Should I do ADR as 28 hours of CPC

First off, this post will only apply to those who passed their tests before 1997, have C1 entitlement and can therefore do a “periodic” CPC.

Secondly, the question in the title should ONLY be considered by those that have a good grasp of Drivers hours, WTD, DigiTacho, Loading, Securing, Etc. Or people who feel confident and prepared to thoroughly research a topic themselves. I say that, as I went on a DigiTacho course and learnt nothing really that I hadn’t already learnt myself through research.

So, any new driver knows they need 35 hours of CPC training before they can work for reward, and there is more than one way an “older” (me) driver can go about getting these 7 hour (day) credits. I say “day”, but in reality it’s actually 7 hours over a 24 hour period. So could be split over an afternoon and following morning. Current CPC day prices (in the south) are around £80 per day, and a 5 day (28 CPC hours) ADR course costs about £530. So the extra cost is £210 to do the ADR course (I won’t show the maths…)

So you might be asking why spend £210 more, plus an extra days education just to get an ADR qualification? And to a point I’d agree, but at the same time I don’t think I can sit through 4 more CPC days, being told things I already knew, and what i didn’t know, I’ve already researched and learnt. It might be a bit arrogant, and possibly ignorant to say I’ve learnt it all (as I haven’t), but because of my background, and the way i tend to research and learn all I can online. I would be climbing the walls in those CPC modules, and felt happier to be learning things on the ADR course. Plus I would be getting a qualification at the same time, which intern gives ME more options. Or that is how I see it…

So what is involved in doing the drivers ADR qualification?

Again, before I answer that. I want to restate (as I think the experts/old hands on here would like me to say) do not consider an ADR unless you are up to speed on all the normal CPC modules available!!!

So day one, turn up to a classroom of 10-12 other bods, all looking somewhat bemused and out of their comfort zone in a class room. Teacher (as I’ll call him) is ex Fireservice, and as such likes a bit of banter and easily sets everyone at ease. Thinking to myself now, wonder what the pace of the education is going to be like, can I keep up and take it all in? Then the drivers ADR hand books are handed round, only A5 in size and 5mm think consisting of 50 pages. (I suspect the Beaver would say “the turtle retreated at that point”) So thought to myself, can’t be that bad bad, what’s the print size? Large, this gets better and better!

To keep the experts happy (Or try!), the term ADR is derived from the French, so not an acronym we can translate to English. ADR rules apply in Europe, and we have our own rules inline with the ADR rules, which we are slowly moving towards. So after learning that, I was fearful that is course may be a bit “dry” and painful, but thankfully it didn’t last, as we soon got onto what was the main part of the “Core” unit. Whilst this was still concerned with the administration, responsibilities, documentation, signage required, it wasn’t so bad, as you could put it all in context, and understand why it was all needed. To keep us all awake, from time to time we were shown some video clips of explosions or things going wrong to make a point of what we were being taught. Next on the agenda was Bulk carriage and Packages, which I have to say looked like the hardest part of the course! As there comes a point, where the quantity of what you carry, is no longer “in scope” or counted as needing ADR training. It then gets further complicated by the fact that if you carried mixed ADR classes, there are multipliers to take into account. It’s only basic maths, but now I’m starting to think I need to pay attention and this is starting to get a little difficult to absorb. However, I needn’t have worried, as it turns out that the inclusion of these tables and formula’s is more about educating you to their existence, and that working this stuff out is for your boss! See this thread: ADR training ,which one should i choose? - THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE) - Trucknet UK

Not sure if we got through all that in the first day, as a bit of a blur now, and it may have gone into day 2, or reinforced again on day 2, I can’t recall. I also didn’t really make many notes, as I didn’t really need too, the information was clear, and it was pretty much all in the handbook we had been given. So the course was panning out quite well, everyone is starting to relax and coming out of their shells. It turns out that half of the people in the classroom are only there to get CPC credits and not doing the full course to get an ADR qualification. The reason this can be done is that the ADR course is divided into 4 parts “Dangerous Goods Driver Training, Parts 1-4” and you get a nice certificate for each of the 4 modules! It surprised me that people would choose any of these modules to gain CPC credits, and not get any ADR qualification, but each to their own…

Next on the list for Tuesday was the dreaded First aid, and practical. I say practical, as pucker up and get ready to kiss the rubber dolly!
Had a different guy show us the First Aid, which lasted under 2 hours, but required us 6 ADR exam guys to “Play out” finding an unconscious accident victim, and acting through the steps of what to do, ending up with doing chest compression’s and mouth 2 mouth on the rubber friend of your dreams! (General consensus was that I’d probably kissed worse!!! ) And as you can tell, by now the group were happy to throw a bit of banter about amongst themselves.

So after the humiliation of having to act in front of others, I thought the worst would be over, as it was fire extinguishers next. Which let’s face it, consists of 4 basic types, and for ADR, they will be Dry Powder! But there was further humiliation, of having to demonstrate how to use the extinguisher against a computer projected fire. Did it feel silly? Yes! Was there a point to it? Yes! - You learn best by doing, and in doing the teacher can check you understood!

So that was pretty much Monday and Tuesday, and that is what constitues what is referred to in an ADR course as the “Core”, and you have to have (or pass) this part, before any of the following bolt on “Class” modules are of use. And I will get to those in a minute… But first, I finished the core wondering how on earth they were going to be able to ask, what would turn out to be 40 questions on what we had covered so far. As I didn’t feel we had covered enough to have that many questions, so to say it’s not difficult if you stay awake and pay attention, isn’t a confident overstatement. DieselDave may correct me, but the Core exams are split into “Core” & “Packages/Bulk” with 25 & 15 questions respectively. I say this as I don’t see how you could fail “Packages/Bulk” and for your ADR to still count. So I await correction from above on that!

So yeah, Monday (and from what I recall) all of Tuesday, are not going to count as the most exciting days of your life. But now it gets a lot better, as now (Let’s say Wednesday morning), we start talking about the stuff that goes bang! Or the not so pleasant life changing accidents that kill. These nasties are divided into 9 groups “Classes” based on what form they are in, and what they do. I’ll list them now for clarity:

Class 1 - Explosives (Ammunition, etc)
Class 2 - Gases
Class 3 - Flammable Liquids
Class 4 - Flammable Solids
Class 5 - Oxidising Agents
Class 6 - Toxic Substances
Class 7 - Radioactives
Class 8 - Corrosives
Class 9 - Miscellaneous

There are “Subclasses” to some of these “Classes”, but I’m not running an ADR course here!!!

This part of the course is so much better! As while you have to put up with some B rate actor who gesticulates annoyingly with his hands, while his elbows are glues to his body. You get to watch video’s on how this “Class” of hazard works, and examples of it going badly wrong. What could be better than that, I’'d pay for that! Oh yeah, I am! So I loved going through all of the Classes, and felt it was a breeze. But again, I was wondering how many questions can you realistically ask on each of those hazard Classes?

Well Thursday morning I found out, as here is the list of exams you then sit:

Core - 25 Questions
Packages/Bulk - 15 Questions
Class 2 - 15 Questions
Class 3 - 15 Questions
Class 4 - 10 Questions
Class 5 - 10 Questions
Class 6 - 10 Questions
Class 8 - 10 Questions
Class 9 - 10 Questions

For those that are on the ball, you will have spotted Classes 1 & 7 are missing (Explosives and Radioactives) as these are considered specialist and not part of a normal ADR course.

Each question is just like the DVLA Theory tests, as it’s multiple choice with 4 answers and 2 of those are normally ridiculous. While I’ve yet to get my results which apparently takes a few weeks. I’m fairly confident I’ve passed, as you need to get 70%, and to get more than 3 questions wrong out of 10, probably means you were asleep.

Above constitutes a basic 3.5 day ADR course, and will give you 21 hours of CPC credits. To get 28 hours of CPC credits, you will need to take the “Dangerous Goods Part 4”, also knows as “tanks”, but not the type with tracks and a big gun on the top. We are talking things like fuel tankers, or pressurised gas tankers. There are more types, but you will learn that on the course! Again more video’s, That took up Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, and was followed by a 20 question exam in the afternoon.

Job done, all finished! So I thanked the teach for making the topic engaging, and with a bit of luck, my ADR card will arrive in the post soon!

In summary, I’d say the ADR course is pretty easy, it’s not rocket science! It’s paying attention to the instructor, and applying common sense. So if you don’t think you would learn anything form the normal CPC modules, you might want to think about doing an ADR course, and hopefully give yourself more options when it comes to employment. Not sure if it will make any difference, but I doubt it can harm my prospects.

Thanks for reading and hope it helps others.

Interesting post and I completely agree with the reasoning. I really regret that the current cpc system is as unfit for purpose as it is. Some of us try really hard to make cpc training interesting and engaging; many folks have told us we succeed.

An option to gain cpc hours without doing any further training is to use a trainer who has the licence acquisition courses approved for cpc. Then it’s a 2 minute paper exercise.

Pete

Peter Smythe:
Interesting post and I completely agree with the reasoning. I really regret that the current cpc system is as unfit for purpose as it is. Some of us try really hard to make cpc training interesting and engaging; many folks have told us we succeed.

An option to gain cpc hours without doing any further training is to use a trainer who has the licence acquisition courses approved for cpc. Then it’s a 2 minute paper exercise.

Pete

My limited experience of the current CPC system is that it’s a tick in the box exercise, that without an exam doesn’t really do a thing to improve standards in the industry. But again, my experience is limited!!!

As for using a trainer that has a licence licence acquisition course to gain CPC credits, it still costs the candidate during lessons an extra £45 + VAT for 1 (7 hour) CPC credit, so you would still have to ask if an ADR qualification is money better spent.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if you pass the ADR exams or not, you still get the CPC credits!

Alan

Evil8Beezle:
First off, this post will only apply to those who passed their tests before 1997, have C1 entitlement and can therefore do a “periodic” CPC.

What an excellent post, if you don’t mind me saying so.

You could add anybody else who is already in the system (= anybody needing periodic DCPC) to your list above, so it’s got a little more err… mmm… can I say ‘appeal’?

Evil8Beezle:
To keep the experts happy (Or try!), the term ADR is derived from the French, so not an acronym we can translate to English.

The full title of ADR in English just happens to come out with the same main letters as in French:

The European Agreement Concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road.

Click to enlarge:

ADR 2015 Vol II large.jpg400×576 24.5 KB

Evil8Beezle:
The reason this can be done is that the ADR course is divided into 4 parts “Dangerous Goods Driver Training, Parts 1-4” and you get a nice certificate for each of the 4 modules! It surprised me that people would choose any of these modules to gain CPC credits, and not get any ADR qualification, but each to their own…

When a driver is carrying less than the 20, 333, or 1,000 they still need “ADR awareness” as does anybody carrying Limited Quantities.

To fulfil this requirement, many companies will send their drivers to attend only day #1 of an ADR course, because it meets ADR’s requirements and also gets them a 7hr DCPC credit, so it’s two birds with one stone.
The 7hr DCPC certificate for that 1-day course actually counts for something other than ‘just’ DCPC.

Evil8Beezle:
DieselDave may correct me, but the Core exams are split into “Core” & “Packages/Bulk” with 25 & 15 questions respectively. I say this as I don’t see how you could fail “Packages/Bulk” and for your ADR to still count. So I await correction from above on that!

You’re spot-on again mate.
You need Core + Packs and one of the Classes to get an ADR card.
If anybody is unlucky enough to fail any of the exams, the passes are kept safely in the ‘bank’ until the failed module(s) have been passed by re-sitting only the exam(s) failed. Once all modules are in place and there’s a nice row of passes, the system generates an ADR card and it’s then sent in the Post.

Evil8Beezle:
This part of the course is so much better! As while you have to put up with some B rate actor who gesticulates annoyingly with his hands, while his elbows are glues to his body.

From this comment, I know which course material your provider uses.
I ran exactly the same course in the same week.

Evil8Beezle:
Well Thursday morning I found out, as here is the list of exams you then sit:

Core - 25 Questions
Packages/Bulk - 15 Questions
Class 2 - 15 Questions
Class 3 - 15 Questions
Class 4 - 10 Questions
Class 5 - 10 Questions
Class 6 - 10 Questions
Class 8 - 10 Questions
Class 9 - 10 Questions

Spot-on again, but there are providers who run the exams differently, but with a saving of £80 in marking fees.

Let me be clear… there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the way that your provider did the exams.
I’m only saying that there is a different option that they could have chosen, and still being very clear… IT IS THE PROVIDER’S CHOICE.

From this, it’s clearly a question that the savvy driver booking and paying for his own ADR course might ask at the time he’s doing his comparisons on prices. It could make a difference because £80 is £80 after all.

I work for half a dozen (or so) providers, and not one of them uses the ‘separate classes’ route TBH.
That’s except for those who only choose to take a single Class of course, because they can be accommodated at the same time.

Evil8Beezle:
For those that are on the ball, you will have spotted Classes 1 & 7 are missing (Explosives and Radioactives) as these are considered specialist and not part of a normal ADR course.

To add to your excellent post, I’ll point out the minimum teaching/attendance time for each of the Class modules:

Class 2 = 1.5hrs
Class 3 = 1.5hrs
Class 4 = 45mins
Class 5 = 45mins
Class 6 = 45mins
Class 8 = 45mins
Class 9 = 45mins

For completeness:

Class1 = 1 whole day (Plus a 20 question exam. Pass mark = 14/20)
Class 7 = 1 whole day (Plus a 20 question exam. Pass mark = 14/20)

great thread, thanks

Superb post, especially interesting for me as I was considering doing the full 35 hours DCPC and the ADR (+ tanks) course to effectively give me DCPC for the next 10 years (7 hours also obtained via Class C).
The ADR qualification is valid for 5 years so although I am a newbie driver I would expect it will come in handy at some stage within that time frame but even if it proves to be something I never use the extra DCPC hours gained mean that I wouldn’t have to ■■■■ around with DCPC until 2025, so I figure it is worth the effort and outlay.

Excellent thread, informative and very helpful, thank you

MickyB666:
Superb post, especially interesting for me as I was considering doing the full 35 hours DCPC and the ADR (+ tanks) course to effectively give me DCPC for the next 10 years (7 hours also obtained via Class C).
The ADR qualification is valid for 5 years so although I am a newbie driver I would expect it will come in handy at some stage within that time frame but even if it proves to be something I never use the extra DCPC hours gained mean that I wouldn’t have to ■■■■ around with DCPC until 2025, so I figure it is worth the effort and outlay.

Just a couple of points Micky, you’re spot-on, but there are a couple of extra things that folks might like/need to consider…

As far as an ADR licence is concerned, the tanks module is optional.

Not all providers make this clear, but they should.

Not many ADR providers have got the tanks module approved for DCPC, so it might pay you to ask the right questions at the time you’re enquiring about going on an ADR course.

You’re spot-on about the possibility of needing the ADR licence at some point, because not everybody knows where they’ll be in a year or two.

The reverse scenario… I’m staying clear of ADR for X reason.
In a year’s time, I get the offer of an ADR job, but the boss needs me to step in right now.

Me: Sorry boss, I’ll get it sorted ASAP.

(I make enquiries and book the soonest possible ADR course that I can get on.
2-3 weeks waiting time might need to be added here.
Next, whilst I’m on the course I find out that that the ADR card takes up to five weeks to come through.)

Boss: Next candidate please!

The same scenario can apply to the tanker part, but I’ll be honest and say that it is extremely unlikely due to all the extra training that’s needed once you get to the job.

For those on a tighter budget, the tanks module can be swerved without any likely adverse consequence, and the bonus for doing it that way is that you’re available for an extra day’s work in the week that you take your ADR course.

The choice isn’t quite as straightforward as it might seem at first.

Thanks Dave and others…

My intention/motivation is writing this post was to try and give people an insight into an ADR course, and thus how the course breaks down into “Core”, “Classes” & “Tanks”. As when i first looked at ADR, initially I found this bit a little confusing. Hopefully writing the above from a candidates point of view, I’ve cleared that up a bit, although possibly didn’t make it 100% crystal clear that once you have the “Core” everything else is a bolt on. So if you have the “Core” and fail one of the Classes (Say Class 6 - Toxics), you still get an ARD licence with all the classes you passed, you just can’t carry “Toxics”.

Thanks for adding more meat to the bone Dave, and commenting as such! - But the quotes you did of my words regarding ADR deriving from the French didn’t format properly, You might want to sort that, just to make it clear that it was me that didn’t get it quite right! (Note: Dave has since fixed this)
And on the topic of that, I can’t agree with acronyms which miss out important words, it’s the work of madness (the French) I tell you!

As for “■■■” appeal, (I’m pushing it here ) - Your right that anyone doing a periodic CPC, could choose ADR to build up their hours. But I didn’t want to post this in the main driver forum, and get comments/slaps that I should have posted it here. So I was only really thinking of new drivers looking to build up CPC hours, and from what i see in just about all job adverts, ongoing CPC training is normally included. So on that topic, I’m surprised that MickyB666 is looking (presumably at his own expense) to build up so many CPC credits, when a lot of jobs look like the employer will pay for this. But obviously I don’t have all the facts regarding Micky’s situation…

Interesting that you say that the separate/individual exam papers I did on “Classes” could be combined and the marking fee’s cheaper, as it did feel very stop start doing each one separately. But it did give the teacher/lecturer the opportunity to do a refresh of what we had covered just before sitting the paper!

Anyway, I hope my post will help other people considering ADR get a handle on what is involved, and not be intimidated by it. When i was considering ADR, I was looking for a post like this, but couldn’t seem to find one (Maybe I didn’t search very well! ) Anyway, thanks for adding to my post Dave, and your kind comments.

Now who wants to see some gas canisters exploding like rockets? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6ZXOLbFD6M

Or a Rocket Fuel factory going bang (twice!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KuGizBjDXo

Evil8Beezle:
So if you have the “Core” and fail one of the Classes (Say Class 6 - Toxics), you still get an ARD licence with all the classes you passed, you just can’t carry “Toxics”.

Correct again mate.

Evil8Beezle:
But the quotes you did of my words regarding ADR deriving from the French didn’t format properly, You might want to sort that, just to make it clear that it was me that didn’t get it quite right!

Sorted!!
Thanks for telling me, cos I’d defo missed that.

Evil8Beezle:
And on the topic of that, I can’t agree with acronyms which miss out important words, it’s the work of madness (the French) I tell you!

Ahh yes, the French…
Here we go, the official title of ADR in French:

Accord européen relatif au transport international des marchandises Dangereuses par Route

And in English for comparison:

The European Agreement Concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road.

Now here’s where those pesky Germans really mess it up:

Europäischen Übereinkommen über die internationale Beförderung gefährlicher Güter auf der Straße

Without turning this into a German lesson (I could, but I won’t ) it’s got to be said that German is quite particular about the use of upper and lower case for words in a sentence, so there are no typos here.
Strangely for the German language, the order of the words in the above sentence is the same as in English, which any German speaker will tell you is quite rare.

Then once the Russians get hold of it, it’s really goes to pot!!

ЕВРОПЕЙСКОЕ СОГЛАШЕНИЕ О МЕЖДУНАРОДНОЙ ДОРОЖНОЙ ПЕРЕВОЗКЕ ОПАСНЫХ ГРУЗОВ

To cut it short, their acronym (ДОПОГ) comes out as “DOPOG” in English, but it’s all still to do with moving dangerous goods internationally by road.

My Russian isn’t great cos although I can read and write it half reasonably, I didn’t learn what the words actually mean.

The only word I know for sure from above is “МЕЖДУНАРОДНОЙ” because from my time running through the old East Germany, I learned that it means “international” in English. (It’s pronounced as Mezh-du-narodnoy)

Evil8Beezle:
But I didn’t want to post this in the main driver forum, and get comments/slaps that I should have posted it here.

Due to the very informative nature of your post, I think it might have gone down quite well in there… but there would probably have been some comments from those who might not consider the full picture.

Evil8Beezle:
Interesting that you say that the separate/individual exam papers I did on “Classes” could be combined and the marking fee’s cheaper, as it did feel very stop start doing each one separately. But it did give the teacher/lecturer the opportunity to do a refresh of what we had covered just before sitting the paper!

He sounds like a good guy.

Evil8Beezle:
Anyway, I hope my post will help other people considering ADR get a handle on what is involved, and not be intimidated by it. When i was considering ADR, I was looking for a post like this, but couldn’t seem to find one (Maybe I didn’t search very well! ) Anyway, thanks for adding to my post Dave, and your kind comments.

I’ve always answered people’s questions and tried to expand a little to give options, but I’d not thought of putting it all together, which gives me an idea for a new topic in the FAQ Forum.

Here’s something on the exams that I wrote a few years ago:

It’s my reply to Kerbdog and it’s about halfway down the page…
… so I’ve copied and pasted it here to save me typing it all out again.

All still valid info:

I:
Here’s the comparison for Core, Packs and seven UN Classes:
Separate Classes route:
Core, Packs, then Classes 2,3,4,5,6,8&9 all as separate exams = £20 X 9 = £180.

Common Characteristics route:
Core, Packs, Common Characteristics, Paper “A” & Paper “B” = £20 X 5 = £100.
Assuming first time passes on all papers, a candidate would get exactly the same ADR licence from both routes, but one is £80 less in marking fees.

Marks needed for a pass on separate Classes route:
Core = 18/25
Packs = 11/15
Classes 2 & 3 = 11/15 each
Classes 4,5,6,8&9 = 7/10 each

Marks needed for a pass on Common Characteristics route:
Core = 18/25
Packs = 11/15
Common Characteristics = 14/20
Paper “A” = 26/36
Paper “B” = 17/24

Common Characteristics is 20 random questions taken from anything covered in the first three days.
Paper “A” is the specifics for Classes 2, 3, 6 &8 taken together on one paper.
Paper “B” is the specifics for Classes 4, 5 &9 taken together on one paper.

Watch your PM inbox for incoming.

I always enjoy these ADR posts when Dave gets involved as my knowledge on this is at the extreme other end of the spectrum to his. He is the acknowledged expert on the subject and anyone wanting proper information should always take heed.

On the other hand, if you want to know about driving a truck, maybe I can help!

Pete

Thanks again Dave for adding more meat to the thread, and the way you have chopped up my post (I feel like i’ve just been marked! )

Impressive knowledge of all the languages, especially German which i myself had a shot at, and failed miserably…

Following on from what you say about an FAQ section and useful information, I thought i’d add the question you answered for me, from the thread i linked to in my first post. (It’s probably the question someone doing ADR, is going to want to know next…)

dieseldave:

Evil8Beezle:
On the subject of getting into fuel deliveries, what do employers look for?

i.e. Do they want experienced drivers, or do they take on inexperienced drivers that haven’t learnt bad habits.

My guess would be drivers with a couple of years experience, but as I don’t know, I’ll ask please!

I’d say it varies from company to company, but the basics are quite important…

(Usually) over 25 and two years experience for insurance purposes
Clean(ish) driving licence
No recent really bad endorsements
No history of dishonesty
Most companies do a thorough background check (required by UK law)
ADR licence/card valid for at least UN Class 3 and Tanks
PDP qualification if there’s a need to load in a refinery

You might have to be prepared to do a couple of years on rigids doing home heating oil before moving to full-size petrol tankers.

It’s probably worth also mentioning, and I’m sure Dave can expand if he thinks fit. Don’t expect to get a job with a ADR tanker company, and be driving the next day. As from what I was told on the course, you will probably spend a few weeks learning the way, that particular company likes to do its procedures.

Evil8Beezle:
It’s probably worth also mentioning, and I’m sure Dave can expand if he thinks fit. Don’t expect to get a job with a ADR tanker company, and be driving the next day. As from what I was told on the course, you will probably spend a few weeks learning the way, that particular company likes to do its procedures.

Spot-on again mate.

Tanker firms will train drivers on the product they want them to move, and additionally on the specific vehicle that they are going to be allocated.

Tankers come in various types, but if that wasn’t enough… I’ll sound a cautionary note here because there can be significant differences between tankers on the same fleet carrying the same ‘stuff’ and doing the same job.

The other caution I’ll offer here is that tanker firms have an extremely low tolerance of anybody who doesn’t do the job EXACTLY as they’re told to. Most companies have proper written procedures for this, but break their rules or please yourself what order you’ll do things in and you’ll be out of the door far quicker than you can imagine.

The reason for this is that a lot of the procedures were learned the hard way by people getting killed or injured, or lots of ‘stuff’ escaping.

When i did my ADR last year to get 21 hours of dcpc (no tanks) and i didn’t have one single hour of dcpc at the time, it seemed very strange as i was the only one in the classroom for the whole 4 days (exam day doesn’t count towards dcpc)

Apparently, the main reason Fuel tanker drivers are given the boot, is because they put the wrong product in the wrong tank. i.e. Diesel in the Petrol storage tank. Opps!!!

dieseldave:
Just a couple of points Micky, you’re spot-on, but there are a couple of extra things that folks might like/need to consider…

As far as an ADR licence is concerned, the tanks module is optional.

Not all providers make this clear, but they should.

Not many ADR providers have got the tanks module approved for DCPC, so it might pay you to ask the right questions at the time you’re enquiring about going on an ADR course.

Well worth pointing out and thanks for the tips.
I have already considered all the above and the training provider I am booked in with to do my DCPC and the one I am considering using for the ADR course also offer tanks which is approved for DCPC, they advised me to leave a 2 to 3 week gap between DCPC and ADR as they say that uploading too much too soon can cause problems with the system and result in hours being lost.

As someone who is new to all this and looking at CPC and also ADR, I found this post very interesting. In addition, the comments added by certain people were also really helpful.

That is what a forum like this is all about and makes it useful for newbies like me and others. This is why i would recommend this site to anyone i know who is in the same situation as me.

Thanks

I am going to point anyone that ever calls a truck driver thick in the direction of this thread to prove them wrong

To Evil8Beezle:

Great post…really sums up most people’s experience of attending an ADR training course & taking said exams. Not difficult but strangely interesting. Mainly common sense/general knowledge/H&S plus technical know how (which is more than provided for during the training). Also a great way of achieving at least 21 hours of DCPC Periodic Training at the same time

I predict your ADR card will arrive PDQ with the full compliment of Classes (except 1 & 7) & Modes on the back!!!

Well done!!!

Tanker firms will train drivers on the product they want them to move, and additionally on the specific vehicle that they are going to be allocated.

Tankers come in various types, but if that wasn’t enough… I’ll sound a cautionary note here because there can be significant differences between tankers on the same fleet carrying the same ‘stuff’ and doing the same job.

The other caution I’ll offer here is that tanker firms have an extremely low tolerance of anybody who doesn’t do the job EXACTLY as they’re told to. Most companies have proper written procedures for this, but break their rules or please yourself what order you’ll do things in and you’ll be out of the door far quicker than you can imagine.

The reason for this is that a lot of the procedures were learned the hard way by people getting killed or injured, or lots of ‘stuff’ escaping.

This is spot where I work we have strict delivery and loading procedures any stepping out of line is regarded has gross misconduct. Any issues with speeding or dangerous driving are deal with the same way. May seem harsh to some on here but better safe then sorry.

This is wont can happen if things go wrong.

youtube.com/watch?v=tLGM_2l0zok