Failure to Begin CPC Courses Could Get Your Company in Trouble

For more than a year now, the government has been warning companies in the haulage and transport sectors of its intention to vigorously enforce new CPC regulations. After the CPC deadline came and went for PCV drivers last year, drivers in the haulage industry waited with anticipation to see if the regulations would be enforced. They were. Now it appears as though traffic commissioners are preparing to go toe-to-toe with haulage companies over the matter. Failure to begin CPC courses with your drivers can get your company into serious trouble.

Motor Transport reported on June 2 that North East of England traffic commissioner Kevin Rooney has already disqualified one transport manager indefinitely for failing to make sure his drivers were at least in the beginning stages of the required CPC courses. Rooney also penalised the unnamed company employing the transport manager for failing to keep tabs on the situation. He required the company to reduce its fleet from 22 vehicles to 11 for two weeks, so that company drivers could begin CPC training.

The fact of the matter is that CPC is here to stay. The Certificate of Professional Competency is now required for all commercial drivers operating vehicles in qualifying classes. By 14 September, all HGV drivers must be trained and certified to continue working. PCV drivers had to meet their deadline by September of last year.

Once training is complete, a driver receives a certificate he or she must carry with them whenever they are working. That certificate must be produced when requested by police officials or others authorised to ask for it. Failure to produce the certificate could result in a £1000 fine and a loss of working privileges. This is serious business that your company needs to pay attention to.

We Offer CPC Training

CPC training consists of 35 hours of classroom work designed to bring drivers up to speed on a variety of safety and regulatory topics. The good news is that a certificate is valid for a total of five years, through the end of the fifth year after it is issued. That means drivers certified in 2014 would not have to seek recertification until sometime in 2019.

We offer CPC courses here at the HGV Training Centre. We train both individual drivers who own and operate their own rigs, as well as company drivers responsible for their training. Of course, we work directly with transport managers to train their entire fleet of drivers, as well.

For more information about our CPC courses, contact us here at the HGV Training Centre. We have more than 45 locations conveniently spread across the UK. We make it as easy as possible for you and your drivers to receive the CPC training they need. Our goal is to make sure every driver passing through our doors is operating according to law. We do not want you or your company to be subject to discipline for violating CPC regulations.

Sources:

More Transport – http://motortransport.co.uk/blog/2014/06/02/tm-disqualified-for-failing-to-train-drivers/