- PassRite is an Auckland-based company with branches in Albany, Hamilton and Fiji
- Range of driver licensing offered, from Class 1 cars, all truck classes, motorcycle, forklift, wheels, tracks and rollers, dangerous goods, passenger endorsements, and more
- Includes study of the NZ Road Code
- Challenging routes covered on the practical test
- One of the main habits to break is relying on car driving style
If you’ve been wanting to upgrade your driver’s licence, PassRite is the place to go.
The Hamilton branch is run by Grant Gibb and Bernie Brown, and when I went to gain my Class 2 licence I soon learnt that it is more comprehensive than first thought.
Theory
On day one in the classroom I learnt that a Class 1 car licence only covers the driver up to 4500kg, although it does cover ATVs and farm side-by-side ride-ons.
Load restraints were well covered. How many of you remember that you need your side restraints rated at least half the weight of your load?
All loose bulk loads liable to fall out must be no higher than 100mm below the top sides of the body.
How many of you regularly change trucks and don’t check the anchor plate ratings on the chassis? Or the strops?
Among the many topics Gibb spent some time covering the truck load points and overhangs so that we had all of the maximum sizes ingrained. Did you know the lowest height a power line should be is 4.5m from the ground? Which is why your total height should be no higher than 4.25m – get it, or anything else, wrong and the driver is the one responsible.
Many times Gibb would make his point then back it up by telling us why the rule was set this way, how it applied to us, and then he’d give a real-life example of an issue he’d come across during his extensive truck driving career.
We completed one “open” book and one “closed” book test on day one, with the latter book checked after my practical test.
Gibb then gave us some excellent “tools” to take home for the evening to spend a couple of hours study on the NZ Road Code.
During the Learner Licence test the following day I had to answer 25 questions from the Road Code. On top of that I had to answer 10 further questions based around the Class 2 section. I could only make two mistakes.
We spent an hour or so doing further Road Code study on Tuesday morning but, once I was set up down at VTNZ Pukete, I flew through with a 100 percent pass rate, as did my classmates.
Back to the class with our Temporary Class 2 Learners Licence we got stuck into the various track class weights, tare weights vs GVM and RUCs, payloads, best cornering techniques, road signage, how the various brake systems work, and more.
Check your RUC, as Gibb gave an example of a company that was always buying road user charges at the same weight – which was considerably higher than the GVM.
Another round of “open” and a “closed” book sessions were completed by day’s end, just the practical to go.
Practical training
Following two days of theory sessions and the learner’s test, I had three hours of practical training alongside Gibb in his 9.2-tonne (GVM) Hino Ranger, split into two sessions. Having a day between each session allowed me time to think over my driving and work on my weak points.
Gibb has some challenging routes to take a learner Class 2 driver, which included downtown Hamilton, a very narrow bridge, difficult turns and general country driving. Gibb paid particular attention to slowing down for corners early using the brakes, setting the truck up to be in the right gear at the right time, with smooth down-changes, indicators operating and the rear vision mirrors well used.
Good road positioning is also on that list, but what impressed me was Gibb’s calm way of telling me when I’d just done something wrong.
Day five of the course and day three of driving was the practical test. By this time I was more settled driving the Hino, so I passed my Class 2 licence with flying colours.
The single biggest habit to knock off was my car driving style, like braking as I get to an intersection.
“After doing driver tuition it’s very easy to see that most car drivers have the same driving style,” Gibb says. “Even though you may be one of the best car drivers out there, truck driving is totally different. One of the biggest things is trying to get them to slow down, then change down, more than change down to slow down.”
Not everybody passes the practical test, as Gibb said one chap drove through six compulsory stop signs, and only stopped at two!
Quite a few people join up because they’d already failed, often more than once.
“The reason we have such a good success rate is we do put that effort into training.”
For more information visit www.passrite.co.nz