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Driver CPC requirements for goods vehicles commence this month
4 September 2009
Driver CPC training will be a requirement for all large goods
vehicle drivers from 10 September 2009. As of this date, drivers
will need to have completed the necessary training in order to
legally drive large goods vehicles for a living.
The Driver CPC training, which has already been in place for bus
and passenger vehicle drivers since 10 September 2008, is required
due to a 2003 EC regulation. The intention is to ‘professionalise’
driving as a career, and to improve road safety and efficient use
of fuel.
Many operators are already aware of these requirements, but it
is important that operators take steps now to arrange for the
appropriate training, and to ensure that they are not sending out
unqualified drivers on the road after the 10 September.
The Driver CPC should not be confused with the higher level
Certificate of Professional Competence, which will already be
familiar to Transport Managers.
There are two types of training as part of the legislation:
- For drivers who do not have any professional driving
qualifications as of 10 September, there is Initial CPC training,
which will be assessed by way of a test
- All professional drivers, including existing qualified
professional drivers, will have to undertake Periodic CPC training
every five years. There is no test, but each driver must attend 35
hours of accredited training in every five year period. Passenger
vehicle drivers are required to have completed the initial periodic
training by 10 September 2013, and goods vehicle drivers by 10
September 2014
Topics to be covered by the periodic training will include
health, road and environmental safety, logistics, rational driving
and regulatory compliance.
The periodic training could be dealt with in a one week course,
or split into training sessions of no less than seven hours, spread
over the five year period. It is important that drivers and
operators monitor the progress of their periodic training, and do
not leave booking it until the last minute, as this is likely to
create a ‘logjam’, which will result in some drivers not receiving
the required training before the deadline.
It will be an offence to cause or permit a person to drive a
vehicle without the required training from the 10 September. In
addition, drivers themselves may be fined for driving without the
required CPC qualification.
Fines for drivers are likely to be dealt with by way of a
graduated fixed penalty notice issued at the roadside, under VOSA’s
new powers which came into force earlier this year.
It is important that operators are up to speed with the Driver
CPC, as offences committed by a company or its drivers against the
new rules will be recorded by VOSA, and could result in an
unwelcome summons to public inquiry to review an operator’s licence
before the Traffic Commissioner.
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general interest and information. It contains only brief summaries
of aspects of the subject matter and does not provide comprehensive
statements of the law. It does not constitute legal advice and does
not provide a substitute for it.