Cat C driving after pass

[tercelgold]

Hi

I just passed my Cat C and the examiner said it was ok to drive over 7.5ton while the licence came back.

On the back of the forms it says "Your test pass certificate is not a licence to drive - you MUST exchange your test pass certificate for a driving licence showing your new entitlements"

Can I drive over the 7.5 ton limit or do I need to wait?. Online it says I can from google searches but I opted to have the examiner send it in; does that matter?

[GC8]

Itll probably be back within five days: seven at the most.

[karona]

You can drive while waiting for your license to come back.
You can't just stick the pass cert in your pocket and not send it off, hence the "You MUST" bit about sending it away to have the class C added to your license.

[R0G]

karona said:

You can drive while waiting for your license to come back.
You can't just stick the pass cert in your pocket and not send it off, hence the "You MUST" bit about sending it away to have the class C added to your license.

From his first post it seems the examiner took his licence so he does not need to send the pass certificate off

The pass cert only needs sending if the driver is dealing with DVLA

The driver has passed the test so can drive cat Cs immediately

The pass cert is valid for 2 years and some car test pass driver have driven on the pass cert for months before bothering to send it off for the licence

[R0G]

[tercelgold]

Hi thanks just wanted to make sure.

[Dog Star]

R0G said:

[Benbay001]

OP, how did you find it? Im (hopefully) doing my cat c for my birthday next month.

[tercelgold]

Benbay001 said:

OP, how did you find it? Im (hopefully) doing my cat c for my birthday next month.

It's a tough test I think 90 minutes overall and stricter IMHO than the car test, main thing is slow down, slow down and take your time while planning far ahead much further than a car driver , if you don't have time to check your mirrors (not glance) on a roundabout and get in the right gear then you are coming in way too fast.

Having done it three times the last one I went much slower and had no minors for speed, gear or making progress which i did worry about.

My faults on the pass were
1 Move off - Control (missed a gear on a stop and start on a hill)
1 Control - Steering (temp roadworks set up could have taken more towards the cones but okish examiner said he would have stopped and checked but it was about exact width of the lorry)
2 Control - Footbrake ( too harsh, "I felt like a crash test dummy")

Work out the foot airbrake feel, this isn't a car so need to apply them very accurately.

Take as much room as you need and do it way in advance, they will take you around tight corners where you need to go on the wrong side of the road, again slow down and stop if needed balance forcing with need. Check mirrors when stopped cyclists will undertake and stop just out of view, I try to count them and not move off until they're visible and safe.

[GC8]

Some examiners want to see you press on! When I took my test I knew which instructor wanted this, which was nervous and wanted the opposite and who wanted a mixture/balance. Far from ideal but how it is.

[Flawless Victory]

tercelgold said:

Take as much room as you need and do it way in advance,

Good advice there but it never ceases to amaze me that car-drivers get upset when I straddle both lanes at the entrance to a roundabout. I do it because I need to account for the trailer cut-in but if they want to get crushed under the trailer wheels....it's no skin off my nose.



BTW, well done and........never under-estimate what car-drivers, (even the ones on PH), will do to fk you over at every opportunity.

[tercelgold]

GC8 said:

Some examiners want to see you press on! When I took my test I knew which instructor wanted this, which was nervous and wanted the opposite and who wanted a mixture/balance. Far from ideal but how it is.

That does make sense, but in the three I did no minors for it (or I was just going too fast all the time). Examiners do seem somewhat fragile when being driven around

Also, car drivers; the speed limit over 7.5tons is 40mph single carriageway on those 60mph (NSL sign = floor it to max) sections, not my doing but unless you want to pay the tickets, lost income and possibly retesting or prison that is the speed limit.

[tercelgold]

Flawless Victory said:

Good advice there but it never ceases to amaze me that car-drivers get upset when I straddle both lanes at the entrance to a roundabout. I do it because I need to account for the trailer cut-in but if they want to get crushed under the trailer wheels....it's no skin off my nose.

BTW, well done and........never under-estimate what car-drivers, (even the ones on PH), will do to fk you over at every opportunity.

They really don't realise and even me taking both lanes in an LEARNER DRIVER 18ton truck will pull up onto the right hand lane.

The instructor said I should take the C+E before driving C but I can't afford it so will probably do agency for a few weeks starting Monday then go back. The examiner also said do it soon or you'll most likely fail from bad habits.

[GC8]

Most seem to advise driving a rigid vehicle for a year to get used to it. Any habits will quickly be dealt with by the instructor.

[aw51 121565]

Flawless Victory said:

... it's no skin off my nose.

...

never under-estimate what car-drivers, (even the ones on PH), will do to fk you over at every opportunity.

There's another side to this discussion .

Seeing as driving on the roads is generally a team effort, I won't tar all HGV drivers with the same brush if you won't tar all car drivers with the, errm, same brush?

[GC8]

The very important difference is that virtually all HGV drivers can drive a car but virtually all car drivers cant drive an HGV. This means that most opinions lack any experience to validate them.

[JagXJR]

Well Done OP!