With the mandatory training deadline coming up (September 9^th), now is a good time for professional drivers to book CPC training in order to meet their minimum training hours. In this week’s blog, we look at Driver CPC, what it is and how you can book additional training hours.

What is Driver CPC?

The Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (Driver CPC) is a qualification for professional bus, coach and lorry drivers. The qualification was introduced by the EU with the aim of maintaining high standards of driving and improving road safety.

New drivers of the vehicles mentioned above must obtain their Driver CPC by passing a series of qualification tests with both theory and practical sections. In order to keep the certification, drivers must complete 35 hours of periodic training every five years. This can be spread over the five years or done more intensively over a week.

Who needs Driver CPC?

CPC certification is required for drivers of lorries over 3.5 tonnes or Passenger Carrying Vehicles (PCV) with 9 or more seats. If you drive any of the following vehicles you need to be CPC certified:

• Articulated lorries
• Tipper trucks
• Refuse lorries
• Heavy construction equipment
• Buses and Coaches

Initial and Periodic Training

New drivers who aim to obtain their first Category C or Category D licence will do a complete training programme that includes initial CPC training. This is known as an initial CPC qualification.

In order to obtain a commercial driver licence, a CPC qualification must be obtained. This isn’t optional and forms part of your overall qualification as a driver.

Once training is completed, new drivers will hold a CPC card, which will be valid for five years. After this, every five years drivers must complete 35 hours of training to ensure that their certification doesn’t expire.

This additional training ensures that high standards of driving are maintained and that drivers are kept up to date with the latest best practice and knowledge on road safety.

Driver CPC Periodic Training is done on a classroom basis and can be done with a suitably qualified training provider such as Essential Site Skills.

Periodic Training Options

The 35 hours of periodic training isn’t limited to just a few topics – we have several options available for drivers. What courses you choose to do to make up your 35 hours will depend on the industry you work in or what your employer suggests you complete.

CPC courses offered by Essential Site Skills include:

• Drivers Hours
• Haulage Operations: Enforcement & Compliance
• Haulage Operations: Road Freight Compliance
• Health and Safety
• Load Safety
• Emergency Actions
• Analogue and Digital Tachographs
• Vehicle Systems
• The Professional Driver
• Safe and Economic Driving Theory
• Mental Health
• Manual Handling
• Food and Drink Logistics
• Interpersonal Skills
• On the Road 1
• On the Road 2
• Emergency First Aid
• Road Traffic Incident Management Skills

We run regular open courses at our Chesterfield, Nottingham and London based training centres for the above courses. These can be done individually or as a programme.

For businesses who have several drivers that need to complete periodic training, we can deliver the courses on site and build a bespoke programme for your staff.

How to book Driver CPC training

If you would like to book any training hours, then please get in touch for more information on dates, location and pricing of our courses. One of friendly advisors will be happy to help you choose the right courses to make up your 35 hours of training.

If you’re a business looking for bespoke on-site training our advisors will also be able to help you with this.