Hastings based, Lesson Based Projects has an HGV training vehicle for sale.This is a BMC 625 that’s plated at 18 tons. It was registered in September 2005 and has had 2 owners.
The gearbox is an 8 speed range change. An added bonus is this BMC 625 has 5 crew cab seats, which makes it ideal for Driver CPC training. The mileage is low at 79,000 Km.
No asking price has been given by the vendor and is open to offers.
For more information please contact Gary Curtis on 01424 432200
The long-running tanker drivers dispute has reached an end with drivers voting on Friday (11 May) to accept proposals tabled after eight days of talks at ACAS.
UNITE has described the result as a ‘narrow yes’ with drivers from the seven oil distribution firms voting in favour by 51percent overall, on a turnout of 69percent. Unite members working in four of the seven oil distribution firms voted to reject the proposals.
The proposals include the introduction of an industry wide accreditation, or ‘passport’, covering health, safety and training.
Unite has warned that the overall narrow ‘yes’ vote left the companies with no room for complacency. The union stressed that fundamental problems remain in the industry with urgent action needed to halt the race to the bottom and bring stability and security to the supply of a vital commodity.
The union went on to add that the dispute highlighted deep seated problems in the supply of fuel, exacerbated by a mantra of “profits before stability”.
Over the coming weeks the union will be working with the seven oil distribution firms, the Department for Energy, Environment and Climate Change , (DECC), the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and other interested parties to implement the Acas proposals.
The consultative ballot involved over 2,000 tanker drivers working for Wincanton, DHL, Hoyer, BP, Norbert Dentressangle, Turners (Soham) and Suckling Transport.
The first meeting to take forward the implementation of the Acas proposals must be held before 1 June.
Andy Gibbs is a seasoned haulier, experienced trucker and professional HGV industry instructor. He’s been in the commercial transport industry for over 30 years.
Being “in the game” that longs constitutes a wealth of knowledge and experience. When Andy first started driving HGV’s professionally sat navs didn’t exist. He and other drivers relied on route planning, maps and experience.
Today’s technology means it’s a different ball game. HGV drivers have become less reliant on the good old map and more dependent on the sat nav.
On this post Andy gives us his views and comments on the pros and cons of HGV sat navs…….
With all the main manufacturers of in cab technology producing satellite navigation systems that are more and more up to date and advanced, you would have to wonder if we’ve seen the last of the road or street atlas, but is this such a good thing?
So much trust is placed in technology and this goes mostly without question. To look deeper into this we will need to go back ten to twelve years or so to a time when the likes of WH SMITH would be an excellent place for drivers to find their weapon of choice.
The choice of A to Z or Nicholsons street atlas would be argued through the regions, with the same discussions raging on national and international atlas’s.
Ok, so it might not be quite the war it would seem and if you were driving from the North of England stopping in the depths of Hertfordshire and Surrey before moving on to Central London you may possibly have needed a small library.
The thing to remember is you looked it up in the map and you noticed when the road went over or under a bridge. You could see when villages were close and you could decide if you thought it was worth avoiding and when en route, if heavy traffic was an issue, you would already have some idea of your direction because you looked it up so adjusting it isn’t such a trauma.
Also, the problem will arise when on very small country roads the map will show you both ends of the road you want (if it has two ends that is), giving you the opportunity to pick the best way in and the best route there, and the same would surely apply to driving in the city, the skill of pre planning your route comes from reading and doing and it is surely part of the craft and the tools of the professional HGV driver.
In cab navigation has existed since the first passenger seat was fitted, and if you have ever given a lift to someone to a destination that seems a closely guarded secret with instructions such as ‘turn left here’ or worse ‘you should have turned left there’, by the time you get to the point of delivery one of two thoughts run through your head: ‘how am I going to get out of here’, or ‘why did we come this way’.
Another example could be for the first time continental HGV driver following another car or truck to a destination in, lets say, Germany. Yes they will all arrive ok but there will be only one driver who knows the route there and back because the new driver will only see the back of the vehicle he is following.
I do believe that satellite navigation is a fantastic contribution to the work of a professional HGV driver but that’s all it should do. Contribute! As, if you are driving something that is 45 feet long, the words ‘turn around where possible’ are enough to make your blood run cold, and all shouting ‘well you got me into this’ at a little screen serves to do is make you look a little bonkers.
So there you are waiting for a roundabout to come up or somewhere to turn the truck around and just as you do, it turns out the technological wizardry was out-witted by a cumulonimbus (look that one up) and you were actually facing the right way the first time.
Problems like this don’t often arise when it has been looked up prior to setting of and there really is no substitute for looking and doing.
It’s not that satellite navigation is bad or has no place. It’s not and it does, but it has to be used in conjunction with pre planning and, as someone who drives an LGV professionally, the skill of route finding will always be an integral part of your day.
It is true to say that some of the delivery addresses you are given consist only of a postcode and then the sat nav comes into its own, but even then, once you have the area, you may be advised to look it up and let the navigation equipment take the credit for the last few yards.
We have reached our destination!
Posted 14th May 2012
Flint based Chevron Training is pleased to announce the latest addition to their commercial transport training fleet.
This smart looking piece of kit is the coach you will learn to drive when you train with Chevron.
As well as category D bus or coach), Chevron also provides training for categories D1 (minibus) and D1E (minibus with trailer.)
Chevron is an established professional commercial training organisation, who have a reputation for quality training and excellent service.
John and Karen (partners at Chevron Training) ensure all driver training is delivered by qualified instructors on well maintained vehicles.
Located in Flint, Cheshire, HGV LGV network members Chevron can guide you through the entire LGV or PCV licence acquisition process, from medical to Module 4.
For more information on how to get your HGV or PCV driving career of to the best start contact Chevron Training today.
The Professional Drivers Foundation (PDF) is approaching its fourth year and they now have no doubt whatsoever that there is a need for a lorry driver’s charity.
Almost all the funds The PDF has raised to date has been donated from HGV lorry drivers and their families to help colleagues in need.
Last year in particular, they found themselves in demand more than ever before. This has left their funds extremely low.
In response to the PDF’s appeal for individuals to raise funds by completing sponsored events, Steve Jackson has stepped forward to quite literally ‘Run the Gauntlet’ for the Professional Drivers Foundation.
Steve Jackson is Brett’s Logistics Planning Manager, and being desk based, is making a super human effort on behalf of the PDF. Steve used to be a lorry driver many moons ago, and it’s still a vocation dear to his heart.
In view of this he is preparing to step out from behind his desk and hit the road not once, but twice and run TWO Half Marathons for the PDF. His first challenge will be to complete the Great North Run in September, followed by the infamous Run the Gauntlet event, held in Ireland in November.
Run the Gauntlet is widely acknowledged as Ireland’s toughest half marathon due to the elevation changes on the course through The Gap of Dunloe between the beautiful Lakes of Killarney.
You can visit and sponsor Steve by visiting his sponsor page at www.justgiving.com/stevejackson2012
For more information and to encourage Steve to train on a daily basis, please sponsor him and encourage him to make the supreme effort required to complete these two events.
He needs to see his efforts will be worthwhile. The amount you can afford isn’t important as every little helps to encourage Steve to turn out and train on a daily basis. It is essential for him to see that target rising every cold and dreary day he pounds the local roads in an effort to get super fit.
Remember, every penny goes to support lorry drivers in need of help.
We would like to welcome Kent based Transport Training Solutions to the HGV LGV training network.
Maidstone located Transport Training Solutions has been supplying Driver CPC Training solutions to the haulage, coach and related commercial industries for over 3 years.
Transport Training Solutions Ltd offer a variety of bespoke Driver CPC periodic courses that are tailored to meet the needs of all walks of industry. This includes LGV and PCV drivers.
All Driver CPC instructors are professional, suitability qualified and have many years’ experience. From their JAUPT approved centre in Maidstone, Kent customers will experience a learning environment that is informative and relaxed.
If you need “in company” Driver CPC training the Transport Training Solutions can help. They are JAUPT approved to run courses on customer sites.
Transport Training Solution has already been audited by JAUPT. The auditors post audit comments were summarised as:
“This is a well run centre with good training facilities and well delivered courses. All feedback from customers has been very positive and I was very impressed by the standard of course delivery which I observed today. Ron is positive about the quality assurance of his course presentations and the running of his business.”
Reading this summary alone should give any potential customer, confidence and reassurance that Transport Training Solutions can and will deliver the results.
For more information on how Transport Training Solutions can help you meet your Driver CPC obligations why not contact Ron and his friendly team today?
Over the past few months The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) has been working with Transport for London (TfL) to prepare plans for business during the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Although the expected increase of up to three million extra journeys each day will have an effect on traffic congestion, the DSA is not planning to close any driving test centres.
However, three LGV driving test centres (Enfield, Purfleet and Yeading), which are closest to the Olympic sites will operate limited testing programmes, running fewer tests each day to allow for late arrivals and traffic jams.
It is anticipated that at worst this will mean a reduction of 2 to 3 LGV tests being carried out each day. Dates when these three HGV driving test centres will run a restricted service will be 27th July to 12th August and 29th August to 9th September.
LGV training companies that use Enfield, Purfleet or Yeading driving test centres on a regular basis will be contacted directly by the DSA with more information.
Alternatively you can read the information by clicking here.
By Andrew Penman on May 2, 2012 11 PM.
In recent weeks we’ve highlighted firms that offer courses for would-be truck or coach drivers but leave customers in the lurch, including Blackwater LGV, Direct LGV, Highway HGV and Fast Track LGV.
Now there’s another name to add to the list. Advantage HGV.
The firm came to national attention last Friday when a man reported to be an angry customer was arrested after storming into their office, allegedly armed with a fake bomb, resulting in a three hour standoff with police and the closure of Tottenham Court Road in central London.
We can reveal that Advantage HGV is run by a failed Conservative council candidate who has been involved in a string of disastrous trucker training operations.
Gary Benardout was the company secretary of Clearstone Training and Recruiting Ltd for almost three years, resigning in September 2006. The following June the company went under, owing 4.3million pounds.
Then there was Rollright School of Transport Ltd, which collapsed in 2008 owing nearly £600,000. Meanwhile Benardout, 37, had set up Advantage Training Services Ltd, which traded as Advantage HGV.
It went into liquidation eight weeks ago with debts it can’t pay of £267,000.
Two months earlier Benardout founded Specialised Training Services Ltd. This firm is now operating from the same Tottenham Court Road office as its failed predecessor, with the same trading name, same website and phone number, and same co-director, 36 year old James Clifford.
Both versions of Advantage HGV use the logo of the Road Haulage Association (RHA), which tells us that neither are or have been members.
One victim of the first Advantage HGV is Martin Middleton, of Sheffield, who paid the firm 4,000 pounds but instead of getting on the road, he got “months of mental anguish, inadequate training, messages not being answered and being misled”. “They went into liquidation and sprang up again with the same staff, how can this be legal?”
When he demanded a refund, the firm said it would keep its “normal cancellation charges” of half his fee plus £100. In 2009, Benardout stood as a Tory councillor in Camden, North London, being beaten by a Lib Dem.
A local paper reported that he “battled against mud-slinging” after “it emerged that Mr Benardout was disqualified as a governor of Torriano Infant School, Kentish Town, in March 2007 after failing to attend to a single meeting.”
Mr Benardout failed to respond to our inquiries.
The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), the union that represents HGV driving test examiners in the UK, has balloted to take industrial action.
A strike has been called for the 10th May. As a result some LGV driving tests may be cancelled.
The Driving Standards Agency (DSA), the government agency responsible for driving tests in the UK, is instructing candidates to still turn up for their driving test as normal.
DSA’s chief executive Rosemary Thew said,
“All candidates have the opportunity to change or cancel their practical test by giving DSA three clear working days’ notice.
“Not all examiners are members of the PCS union. Even if they are, we can’t be sure that they’ll support the strike. So we’re asking candidates to come for their test as normal so it can go ahead if possible.
“We’re sorry for the inconvenience this will cause and will do everything we can to minimise disruption for our customers.”
If you turn up and your driving test is cancelled because of strike action it will not be necessary to contact the DSA to rebook. Within 5 to 10 days the DSA will contact you with a new test date.
If you don’t turn up and your test is cancelled you will not be able to claim for any out of pocket expenses and you will have to book again yourself. The strike action only relates to practical driving tests. Theory tests will not be affected.
The DSA customer service centre may also be affected by the strike action. Customers can still book, change, check and cancel their driving test online at the direct.gov website .
For further local information and advice please contact your local training company.
This website (www.hgvlgvtraining.co.uk) was set up to warn unsuspecting individuals on the pitfalls of using an HGV training broker and the benefits of going direct to an established training company in their area.
We don’t promote HGV training middlemen as they are brokers. That is to say they have no training vehicles and employ no HGV training instructors. Many, many people have been had by HGV training brokers over the last 5 to 6 years. They have signed up not fully knowing or understanding what it is they have signed up to.
Only recently the Daily Mirror carried out an investigation to expose the antics of some of the dodgy HGV training brokers.