longer.

The lack of selection, hard won skills, use and real driver training stands out for all to see as soon as conditions deteriorate or serious situations calling for more input than just applying the brakes develops....thankfully there's still a large number of drivers out there who refuse to just attend the steering wheel, actually still taking a pride in what they do (and valued correctly by the remaining equally skilled operators), long may they continue to do things the old way.

Edited by gordonbennet on 06/06/2014 at 23:21

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Fri 6 Jun 2014 23:31
n/a - psv licence - pcvpilotmick

Spot on GB. I'd hate to see one of our newbie steering wheel attendants have to perform a controlled stop in an older, non ABS/ESP equipped large vehicle. I can almost smell the scorched tyres and hear the crunch from the impact!

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Fri 6 Jun 2014 23:38
n/a - psv licence - Wackyracer

I heard some years ago that the test for driving a bus had been dumbed-down as there was a demand for bus drivers and they were struggling to get people through the test.

Glad I did my HGV/PCV when the tests were properly done. I remember doing the braking test in an old Bedford Duple coach. Firstly it was hard to get it upto speed within the distance available and then when I did the stop, The oil in the sump all surged forward and set off the warning buzzer due to a temporary lack of oil pressure.

I got the D+E category without pulling a trailer because I already held a HGV class 1.

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Fri 6 Jun 2014 23:48
n/a - psv licence - gordonbennet

Examiner extracting himself from the screen?

Its not their fault in most cases, none of us knew what we were doing when we started out, but we were trained to drive a lorry primarily, the testers, those hard nosed old blighters soon knew if you could drive or not.

Old hands took you under their wing when you found a job, they taught you and you listened, when you eventually earned their respect and approval, when you could do the job to their satisfaction, you were like a puppy with two tails...not that long ago either but seems like another world now.

There's a different type of driver out there now, age has nothing to do with it, it was hard at one time and needed some toughness and desire to want to do the job, which was filthy dirty and bloomin hard work, fast forward to now and in many cases its a chauffers job.

One small example, i had to do a bit of specialist job training with a new bloke recently, nice enough bloke driven lorries before, frightened the living daylights outa me and me mate who took him as well.

Tailgating constantly and naturally to him, but then lots of people in lorries do that now, what put the wind up me is that my artics drive axle is now down to 4mm on recuts, skittish doesn't come near describing it...he's overdoing it on wet roads and i can feel the oversteer slide starting several times and he's still powering out of the wet roundabout/bend, only the TC cutting in kept things in check....he hadn't a clue any of this was going on let alone planning/feeling for pendulum building up, not a clue, and as for timing junctions etc and taking account of other traffic, don't even go there.

My old instructor would have turned the air blue.

Edited by gordonbennet on 06/06/2014 at 23:50

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Sat 7 Jun 2014 00:05
n/a - psv licence - Wackyracer

The company I used to work for had inhouse examiners and they would occasionally just chose a random driver to go out with, You'd be at the gate just about to leave and the passenger door would open and they would climb in with their clipboard.

I once said to one of them, That they must have the easiest job in the world as all applicants were required to have 2years minimum commercial experience at that time and should be reasonable drivers. He then spent the rest of the day telling me about some of the white knuckle rides he had when taking out potential new employees.

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Sat 7 Jun 2014 08:32
n/a - psv licence - pcvpilotmick

He then spent the rest of the day telling me about some of the white knuckle rides he had when taking out potential new employees.

I can agree with this. I have gone out with new drivers a great deal over thew last 15 years and while most are very cautious, there are a few who shall we say, could have done with more training. Lack of anticipation, failing to read the road ahead, overtaking cyclists with less than 6 inches between bus and bike and so on.

The worst one was with a bloke who used to drive artics for a living. Every time we got to a sharp corner, he would slow down, enter the bend and then as soon as he started turning the wheel he floored the accelerator. Cue evryone on board lunging for handrails to stop themselves falling off the seats. Tailgating, hard braking and a complete inability to ignore other road users indescretions, he was told several times to calm down and slow down.

He was sent back to training school for extra tuition, and he couldn't understand why.

A few months later he ended up in court for failing to ensure the safety of his passengers. He had floored it through a sharp bend and tipped an old lady off her seat, breaking her hip upon landing.

He left the company before he was sacked, "I'm going back on the wagons, this job is ****" were his parting words.

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Sat 7 Jun 2014 09:20
n/a - psv licence - dan86

I will admit I have been spoilt with modern lorries for all of my career but then I got to drive a Dennis and it was like being given a truck from the 1950s. The mercedes lorries we have are so easy to drive and because of the low center of gravity and rear wheel steering they handle like a dream. My first time out in a Dennis was a eye opener you need to be on the ball all the time in one of those. The breaks are like milk bottel tops, the steering wonders needing constant correction and the have no tra traction control some of the drivers can't drive them they say they are to hard to drive. My only problem with them is that they are to uncomfortable to be sat in all day.

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