Lorry driver shortage

[mx110]

I've done my CPC and driver hours were not mentioned at all.
CPC is a waste of time, badly thought out, designed to favour big firms at the expense of smaller companies/owner drivers (which is why Stobart approved it) and serves no practical purpose other than employing a few "trainers" to make the training firms even more easy money.

Now you might argue that if I had done my CPC they would certainly have mentioned driver hours but as I will swear they didn't my point is reinforced.

it all depends on the course you did, theres a whole range of different subjects you can do your days on, drivers hours being one of them, so long as you do your 5 days though it doesnt matter if you do innercity driving, vulnerable road users, customer care or whatever some of them are. and you could do the same course 5 times. last time i did mine i specifically picked days doing drivers hours and first aid. Although having not driven hgv for over twelve months not sure i'll bother keeping it up this time.

 

[Courier]

it all depends on the course you did, theres a whole range of different subjects you can do your days on, drivers hours being one of them, so long as you do your 5 days though it doesnt matter if you do innercity driving, vulnerable road users, customer care or whatever some of them are. and you could do the same course 5 times. last time i did mine i specifically picked days doing drivers hours and first aid. Although having not driven hgv for over twelve months not sure i'll bother keeping it up this time.

Trouble is once you miss ticking a box one one year then it takes longer to catch up again.

 

[JeepJeep]

Bigger Places will have in-house CPC training... then it becomes a Joke if they're that way inclined.

The place I was at had 300 Drivers and their own Driver Training "Compliance" Man.... Much uses as a chocolate teapot. But f**k me they all had their CPCS with only the odd one going elsewhere.

 

[Kidds]

Because after 15 minutes the "trainer" says "OK lads, you can go now I will tick you off as having attended".

 

[Boohoo]

You don't get taught MAM or train weights on your b+e. Something they really should. In fact, they don't even get mentioned by the instructor or asked by the examiner - I was surprised by that when I did mine.

They teach you to do a walk around to make sure the trailer is road worthy and then train you to do some very basic manoeuvres (hitching/unhitching and reversing into a space) and then it's just a normal driving test - "mirror signal manoeuvre" out on the road for a while in traffic.



I remember when I did my b+e (over 10yr ago) I was chatting to a friend who wanted to do his so he could tow 3.5t. He seemed confused when I told him he could, but not with his l200 pickup as it wasn't rated for it...

The B+E needs to be changed then, it's not what I thought it would be. A theory test would be taking it too far but should should have to explain what the different weights on the plate are at the start of the test.

 

[Boohoo]

I've done my CPC and driver hours were not mentioned at all.
CPC is a waste of time, badly thought out, designed to favour big firms at the expense of smaller companies/owner drivers (which is why Stobart approved it) and serves no practical purpose other than employing a few "trainers" to make the training firms even more easy money.

Now you might argue that if I had done my CPC they would certainly have mentioned driver hours but as I will swear they didn't my point is reinforced.

If you had done a course on drivers hours then drivers hours would definitely have been mentioned. The fact that you were able to gain a cpc without doing a drivers hours course says a lot about what is wrong with the current system.

 

[Boohoo]

Because after 15 minutes the "trainer" says "OK lads, you can go now I will tick you off as having attended".

That sounds like a scam to me. Were the courses actually registered and did you receive your card? There's no shortage of inspectors checking that the courses are taking place and it's not unknown for them to turn up twice in the same day.

 

[JeepJeep]

That sounds like a scam to me. Were the courses actually registered and did you receive your card? There's no shortage of inspectors checking that the courses are taking place and it's not unknown for them to turn up twice in the same day.

Yeh, we know.

 

[Lincoln75]

I’m sure those are tricky dickey numbers like they use over here. They compare college graduates with every other person working in every other job. Completely ignore apprenticeships and tech degrees, those all get lumped together with everything else.

They`d ignore apprenticeships because the survey was to show how much more graduates can earn , tech degree`s such as BEng are degree`s so would be counted as such ,people who do a full time apprenticeship generally earn more than those who have no formal education beyond school, getting trained up in any subject will see you better through life than winging it .

 

[Lincoln75]

Majority of Degree holders voted remain.

Your source ? not the Guardian by any chance ?

 

[Courier]

Your source ? not the Guardian by any chance ?

Can't see how that would be relevant anyway....

What cannot be denied is that out of 46,500,001 registered to vote in that referendum only 17,410,742 actually voted to leave whilst 700,000 Brits who were living abroad and 3,000,000 EU citizens living in the UK who would be eligible to vote in a GE were not allowed to participate.

 

[Lincoln75]

Can't see how that would be relevant anyway....

What cannot be denied is that out of 46,500,001 registered to vote in that referendum only 17,410,742 actually voted to leave whilst 700,000 Brits who were living abroad and 3,000,000 EU citizens living in the UK who would be eligible to vote in a GE were not allowed to participate.

We are out, enjoy , I am .

 

[Courier]

We are out, enjoy , I am .

The Ferry Co's are enjoying it as well,

Daily ferries to France starting from January to bypass Brexit congestion

Services will take at least 18 hours, making journey longer than current direct route favoured for time-sensitive loads

www.irishtimes.com

 

[JeepJeep]

18 Hours of Luxury Travel With a few dozen fridges plugged in.

Surely slower as well.

 

[Courier]

18 Hours of Luxury Travel With a few dozen fridges plugged in.

Surely slower as well.

Somewhat slower than a land bridge crossing used to be, but much more reliable for planning purposes.

 

[betweenthelines]

You can do the same Driver CPC module 5 times to keep the qualification up to date. You could even do the same five modules on 5 consecutive days-if your boredom threshold is high enough.

 

[betweenthelines]

Almost. It needs to be that the plated train weight is below the 3500kg, as well as the actual weight. That may mean down-rating the towing vehicle and/or trailer to get it below the threshold.

Yes it's the actual weight that needs to be under 3500kgs

A family of four, a fullish fuel tank, holiday luggage, a couple of bikes on a rack and a gas bottle or two stowed in the caravan, and you're in trouble.


Not unknown for DVSA to check weigh vehicles c/w occupants at Motorway Services

 

[ste]

You can do the same Driver CPC module 5 times to keep the qualification up to date. You could even do the same five modules on 5 consecutive days-if your boredom threshold is high enough.

Not anymore, the link below is the only one I could find quickly but you must prove that its required to repeat the course or they'll just cancel the repeated one from your file.

New rules for lorry driver CPC training and other · 24-7 Staffing

Read about New rules for lorry driver CPC training and other changes from 24-7 Staffing

www.24-7staffing.co.uk

 

[ste]

If you had done a course on drivers hours then drivers hours would definitely have been mentioned. The fact that you were able to gain a cpc without doing a drivers hours course says a lot about what is wrong with the current system.

Agree that its needed but does need changing with some core elements like drivers hours as a must. Just look on any truck forum or social media and see how many are asking basic questions on drivers hours. I think the hours are easier to understand these days especially as no more compensating reduced daily rests, or using the split rest to do a 16 hour day One thing I do miss is the ability to split the break into 3x15 mins or a 20 and a 25 minute, especially as most of the places I load usually only take 20-25 mins and want me out of the way as soon as I'm loaded so struggle to get the 30 mins in.

 

[robs1]

Somewhat slower than a land bridge crossing used to be, but much more reliable for planning purposes.

Good job keep them off our roads would be do bad if they had to pay to use the motorways