RM Driving Test

[DICK43]

Don`t bother trying to pass!, out of the two of us I`m the only driver, i`ve been told that i`m responsible for delivering everything that won`t go on the trollies, so I have to ferry him around every day, take my own loop, take the oversized and then pick him back up + I do all the van checks, I would love to just sit in the passenger seat for once, on saying that, bloke in our office failed and we hadn`t got enough drivers so they gave him a van and told him to go deliver!, he even had to take another postie who also failed with him, these DOM`s ha ha, the stuff they get up too, ha ho..

[Mike1]

I did my test in early summer this year and was paid 3.5 hours O/T and did it after finishing my walk.

He was an AA instructer and it lasted just over 3 hours. It had more of an advanced vibe to it and I think he might have mentioned teaching police drivers as well. His main focus was thinking/looking ahead and noticing potential problems as early as possible...hang back if there is a bigger vehicle in front so that you have as much view of the road ahead as possible, reverse into a cul-de-sac or dead end road if possible instead of reversing into a main road. Also don't overlap your arms when steering (common habit for me) because if you have a serious accident then the airbags could push your arms into your chest/stomach...I think that's what he was getting at.

There are 4 grades, low risk, medium risk, high risk and dangerous. I was given medium risk which is a pass and apparently most capable drivers at RM are given this grade. I was asked what a couple of signs meant whilst driving but it was all very casual and relaxed. At the end he filled in a report on his laptop and I also had to fill in some questions about him....I got on well with him and we had a great chat, it was definitely the easiest 3.5 hours money I've earned in a long time!

Overall I thought it was mildly interesting, although very surprised that RM would fork out so much money for newish P/T drivers like myself.

[Mr_Pink]

I did my test in early summer this year and was paid 3.5 hours O/T and did it after finishing my walk.

He was an AA instructer and it lasted just over 3 hours. It had more of an advanced vibe to it and I think he might have mentioned teaching police drivers as well. His main focus was thinking/looking ahead and noticing potential problems as early as possible...hang back if there is a bigger vehicle in front so that you have as much view of the road ahead as possible, reverse into a cul-de-sac or dead end road if possible instead of reversing into a main road. Also don't overlap your arms when steering (common habit for me) because if you have a serious accident then the airbags could push your arms into your chest/stomach...I think that's what he was getting at.

There are 4 grades, low risk, medium risk, high risk and dangerous. I was given medium risk which is a pass and apparently most capable drivers at RM are given this grade. I was asked what a couple of signs meant whilst driving but it was all very casual and relaxed. At the end he filled in a report on his laptop and I also had to fill in some questions about him....I got on well with him and we had a great chat, it was definitely the easiest 3.5 hours money I've earned in a long time!

Overall I thought it was mildly interesting, although very surprised that RM would fork out so much money for newish P/T drivers like myself.

Sounds identical to mine, AA bloke said think of it as a paid £200 advanced driving lesson.

[motch]

I did my test in early summer this year and was paid 3.5 hours O/T and did it after finishing my walk.

He was an AA instructer and it lasted just over 3 hours. It had more of an advanced vibe to it and I think he might have mentioned teaching police drivers as well. His main focus was thinking/looking ahead and noticing potential problems as early as possible...hang back if there is a bigger vehicle in front so that you have as much view of the road ahead as possible, reverse into a cul-de-sac or dead end road if possible instead of reversing into a main road. Also don't overlap your arms when steering (common habit for me) because if you have a serious accident then the airbags could push your arms into your chest/stomach...I think that's what he was getting at.

There are 4 grades, low risk, medium risk, high risk and dangerous. I was given medium risk which is a pass and apparently most capable drivers at RM are given this grade. I was asked what a couple of signs meant whilst driving but it was all very casual and relaxed. At the end he filled in a report on his laptop and I also had to fill in some questions about him....I got on well with him and we had a great chat, it was definitely the easiest 3.5 hours money I've earned in a long time!

Overall I thought it was mildly interesting, although very surprised that RM would fork out so much money for newish P/T drivers like myself.

Sounds identical to mine, AA bloke said think of it as a paid £200 advanced driving lesson.

does it make your car insurance cheaper then?

[Mr_Pink]

I did my test in early summer this year and was paid 3.5 hours O/T and did it after finishing my walk.

He was an AA instructer and it lasted just over 3 hours. It had more of an advanced vibe to it and I think he might have mentioned teaching police drivers as well. His main focus was thinking/looking ahead and noticing potential problems as early as possible...hang back if there is a bigger vehicle in front so that you have as much view of the road ahead as possible, reverse into a cul-de-sac or dead end road if possible instead of reversing into a main road. Also don't overlap your arms when steering (common habit for me) because if you have a serious accident then the airbags could push your arms into your chest/stomach...I think that's what he was getting at.

There are 4 grades, low risk, medium risk, high risk and dangerous. I was given medium risk which is a pass and apparently most capable drivers at RM are given this grade. I was asked what a couple of signs meant whilst driving but it was all very casual and relaxed. At the end he filled in a report on his laptop and I also had to fill in some questions about him....I got on well with him and we had a great chat, it was definitely the easiest 3.5 hours money I've earned in a long time!

Overall I thought it was mildly interesting, although very surprised that RM would fork out so much money for newish P/T drivers like myself.

Sounds identical to mine, AA bloke said think of it as a paid £200 advanced driving lesson.

does it make your car insurance cheaper then?

I'm oldish so its pretty cheap anyway

[motch]

I did my test in early summer this year and was paid 3.5 hours O/T and did it after finishing my walk.

He was an AA instructer and it lasted just over 3 hours. It had more of an advanced vibe to it and I think he might have mentioned teaching police drivers as well. His main focus was thinking/looking ahead and noticing potential problems as early as possible...hang back if there is a bigger vehicle in front so that you have as much view of the road ahead as possible, reverse into a cul-de-sac or dead end road if possible instead of reversing into a main road. Also don't overlap your arms when steering (common habit for me) because if you have a serious accident then the airbags could push your arms into your chest/stomach...I think that's what he was getting at.

There are 4 grades, low risk, medium risk, high risk and dangerous. I was given medium risk which is a pass and apparently most capable drivers at RM are given this grade. I was asked what a couple of signs meant whilst driving but it was all very casual and relaxed. At the end he filled in a report on his laptop and I also had to fill in some questions about him....I got on well with him and we had a great chat, it was definitely the easiest 3.5 hours money I've earned in a long time!

Overall I thought it was mildly interesting, although very surprised that RM would fork out so much money for newish P/T drivers like myself.

Sounds identical to mine, AA bloke said think of it as a paid £200 advanced driving lesson.

does it make your car insurance cheaper then?

I'm oldish so its pretty cheap anyway

did you impress him by driving at high speed on the other side of the country twisty roads like the police do to get a better view of the road ahead? I know I would of.

[Mr_Pink]

I did my test in early summer this year and was paid 3.5 hours O/T and did it after finishing my walk.

He was an AA instructer and it lasted just over 3 hours. It had more of an advanced vibe to it and I think he might have mentioned teaching police drivers as well. His main focus was thinking/looking ahead and noticing potential problems as early as possible...hang back if there is a bigger vehicle in front so that you have as much view of the road ahead as possible, reverse into a cul-de-sac or dead end road if possible instead of reversing into a main road. Also don't overlap your arms when steering (common habit for me) because if you have a serious accident then the airbags could push your arms into your chest/stomach...I think that's what he was getting at.

There are 4 grades, low risk, medium risk, high risk and dangerous. I was given medium risk which is a pass and apparently most capable drivers at RM are given this grade. I was asked what a couple of signs meant whilst driving but it was all very casual and relaxed. At the end he filled in a report on his laptop and I also had to fill in some questions about him....I got on well with him and we had a great chat, it was definitely the easiest 3.5 hours money I've earned in a long time!

Overall I thought it was mildly interesting, although very surprised that RM would fork out so much money for newish P/T drivers like myself.

Sounds identical to mine, AA bloke said think of it as a paid £200 advanced driving lesson.

does it make your car insurance cheaper then?

I'm oldish so its pretty cheap anyway

did you impress him by driving at high speed on the other side of the country twisty roads like the police do to get a better view of the road ahead? I know I would of.

Did take 4 attempts to find a Transit that he was happy to take the test in, our 'newest' Transit is 6 years old and all, bar one, has the engine management light on and I think the only panel without any damage is the roof...

[janitor]

Slack drivers, why haven't you managed to damage the roof, would never happen in our office. One van has been rolled twice.

[Mr_Pink]

Slack drivers, why haven't you managed to damage the roof, would never happen in our office. One van has been rolled twice.

Would love to read the ERICA reports

[Lazycarton]

I did my test in early summer this year and was paid 3.5 hours O/T and did it after finishing my walk.

He was an AA instructer and it lasted just over 3 hours. It had more of an advanced vibe to it and I think he might have mentioned teaching police drivers as well. His main focus was thinking/looking ahead and noticing potential problems as early as possible...hang back if there is a bigger vehicle in front so that you have as much view of the road ahead as possible, reverse into a cul-de-sac or dead end road if possible instead of reversing into a main road. Also don't overlap your arms when steering (common habit for me) because if you have a serious accident then the airbags could push your arms into your chest/stomach...I think that's what he was getting at.

There are 4 grades, low risk, medium risk, high risk and dangerous. I was given medium risk which is a pass and apparently most capable drivers at RM are given this grade. I was asked what a couple of signs meant whilst driving but it was all very casual and relaxed. At the end he filled in a report on his laptop and I also had to fill in some questions about him....I got on well with him and we had a great chat, it was definitely the easiest 3.5 hours money I've earned in a long time!

Overall I thought it was mildly interesting, although very surprised that RM would fork out so much money for newish P/T drivers like myself.

Spot on.

[asap]

what happens if your high risk?
dont think i could drive for 3.5 hours that would drive me mental.

[crazyshrew]

Had mine a couple of weeks ago. Was a joke from the start, all 4 tires were low, windscreen was filthy found out this was because there was no washer fluid, oil was low too, and the passenger side wing mirror was missing
Spent a good 45 minutes trying to find the stuff to sort it out only to discover the air pump was broken ( apparently it had been for weeks but no-one had bothered to report it!) and also we don't keep fluids on site for top ups, apparently most of our drivers just buy their own and keep it in "their" vans.

eventually AA man said, "f*** it close enough lets go"

We identified Learning objectives - which were basically my concerns about the difference between what I usually drive (tiny, automatic smart car) and a big fat manual transit, and the fact that generally I hate driving and i find it really stressful

It all went quite well although AA man caused an accident - Parking sensors weren't working and as the mirror was missing he got out and help guide me in a reverse park, he was half asleep and let me hit a wall.

Despite the AA accepting full responsibility for this and MY driving was assessed as LOW RISK, and there actually only being a slight scratch on the van. I'm not allowed to drive for RM

[Mike1]

what happens if your high risk?
dont think i could drive for 3.5 hours that would drive me mental.

They won't let you on the vans if you're high risk but I think there is the chance of a second test. I asked the instructor if he ever gave anyone a dangerous risk and he said a few people had crashed and others he had to grab the steering wheel off them to avoid an accident!

[NWpostie]

I remember one guy who hadn't driven for years probably not since they they took out the hand cranking handle from the front, he actually didn't go out of the depot gate at all during the assessment, he just let the clutch up and the whole van shot forward and managed to stop just before hitting the wall, that must have been the shortest change over I have ever seen in my life.

[Barbel]

Mine was 4 hours long but then I am a crap driver.