ADR: Almost There - 19/09/2025

Day 1 of ADR training. I'm half hour early. Being early is my thing. I want a good seat. I also want to eat my fruity breakfast to set the tone for the day. I was going to do this in the building, and still might. Thankfully, they have their own car park and I'm not having to pay and display.

I am troubled because a have mislaid a small bag that I keep my wheel locking nut and some loose change in. I hope I've not actually lost the thing. I cannot recall when I last had it. It mismust have been when I took car for oil change. I'd definitely have had it then. But since then I have no idea where it has ended up. The usual place, the front of my work bag doesn't have it. It's a bit annoying. Ibtwnd to do quite well when it comes to not losing things and this issue could b a costly mistake I could do without. I don't think removing locking nuts without the key is straight forward. If it were it would be pointless having them. Ford might be able to remove it for a few. I'll have to look into it. It's not good driving around without the key. I've got to locate it.

Day 2 I found my small bag buried amidst the ever growing pile of stuff in the boot. I obviously didn't look hard enough the first time or two. It was seriously hidden, and I kinda checked there already, but like I say, not well enough.

As for the course, this guy Chris, who is right nnijg the course and owns the training company, don't half like to tell a story. He thinks he's funny too. im not overly keen on his delivery style because it's a whole lot of talking. I've read people in forums say "listen to the instructor and you won't go too far wrong", but my capacity to listen and retain is not very long. And because there is not distinct break between his anecdotes and the actual course material, he ends up filling my head with partial nonesense that is not conducive to passing.

That said, I suppose the course is going quite well despite Chris not following the structure of the handbook. This is confusing as it calls for flipping pages back and forth quite a lot when it comes to revision.

Day 3 saw an early finish and I need to make use of this time to really knuckle down and produce a list of notes and focus on zones I know I'm going to struggle with.

Day 4 Exam Day Number 1

• Core

o I scored 92%, 25 questions, 2 incorrect

 Incorrect: Vehicle Markings & Responsibilities of all involved

 Incorrect: Vehicle Supervision & Parking

• Packages

o I scored 100%, 15 questions, 0 incorrect

• Common Characteristic

o I scored 95%, 20 questions, 1 incorrect

 Incorrect: Dangerous substances may have subsidiary hazards in addition to their primary hazard

• Group A

o I scored 91.67%, 36 questions, 3 incorrect

 Incorrect: BLEVE (I got confused with evaporating and expanding for middle E). If I didn't second guess my answer I'd have got it right

 Incorrect: Miscible chemicals (I don’t recall doing this under tuition so it was an outright guess)

 Incorrect: Subsidiary hazards

• Group B

o I scored 87.5%, 24 questions, 3 incorrect

 Incorrect: Dangers & precautions to be exercised when transporting class 4 materials

 Incorrect: Class 5 substances

 Incorrect: Organic peroxides contain combustible elements and oxygen and the effect of heating

Overall, quite please I’ve passed each module up to this point. I had actually changed a few of my answers in the Group B exam also and I think they are the ones I got wrong. I was second guessing due to the wording of the multiple choice options. What's done is done. But I think I want to continue learning the material until I know it well. It’s not just about passing. My peers think it’s just about passing and doing enough for the exam. I think, to be safe out on the roads, it’s also about knowing the theory behind the reasons regulations exist.

As I've experienced, there is no end of bad drivers on the roads. There is always an accident just about to happen. A good number of them are destined to be fatal if they actually play out. I don't know what goes through their minds when they do what they do. If someone gets themselves trapped under my fully laden tanker due to their own stupidity, they rupture the integrity of the structure and flammable liquid starts leaking out, I will not be the hero. As far as I'm concerned, if there is a monumental explosion and they are trapped in it, those bastards deserved it. My part was just delivering it.

Accidents and collisions are only a small part of the hazards. Quite a few thinks can go wrong when transporting dangerous goods and as the driver responsible for the load it is my job to minimise that as far as reasonable possible.

It might start with choosing the right companies to apply to work for. They have to be heavily invested in the safety of their drivers, be it fleet, equipment, PPE, life insurance, benefits, expectations, training, and the safety of other road users. There is no limit to how much a company might focus on keeping everyone safe. Even if a company is doing it's part, their suppliers and customers have to be doing their part too. And a good company may monitor how those companies, where they send their drivers, are managing health and safety. It is so important.

Although I am chasing the big bucks, it won't be at the expense of my own safety. This is something I really need to consider.

But on the whole, I don't think I've ever heard about a fuel tanker exploding on British roads, so I would assume the safety track record is quite good. That doesn't mean other incidents don't occur. Some minor incidents may be due to driver error more so than faulty equipment.

I don't tank to talk my way out of a new job without even giving it a go, like driving class 1. I want to level up ASAP and get into the swing of things in a better role. 

A lad on the course was telling my GXO pay a decent amount for the midnight til mid morning shift doing curtain sider class 1 and class 2 deliveries. It's just the hours I'm not to pleased about. I will explore it and see if I can pull up a job description, but ADR is something I shouldn't waste having paid for it myself. The quicker I can use it the better.