God of driving and RV's (Will I ever get used to it?)

From time to time, my lady spots questions on forums about driving an RV and how useful and relevant doing an LGV course would be. So I have written a short piece on my experience and views on this subject.


We all most likely have been drivers and have various degrees of experience, we also all have different attitudes, characters and capabilities, so please note these are my perceptions, you may find various parts harder, easier and less of a challenge.


In my past I was in the RAF as an engineer and was required from an early age to drive land Rovers, Mercedes Unimog's, tractors, 4 Ton lorries with two ton trailer, motorcycles, bicycles and other random vehicles. I have towed millions of pounds of aircraft. Despite this, I felt the move to driving an American RV worth thousands of my OWN pounds that I could ill afford to loose, a big one. My past told me I would manage and the length would not be the issue, but handling, manoeuvrability and width would. To put my mind at rest and to unlock the RV’s capability of an All Up Weight of 8.1 Tons I wanted to get my LGV C license. I parted with £1500 in April 2019 and embarked on driving lessons.

The driving lessons

You do exactly the training of any lorry driver, there is no difference if driving an RV later.

I learned on a lorry loaded to 18 Tonnes, non-articulated. My place of learning was Bristol. My Instructor was a brave chap called Duncan from Mendip Training Ltd. you can find them at mendiptrainingcentre.com  Facebook.com/mendiptraining . 

My oh so patient instructor and forgiving but abused truck

Day one

Instruction starts with a talk, walk round then manoeuvring in the car park, then straight out on the roads and a very tense drive from Radstock into Bristol. I had forgotten so much from my past, the lorry felt HUGE and HEAVY. Going downhill took as much planning as going uphill, it all felt like it was driving me, not the other way round. On my first day I freely admit I was way behind the curve and overwhelmed. Duncan was astoundingly calm and talked me through everything, and knew pull overs to give me a break and let the poor souls past that were trapped behind me get past. My first drive through Hanham in Bristol was horrific, jay walkers, traffic, cars not so much parked as abandoned and the worst thing of all, mad suicidal cyclists! As I was driving in to Hanham, I noted a pedestrian, a teenage girl with headphones, I have no idea why, but I put my foot over the brake, and she just did a ninety degree turn off the pavement in front of me, I was not used to having 18 Tonnes and I hit the brakes really hard, The windscreen appeared to be looking straight down at the tarmac to me, My heart was thumping and my mouth very dry as we pogoed back and forth on the suspension (the load was water in large square containers). The girl mounted the pavement and continued on oblivious, I was stunned, outraged and sick inside, it was so close, is this what it would be like? Why am I doing this? I then had to drive through the shopping area, with mums walking in front with prams, Duncan talking me through kept me going but really, inside I was a wreck and far from happy. When we took a break my hands were shaking and I was so ashamed I tried to keep it from Duncan. I make no apology for saying that after my first day, I was thinking I had made a mistake, it was all far too stressful, and I dreaded the next lesson. Only Duncan made it so I could turn-up and try again.

After Day one and new underwear

It got easier, less overwhelming and I resolved to avoid busy town centres when in my own RV. I learned to use my mirrors A LOT and have a good all round situational awareness whenever behind the wheel.

The things to learn

I started to get a radar for loony tune cyclists and their suicidal antics. They have NO RULES, NO SCRUPLES, NO SENSE and they want TO DIE and take you with them when they do. If you think this way, hopefully they will not drag you in to their insane world, and you get to avoid ambulances, police and court appearances. The other thing I learned was to stop worrying about the impatient drivers behind. You are big and slow, they just have to wait.

The tips you get from the pro's

I discussed my intentions with Duncan and he imparted some wisdom about a left-hand drive large vehicle on UK roads, which was repeated by Empire RV. Put tape marks on your wind screen so you can judge accurately the centre of the road and tape your nearside mirror, summer growth will have hedgerows slapping this mirror and it will break or get scratched and beaten up.

The driving test

My first test was a mixed bag. I was pretty good at manoeuvring at the “Belt-up School of Motoring” but on test day I got confused about where the tester wanted me to pull forward to, then I made a mess of the reversing. I failed before leaving the carpark! Boy was I mad at myself. I was asked if I wanted to do the road assessment even though I had already failed. I said yes and actually did so well I would have scraped a pass but for my initial mess-up. £400 poorer and a new test date came around and it all went pretty smooth for the manoeuvring and the road test. In my opinion the manoeuvring is easy, despite my poor performance on the first test, but the road test is very hard and not to be under estimated, the examiner sits there scoring you with his tick list as you dive and you cannot help worrying about it. I found it harder than doing my pilots license! But I passed, not faultless, but I avoided the big sins.

Officially God of Driving

God of driving attained

So, armed with C LGV license, time came to pick-up the RV. I fell back on my training immediately, I did the pre use walk round, started a drivers log, put the tape marks on the windscreen and familiarised myself with the controls. Empire RV have space and I spent an hour manoeuvring before going out on the road.

God of driving hits the road

I had memorised my route, checked for height restrictions, weight restrictions and width restrictions. Once on the road the Lorry training kicked in.
Going down the first hill I noted road works and the lights went red to me, I started braking and was shocked at how much poorer compared to the school lorry the RV brakes were, a large lorry was driving at me through the road works at some speed. I fell back on the tape lines to judge clearances, they were close. I brought the RV to a halt, later than planned but in time, despite this the large lorry driving at me pulled alongside shouting abuse, "slow the F*&$K down you F*&^K*&g moron". I am still not sure why, I was stopped, and pulled in, but he saw something in my driving he felt was worth abuse, but not the big white triangle in my passenger windscreen about 1 metre from his face that said “Caution New Driver” in bright red writing. Not bad for my first mile! But I now had learned that the brakes were not like airbrakes. Particularly going downhill. This incident incensed me, but did teach me that the L plates were off and unreasonable people out there will be happy to jump all over you. I treat hills with far more caution for braking now.

How to cope

Every incident where no one gets hurt and nothing gets broken is a great learning experience has to become your way of thinking or you will break and not cope. Pilots hear "every landing you walk away from is a good one" it means the same.

Is taking your LGV C license worth it?

YES is the unequivocal response.

Is all the LGV applicable to RV’s?

NO RV's do not all handle as well, they are wider, the gears are easier and so on.

Would I do the LGV again to drive an RV?

YES and I highly recommend you do too, spare yourself the stress and cost of serious mistakes.

Humbled God of driving moves on

We have now driven down through the southern UK. France from North to South and around half way down Spain. Every drive it is getting easier, the planning less hassle. My wife and I (co-driver) more of a slick team working as one. I taught my wife how to marshal as I used to with aircraft and she is getting very good, we have to trust each other and communicate our fears rather than pass them on. We are not perfect, but we are trying to get there in stages and small steps.

Humbled God of driving words to the wise

So if starting out, you will be asking will I ever be ok with this? Yes you will, take it a step at a time. Plan easy routes, use big roads, gather tips from those before you, get all the training you can to drive and use a large vehicle. Plan short trips, 1 hour, then two, then three up to four. After four hours you will loose your edge unless you are a pro and drive professionally. Avoid being in a hurry to leave, or to arrive. Leave room for breaks and plan stops on route, whether you need them or not. Follow that and I promise you will start to enjoy it. You will find it’s a challenge and you are meeting it and better still winning through and that is very rewarding. Personally I like having a co driver but in the UK it is essential, so many roundabouts, so little visibility across the RV!
Happy trails, a step at a time.