DVSA: Busy CPC Training Schedule for Next Six Months

A recently released report from the DVSA shows both good and bad news where CPC training is concerned. The good news is that the number of drivers still in need of training has dropped by 75,000 since late last year. The bad news is that as many as 341,000 drivers still need to complete the training. Moreover, with less than six months ago at this point, it promises to be a busy CPC training season from now through until the September 14 deadline.

According to the DVSA’s numbers from last December, just over 305,000 drivers had completed their training ahead of this year’s deadline. An additional 28,000 have completed training since January 1. This suggests that more than half of the reduction between December and March is due to dropping the requirement for vehicle mechanics to be trained and certified. It also suggests that HGV drivers are not moving quickly enough to get their training completed.

The law requires 35 hours of CPC training in order for drivers licenced prior to 2009 to continue driving professionally. New drivers receiving their training after 2009 were given CPC training as part of their educational programmes. Most of them do not need additional CPC training until after the September deadline.

In encouraging drivers and hauliers to make sure drivers get the required training, the DVSA has made a point of reminding the industry that the CPC requirements are nothing new. Government has been warning about this for years. What’s more, enforcement efforts began last September for PCV drivers whose deadline for training came a year earlier. Most of the drivers who remain untrained are LGV and HGV drivers.

Get Your Spot Now

The DVSA is predicting a very busy training schedule between now and September of this year. We agree. That is why we are encouraging HGV drivers all across the UK to sign up so a spot can be secured now. The closer we get to September, the more difficult it is going to be to find available space.

The HGV Training Centre provides individual drivers and companies the necessary training to meet CPC qualifications. Once training is complete, a driver is issued a Driver Qualification Card, which must be carried on his/her person whenever s/he is working. That card is proof of completed training. An additional 35 hours of training are required every five years thereafter.

You should know that not every training company provides all of the training modules necessary to be CPC compliant. In order to hold initial driver CPC qualification, all four modules must be completed by September. If you have any questions about what is required of you, please do not hesitate to contact the HGV Training Centre.

In closing, we urge companies involved in the transport and haulage industry not to take this lightly. There have already been a number of prosecutions involving both hauliers and bus companies allowing workers to drive without proper certification. The government will be cracking down come September, so why take the risk.