Quick Prep This page can be used once you have covered each topic in detail. You can use it as a chance to re-cap or for your last minute preparations before your test.

Question – You are setting off on a long journey. Explain how you would check the fuel system before setting off.

Check the fuel gauge to ensure that there is sufficient fuel for the journey.
Make sure you have the means to purchase extra fuel in case of unexpected needs.
Check inside the tank to ensure the level corresponds with the gauge to ensure the fuel sender is not faulty
Check that the fuel cap seal is present and the cap fits securely.
Check that the diesel is legal (not red diesel)
Check the fuel tank mountings to ensure that they are secure
Check the general condition of the fuel tank for leaks
Check the fuel lines are not leaking, show past leakage signs and that they are not rubbing/chafing on anything
Look under the truck for any obvious fuel leaks

You may be asked what precautions you may encounter in very cold weather.

If it’s very cold could check for frozen / cracked lines, could add anti-icing additive, although modern fuels have this already added.
You may be delayed, so ensure you have more fuel/means of purchasing more fuel than you would on an ordinary trip.

Question – Your vehicle is fully laden. Explain the effects of the truck and subsequent driving forces of the load.

Explain that when the vehicle turns at a high speed the centrifugal force acting on the load may make it unstable and the load may fall off / or to the side. For example, if the vehicle takes a sharp right hand turn, the centrifugal force will direct the load to the left
The forces acting on the load will move in the direction of the force; so explain that;
1. When the truck accelerates, the load could fall off the back
2. When braking, the load could continue to move forward
3. When turning, it will continue to turn and could topple off or move to the sides

Question – Point to the centre of gravity on the vehicle and explain what would happen to the centre of gravity when the vehicle was loaded.

Show the examiner where the centre of gravity is by pointing to the centre of the truck
Walk to the back explaining that the centre of gravity is in the middle of the truck just above the floor on in the box
Explain at the rear of the truck that when the truck is loaded that the centre of gravity will be higher now weight has been loaded, possibly now being in the middle of the box depending on the weight and size of load.
Explain by standing at the side of the vehicle that the centre of gravity could be closer to the front or to the rear of the truck depending on what load you have and where it is put.
If it was badly loaded the centre of gravity may be over to the left or right and not be in the centre. This could cause the vehicle to tip when cornering sharply!

Question – How would you check to see if the vehicle was overloaded?

Check the vehicles plating certificate, and check with your delivery notes to see how much weight has been put on
Look at the mudguards to see if the spray suppression was sitting closer to the road than normal
Look at the rear of the truck to see if it is leaning to the side due to the weight
Look to see if the tyres are filling the gap in between the mudguards more than if it were empty
Look at the bottom of the tyres, they may look a lot flatter, indicating that the vehicle is overloaded
Take the vehicle to a weighbridge to confirm that it is overweight.

Question – Explain how you would check the vehicles weights and dimensions if you had never used the vehicle before.

Open the door and show the vehicle height marker plate, reads 12’9’’. The length of the vehicle is 10.8 metres, the width 2.5 metres. If you were unsure of the above you could measure it yourself
Show the vehicle plating certificate and explain what the gross weight of the vehicle is
Explain that the plating certificate also details the vehicle design weight and the train weight if the vehicle were to pull a trailer (draw-bar outfit).
Explain that the goods should be evenly distributed across the rear of the truck ensuring that the axle weights stated on the plating certificate are not exceeded
You could check your delivery notes to check the weight of the goods on the vehicle.
If in doubt explain that you could take it to a weigh bridge to check.

Question – You are leaving the vehicle parked up for the night. What precautions would you make?

Leave the truck in a secure well lit area where it will be safe and out of the way, ideally in a secure yard with a security guard.
If there is security onsite, leave a contact telephone number in case of a problem
Handbrake on
Ignition key removed
Any notes, valuables, radio fronts, removed
Cab doors locked
Rear cargo door secure and locked
Try and park with your rear doors up against a wall or against the rear of another vehicle
Never discuss the contents of the load or its destination
Before you leave and when you return do a full all round vehicle check, report anything suspicious

Question – On entering the vehicle please demonstrate and explain the safety and visual checks you would carry out before starting the engine.

Sit in cab making sure the door is securely shut
Make sure the seat is in the correct position
Make sure the steering wheel is correctly adjusted
Make sure the mirrors are adjusted correctly for your seated position
Ensure that the handbrake is on
Ensure that the gearbox is in neutral
Turn the ignition on
Check that the dashboard instruments work, oil light, battery light, handbrake light, check tell tale dashboard lights such as side lights dipped and main beam lights, fog lights.
Check you have sufficient fuel for the journey
Check the plating certificate was present
Check that the height marker plate is displayed

Question – You are driving along a motorway and notice flames coming from your rear tyre, what would you do?

Pull over to the left on to the hard shoulder ensuring it is safe to do so.
Stop as quickly as you can, but not too fast in case you lose control as the brakes may not be working correctly and/or your tyre could blow out effecting the vehicle stability
Put your handbrake on
Put your hazard lights on warning other road users
Get out of your vehicle safely using 3 points of contact and looking over your shoulder before opening the door fully
Get any other passengers to safety away from the vehicle
Call the Emergency Services, telling them exactly where you are, and why they are needed
Extinguish the flames if safe to do so if you have a fire extinguisher. Water is best as it cools the fire putting out the flames
Isolate any fuel cut off and electric cut off switches if fitted in case the fire spreads
If you have any traffic cones or emergency triangles place them up the motorway, pre warning oncoming traffic of the hazard ahead
Stay a safe distance away, but close enough to the vehicle waiting for the emergency services to arrive

Question – You suspect that there is a brake fault on the vehicle, explain and demonstrate what you would do.

Walk around the vehicle listening for any obvious air leaks
Tell the examiner you are going to drain the air tanks
Sit in the cab and continuously pump the footbrake with the engine turned off until the gauges show the air has been disposed.
Explain that you will start the engine so the compressor can refill the air tanks
Start the engine, fast idle until the audible warning stops and the air tanks are recharged
Stop the engine, climb out of the cab safely and walk around the vehicle listening for any air leaks
Tell the examiner you would ask somebody to press the footbrake pedal down whilst you walked around the vehicle listening for leaks, alternatively you could wedge the pedal down yourself.

Question – Show me how you would get into the truck safely.

Look both ways making sure it is safe to open the door.
Open the door fully.
Climb in explaining the 3 points of contact rule.
Sit in the seat, securely shutting the door

Question – Show me how you would exit the truck safely.

Tell the examiner that the handbrake is on, the engine turned off and the ignition key is taken out.
Check in front and over the shoulder before partly opening the door.
Look in both directions and behind in the gap between the partly open door and rear of the vehicle and fully open the door if safe to do so
Climb down backwards using the grab handles, explaining the 3 points of contact.
Close the door securely behind you.
Explain that you would consider folding the mirror in if it was a busy street

Question – You have just returned to your vehicle on the ferry after travelling from across the water. Check your vehicle for any possible illegal immigrants and substances.

Explain and walk around the vehicle looking at underneath the wheel arches for illegal immigrants and parcels fixed to the underneath
Check under both sides of the vehicle, check under the battery box and remove the fuel cap looking in the fuel tank for smaller parcels (drugs etc)
Check under the rear of the vehicle in between the chassis rails
Check under the front panel for smaller parcels
Explain that you would check in the rear of the vehicle for people hiding or for unknown parcels, Customs could use a CO2 detector to indicate whether anybody has managed to enter.
Check above the cab for people hiding in the gap below the spoiler
Check on top of the cargo box by looking at the clear roof from inside the cargo area
Lastly check in the cab, behind seats, underneath bunks, under the fuse box lid, even if the vehicle was still locked and secure on your return

(In the cab) Question – Show me the cockpit drill before starting the engine AND before driving away.

Sit in cab making sure the door is securely shut
Make sure the seat is in the correct position
Make sure the steering wheel is correctly adjusted
Make sure the mirrors are adjusted correctly for your seated position
Ensure that the handbrake is on
Ensure that the gearbox is in neutral
Turn the ignition on
Check that the dashboard instruments work, oil light, battery light, handbrake light, check tell tale dashboard lights such as side lights dipped and main beam lights, fog lights.
Turn on engine
Check the oil and battery lights extinguish
Check the air tanks are charged
Check you have sufficient fuel for the journey
Check that the exhaust system is not blowing and noisy
Check that the height marker plate is displayed
Brake check before going out on the road

Question – Explain how you would check / know if the vehicle was overloaded.

You would check the Vehicle Plating certificate to check the gross weight of the vehicle
You would check your notes to see what the total weight of the goods you were carrying was
You could look at the vehicle to see if the suspension was badly leaning to the excessive weight
You could look at the spray suppression and wheel arches for obvious signs of overloading, ie the spray suppression being too close to the floor
The vehicle would drive differently, the steering being heavy / The engine may struggle to accelerate as quickly as it should.
The brakes may take a lot more effort to work, stopping the vehicle a lot more slowly than it safely should
You could take the vehicle to a weighbridge to check

Question – You are loading the vehicle completely up to its maximum allowable weight. Explain how you would load your vehicle.

You would check the vehicle plating certificate to ensure that the vehicle could carry the weight, checking your notes for the weight that needs to be loaded.
You would load your vehicle keeping the heavy items as low as possible, and the light items on top of the heavy items ensuring that the centre of gravity is kept as low as possible
The load needs to be tight against the headboard to keep the load secure in the event of an accident
The load would need to be secured using the correct restraint equipment for the load
The load weight would have to be distributed evenly across the back ensuring that the legal axle weights are not exceeded.
Ensure that the rear door is securely locked to deter theft or the load falling out
You would check the vehicle weight on a weighbridge if you suspected that you were overloaded

Question – Can you show me what checks you would make to tyres, wheels and spray suppression.

Explain the legal tyre requirements;
1mm tread across ¾ of the width for the entire circumference
No flat spots
Look for any cuts, rips or bulges in the tyre walls
Look at the bottom of the tyre if it looks flatter than usual or flatter than the other tyres, it may be under inflated, you would need to check the tyre pressure
Explain how you would check the security of the wheel nuts
Check the mudguards and the spray suppression
Check in between the two rear tyres for bricks and other jammed debris that could spin out at speed

Question – You are driving along a motorway and notice smoke coming from under the bonnet, explain how you would deal with this electrical wiring fire, what would you do.

Pull over to the left on to the hard shoulder ensuring it is safe to do so.
Stop as quickly as you can, but not too fast in case you lose control as the electrics may be ineffective and the fire may have damaged a brake line
Put your handbrake on
Put your hazard lights on warning other road users
Get out of your vehicle safely using 3 points of contact and looking over your shoulder before opening the door fully
Get any other passengers to safety away from the vehicle
Call the Emergency Services, telling them where you are, and why they are needed
Extinguish the flames if safe to do so if you have a fire extinguisher.
Isolate any fuel cut off and electric cut off switches if fitted in case the fire spreads
If you have any traffic cones or emergency triangles place them up the motorway, pre warning oncoming traffic of the hazard ahead
Stay a safe distance away, but close enough to the vehicle waiting for the emergency services to arrive

Which type of fire extinguisher would you NOT use and why?

You would ideally use a dry powder extinguisher, but not a water extinguisher because water is conductive and you may receive an electric shock.

Question – Explain when driving, looking at the vehicles projections what you should take into consideration. The projections on the vehicle are front overhang, rear overhang and the mirrors.

Mirrors. When driving the vehicle you need to bear in mind that when driving close to the kerb or turning corners that the mirrors overhang the kerbstones and could strike pedestrians, street lights, trees and anything else that could be close to the road edge.
Other similar vehicles driving down the road can also have the same projections from their mirrors, so a greater distance may be required when manoeuvring.
Rear overhang. When turning left or right it is important to check both mirrors before turning.
When turning sharp right the rear overhang can swing out quite sharply to the left at the rear. If anybody or a vehicle was close by when turning there could be a nasty accident
The same applies when turning sharp left as the rear projection will swing to the right
It is often the case when turning that a car driver may squeeze through not appreciating the overhang when turning. As a professional truck driver you need to anticipate the actions of other road users.
Front overhang. Looking at the front of the vehicle you can point out the driver sits in front of the steering axle, the front of the truck projecting some distance in front of the wheels.
Explain that when turning in a restricted area, even if the front wheels do not touch a kerb that the front of the vehicle could swing over the pavement striking street furniture or signposts etc damaging the truck or property.

Question – Show me what safety checks you would make to the vehicle outside and then inside the vehicle.

Starting from the front drivers side of the vehicle walking to the rear check all
That there are no loose panels
Check the mirrors ensuring that they are secure
Check the tyres, telling the examiner what you are checking for
Check the fuel tank making sure there are no visible leaks, the cap is secure and the seal is intact
Check the suspension, looking for missing nuts/bolts, that the air bags are inflated
Check the rear wheels for debris or half bricks etc in between the two tyres
Check the security of the mudguards and spray suppression
Check the rear load is secure and that the rear door is locked/closed correctly
Check that there are no obvious air leaks
Check the battery cover is secure
Go and turn on the headlights/hazards and do a full walk around check including the side marker lights
Tell the examiner how you would check the brake lights are working
Show the examiner where you would check the oil, coolant level, brake fluid reservoir, and windscreen wash bottle
Get in the truck and check
The seating position, adjust if necessary
The steering wheel position, adjust if necessary
The mirrors on both sides explaining what you need to see in them including the close proximity mirror
That the cab is not cluttered with anything that could pose a danger during transit or accident
Make sure the handbrake is on, the gearbox is in neutral
Turn the ignition on, checking for the dashboard lights are working
Explain why the battery light, oil light and STOP light should be on.
Start the engine, explain why the lights should extinguish.
Check air tanks, check fuel gauge, and other instruments
Check that the dashboard lights for the indicators, dipped and main headlights, fog lights, handbrake light etc etc were ok
Check that the height marker plate is displayed
Listen to the outside of the truck listening to the exhaust system ensuring that it is not noisy and leaking
Explain that you would move away checking the brakes were working correctly before driving away on the open road

Question – You are about to drive a high sided curtain sided vehicle on a journey you have never made before. What checks would you make, what precautions would you make?

Ensure you know how high the vehicle is check it is correct
Choose a route that was suitable for the size of vehicle you are driving
Check the height of bridges on the approach
Check whether the height has changed if the load differs throughout the day
If unsure measure the height with a tape measure
Measure the front and the rear of the vehicle/load as they may differ
Measure the height of a new load if on a flat back (digger etc) and re set the height marker plate before driving off

Question – You have struck a bridge with your truck or load. What would you do?

Park up safely and secure your vehicle
Warn other vehicles if there are any obstructions on the road
If any immediate danger stop all traffic from going under the bridge
Locate the bridge ID plate
Report the incident to the Police
Report the incident to the Railway Authority
Follow any instructions given

Question – Inside and Outside the vehicle show what daily vehicle checks you would make before using the vehicle.

Use the Defect Sheet – If you do not use it you may miss an item!
Physically check every item (all the tyres for example)
The Defect sheet isn’t a full check sheet (no oil, water etc), for the purpose of the
test, only check the items listed.

Question – You have an empty truck and are loading half a load of palletised paper. Where would you load the pallets and why?

Load them tight against the headboard so they are secure and will not move during transit or heavy braking
Load them side by side tight against each other so there can be no movement during transit
Make sure they are evenly distributed and secured with ratchet straps