Have you noticed that Unaccredited HGV Schools offer LGV CE / HGV Class 1 Articulated training using a small, short, twin-axle Urban Trailers?

This is not entirely helpful to learner HGV drivers.

Urban trailers, used for deliveries in City or Town mini-supermarkets, only have limited uses.

And, when asked, Hauliers and Logistic & Distribution Companies say they prefer to recruit drivers who have gained Artic experience and gained practiced with full-size tri-axle trailers before they’ll consider taking the driver on and offering the driver a job (through an agency) or full time employment.

• For example, we heard from another training provider, about a group of 15 newly qualified drivers who obtained their Class 1 License using small-size urban articulated trailers, but….

o Due to those drivers having limited time behind the wheel and their reliance on urban trailers, they all failed to secure employment because….
o During the interview and pre-recruitment driving assessment, using the employers’ full-size Articulated unit and trailer, the drivers (who trained on an urban trailer) couldn’t demonstrate sufficient skills on the Road or when Reversing and Manoeuvring, so…..
o So naturally, the drivers didn’t get offered work and were rejected as ‘unsuitable’ by the employer.
o And the employer then had a very poor opinion of all other drivers who applied for work who passed from that urban-trailer school!

Remember, over the past three decades, before November 2021, getting an HGV licence had to be done by ‘staging’.

Drivers had no choice but to begin their heavy goods training with Rigid Vehicles and pass their (HGV Class 2 / LGV C) first, before progressing on to a second training course and a further test to obtain LGV CE / Class 1.

Back then, this meant that competent drivers often reached test standard after around 5 days for LGV C and then, often had several months LGV C working experience, before taking further 5 days training for CE, Class 1.

• This ‘staging’ was not just because of the law at that time, it was designed to help in mastering complex skills over a period of time.

• Gaining any new skill requires both time and practice, and driving articulated vehicles is no exception.

• Don’t be fooled into believing that drivers can become proficient, using small-size urban articulated vehicles, in about the same time as it might take to pass the LGV C test.

Why is training and passing on reduced sized trailer is counterproductive?

• Be aware that urban trailers are not representative of the vehicles mainly used in the haulage industry.

• For example, the majority of CE trucks you see driving on major roads and motorways are full-size tri-axle articulated trucks NOT urban trailers.

• Remember, urban trailers are generally smaller, two-axle, 10-meter trailers, and are only used by a very limited number of firms, say supermarkets, when delivering to shop-sites that one of their standard trailers cannot access.

So, while urban trailers may have some similarities to full-sized articulated vehicles, they are significantly different in terms of handling and performance.

• Urban Trailers do not help or support drivers to gain experience operating standard size tri-axle trailers.

o Urban Trailers have unique dynamics. In particularly their responsiveness at the king-pin (the almost round plate above the drive-wheels that couples the trailer to the cab), require a different driving techniques, again not helpful when driving tri-axle trailers.

• Urban trailers create challenges, especially with reverse manoeuvres. (Even experienced drivers can struggle reversing them!)

o The King-Pin positioning is closer to the front bulk-head on an Urban Trailer, and therefore has little or no swing on the front of the trailer. So it is dangerous to be unaware of how much greater / wider swing that happens with a tri-axle trailer.

o See article about Trailer Swing here https://pja.co.uk/blog/how-will-longer-lorries-impact-british-roads/

• Urban trailer drivers to get into bad habits:

o Like, late Driving Hazard Recognition, as urban trailers squeeze through gaps and into spaces that are not suitable for full size articulated trailers.

o Like, learning incorrect positioning at junctions, roundabouts and left and right turns which is dangerous if drivers to attempt to use a size articulated trailer in the same way.

The Logistics Industry is always evolving

The introduction of Longer Semi Trailers (LSTs) with advanced steering-axle technology, are stretched by an additional 2 meters in length (that’s over 16 meters overall) are gaining popularity as they enable drivers to carry greater capacity and sizes of loads.

Industry experts recognise the need for comprehensive training to adequately prepare drivers for the realities being a working driver, and they recognise that accredited HGV Training schools, such as Wallace School of Transport, are ideally placed to help and provide support to the already strained logistics sector as often hauliers don’t have the resources to support newbie drivers.

In conclusion….

The current reliance on town and city urban trailers as a solution to the driver shortage is a short-term and only a temporary fix.

And don’t get persuaded into buying and arranging a HGV Training course which has too small an amount of driver training and limited reversing practice, which is delivered on the wrong size of vehicle, and that won’t help you secure the driving job role you want.