What is Driver CPC?
The Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) is a generic term that is well recognised in Europe and viewed as a type of professional qualification. It is attached to a number of different occupations in Europe and increasingly in the UK.
European Directive
As a positive contribution to high driving standards and road safety, working professional drivers need to complete a process of driver training and development in order to stay qualified. This initiative is a requirement of European Directive 2003/59.
The focus is on the knowledge and skills used by professional drivers throughout their working lives. Before being able to qualify as a Large Goods Vehicle (LGV) Driver, you have to hold a full car driving licence and pass a doctor’s medical examination. This vocational examination begins with a multiple choice question test, including Case Studies, followed by a hazard perception test. You have to pass both of these before taking the practical licence acquisition test and Driver CPC practical test.
Driver CPC for lorry drivers
Since 10 September 2009, new and experienced LGV professional drivers have to participate in 35 hours of training every five years to gain a CPC. Not everyone will need a Driver CPC, as there are a few exemptions, but for those that do, they are expected to take seven hours training every year. The training blocks cannot be less than seven hours.
The subjects covered during this periodic training will complement the individual driver’s work and be relevant to their every day job. The syllabus includes:
1. Safe and Fuel Efficient Driving (SAFED) style training
2. Defensive driving techniques
3. First Aid
4. Health and Safety, service and logistic
5. Driver’s hours regulations and tachographs
The Road Transport Industry Training Board (RTITB) estimate that driver CPC will impact on almost 800,000 drivers, also:
- 5,600,000 periodic training hours will be required annually for LGV drivers alone
- more than 1,000 trainers will be required in addition to those training for licence acquisition
Existing LGV Drivers
For existing LGV drivers, CPC involves no test, just simply a commitment to attend and participate.
Responsibility for approving the training syllabus rests with the Sector Skills Council, Skills for Logistics (Freight transport). A Joint Approvals Unit for Periodic Training (JAUPT) approves the training organisations & courses. Approved Centres have responsible for keeping drivers’ training records and updating a central database.
Get Qualified, Stay Qualified
Once the scheme starts to take effect, besides the road safety benefits, having better skilled drivers is expected to lead to improvements in the professional image of the industry, as well as environmental performance improvements.
Employees are responsible for the training and involved costs, not the employers although they’ll probably meet some of the costs. We’re fast approaching the half way point in the first five years and only about one tenth of the vocational licence holders have started their CPC. There could well be a rush to complete before 2014.
Professional drivers can now find the latest information about what they need to do to get qualified and stay qualified at:
www.direct.gov.uk/drivercpc
Driver CPC training is available through:
Bill Lavender
Tangerine Transport Solutions Ltd
2nd Floor
Devonshire House
582 Honeypot Lane
Stanmore
HA7 1JS
01708 748221
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