So after a while Alan suggested a coffee and food break, which I think we were both in desperate need of. A quick sandwich and a chat calmed me down again and we hopped back in the truck.
Now that was more like it!!! Things were back to normal, if not improved. Alan took me round some rather tight bends, some of which are on a test route, which I managed without mounting the curb. That gave me confidence – which was reflected in my overall driving.

So where was I going wrong you ask? It was mainly my approach speed. I was either coming up to large roundabouts to slowly (in low-range) or heading into really tight bends too quickly – generally in third.
During the afternoon session I started coming up to larger roundabouts in four-low, which either gave me enough welly to get round smoothly, or allowed me to stop in a controlled manner if another vehicle was approaching.
With the tight corners we decided that two-low was best for me as this gear really lets you crawl forward without stalling the vehicle.

It’s quite unbelievable how much difference it makes to your overall composure when you are comfortable with the speed you are travelling at into the roundabout/bend. If you’re heading into a big roundabout too slowly, at the back of your mind you always want to change up because you think you might be holding up traffic. Going too fast into tight bends you tend to worry so much about making it round that you neglect the positioning of the vehicle, which can ultimately lead to it mounting the curb.

Apart from ‘smoothing’ up the drive, we also focused on constant mirror checking as well as looking out for suitable places to pull over (as they might try and catch you out on the test buy asking you to pull over at the ‘next convenient place’).

I forgot to mention that every morning we practice the uncoupling and coupling manoeuvre.

Check out tomorrow’s blog to find out how my reversing got on.