Haulier Prosecuted for CPC Violation as Part of London Crackdown

UK hauliers and independent HGV drivers hoping to see the government not enforce new CPC regulations should take notice of a recent crackdown in London. As part of the joint effort between Transport for London, the DVSA and local police, London’s HGV Task Force has prosecuted a haulier after one of its drivers was caught working without the proper certification.

According to reports, the driver in question earned his original licence after the 2009 cut-off date, meaning he was required to have completed his CPC driver training to continue working. He had not. Furthermore, his employer allowed him to work despite it being a clear violation of the law.

The news does not bode well for drivers who have thus far delayed CPC training hoping that the law would not be enforced. With now just under six months to go, far too many drivers will find themselves competing for limited class space in order to complete their training by the September 10 deadline. We urge you to contact the HGV Training Centre today if you or your company drivers still need to complete CPC driver training.

Many More Violations

In addition to the one CPC violation, the task force issued nearly 600 more through the first four months of operation. Violations covered everything from unsecured loads to working too many continuous hours to operating vehicles that are not roadworthy. Nineteen vehicles have been seized and hundreds of verbal warning issued.

As a percentage of the total vehicles stopped by the task force, only 27% were considered satisfactory across the board. That is an alarmingly low number that must be addressed by hauliers and other transport industry companies. Not only do the violations create potential safety issues, they give the entire transport industry a bad name.

We hope that the crackdown in London serves the purpose of motivating transport sector companies to bring their vehicles and drivers in compliance with the law. If it does, it will have served its purpose well. If not, the task force will have no other choice but to take things to the next level.

Call Us for CPC Training

Whether you are an individual driver or the manager of a team of drivers, we urge you to call us to make arrangements for CPC driver training right away. It is evident that the government has no plans to back down from enforcing the new regulations come September 10. And they are already enforcing the CPC requirement for PCV drivers and those HGV drivers who earned their licenses after September 2009. It is simply not worth the risk to ignore the requirements.

The HGV Training Centre offers CPC classes at dozens of locations throughout the UK. What’s more, we work with businesses of all sizes across the entire transport and haulage sector. We can certainly help you or your company maintain compliance through proper training and certification. For more information, feel free to call us any time.

Sources:

1. Commercial Motor – http://www.commercialmotor.com/latest-news/hgv-task-force-moves-in-on-600-unsafe-hauliers
2. Commercial Motor – http://www.commercialmotor.com/latest-news/task-force-prosecutes-haulier-for-lack-of-driver-cpc