Herman driving a truck: “Oh, I can do this all day” | The trial lesson episode 1

We go right, exit the roundabout. The monitor nods to the work van that has stopped on the other side of the road: ,,He’s giving you space. If the situation is good, you can take it. Driving a truck is playing with space. Don’t forget your turn signal.”

I’m driving a bright red Scania S530 van from Holmersma Traffic School in Leek. The number represents power. Just under 10 meters long, thick 2.5 meters wide and 3.5 meters high. The truck weighs almost 10 tons empty, but as it is a teaching car, there is 5 tons of weight in the back. A requirement for the CBR exam, Central Office for the issuance of driving skills.

Up to the A7

The trial lesson lasts 2 hours. I expect a theoretical introduction of about an hour and at most a few laps on the industrial area, but 2 minutes after shaking hands with instructor Rick Visser (42) I’m in control, 10 minutes more late I can leave and 10 mins later said again he told me to walk up the A7. Visser: ,,I don’t like long presentations.”

Getting behind the wheel of such a “big” Scania has been a wish that has been dormant for more than fifty years. The first years of my youth we lived in the industrial area behind the Stadskanaal water tower. Opposite our house was the Free & Co straw board factory. Trucks came and went and I spent whole afternoons looking in the garden.

Fascination for life

A fascination that lasted a lifetime. I copied them with Lego, on vacation in the Eiffel, the Moselle or the Harz I paid attention to the Highway mostly on trucks, bounced even more on US Army convoys, and when my eldest son turned out to be car crazy too, I redid Lego trucks, bought us the magazine truck star and i’m still watching Outback Truckers a series about Australian truckers.

I grew up in the days when a trucker could be recognized in the summer by the brown left arm that constantly hangs out the window, but that’s not an option in Holmersma that afternoon. The cabins are fully equipped, including air conditioning. The whole seat is adjustable at will and to my happy surprise it is an automatic. Change seems to be an art in itself.

My plan B

We’ve been on the road for 20 minutes when I say: ,,It’s good.” Visser looks at me with a smile and I repeat what I feel: ,,Yes, it’s really good. Oh, I can do this all day.”

I will repeat these two sentences many times that day and later when people ask how it went. It’s also my plan B, I admit. “If they fire me from the newspaper, I will become a driver.”

Visser drives me on the Leek Autobahn and via Enumatil, Hoogkerk and the Friesestraatweg he heads towards the city of Groningen. I get a little nervous when he says, “Let’s get out of the ring road here.”

“Not in town?”

“No,” it sounds next to me, “well, maybe.”

Zernike Campus

But we turn left for a Zernike Campus tour. Then again Friesestraatweg, ring road west and we drive around and to Leek. A course with tricky bends, many roundabouts and narrow roads.

However, the ease of use is great. The truck is so light that the huge weight does not seem to be there. But he is there and 15 tons means braking with politics. Well before a crossroads it is: ,, Release the gas. The car will overturn.”

I have to suppress the urge to give him some more gas to get to the intersection faster. Getting from A to B by truck means first arriving safe and sound at B, in one piece, with the load intact and without causing any trace of destruction or irritation to others.

Dead spots

I also have to really pay attention to the speed limit. The steering also has to be careful, try to estimate situations well in advance and use all eight mirrors. Because it is a teaching car, there are two more than normal. There is a lot of visibility and still not. The time before departure is mainly devoted to the phenomenon of “blind spots”.

Visser shows a staged photo with groups of people around the car: “You can put a whole school class against the front of the car that you can’t see behind the wheel.”

through the grass

Back in the industrial zone, when we see men working on the road, I hear next to me: Look, it’s a nice test of the space you have. Should we go through the grass or not?

There’s a van with a trailer and I think: no slack. Visser orders me to approach him. Just when I expect to hear a scraping noise, he points to the upper mirror, horizontally above the co-pilot’s door: “Look, you still have that much space.”

Dock

Despite the countless mistakes I make, I’m having the afternoon of my life. It’s really fun. The lesson ends earlier than desired, although we will remain “at the dock” for a while.

The term means to back the wagon against a loading platform. Being responsible from A to B is one thing, the cargo also needs to be loaded and unloaded. Again a matter of estimation, seeing how much room there is and knowing what the car can do. I turn the steering wheel too much and too fast, but it works. While around me other drivers are really hard at work.

Big letter L

But, points out Visser, they see me. A truck is seen. “Especially by passenger car drivers. You are great, therefore you inspire admiration.”

“The big letter L on the car of course also helps,” just kidding, “so everyone knows: oh, there’s another klutz behind the wheel who can’t do it yet.”

Visser smiles: “A teaching car is indeed even more guarded.