I’ve decided that I would like to get my HGV licence, not necessarily because I immediately want to change careers, but as I get older and closer to 50, I think it’s more likely. Plus I like the idea of doing it for a challenge and live close to a massive Waitrose depot - can see myself behind the wheel of one of those green lovelies!
So at 47 I am an old git, I have class 3 C1 on my driving licence already due to passing my driving test in 1993. I have got my medical booked already in just over a week’s time, then the D4 and D2 forms will go off to DVLA. I have two sessions of online CPC already booked, with my intention to get the 35 hours all done and have my CPC card ready.
Tachograph card ordered ‘just in case’, so when I have my provisional C and CE, I will try and get my theory test and hazard perception booked in late this year/early next. Hopefully by then I will have my CPC card and be 35 hours completed.
Am I right in my situation, that as I will have CPC already, that I won’t need to do module 2, the case studies? What about module 4 the practical CPC?
Not sure if I want to go class 2 and then to class 1 later, or whether to try straight to class 1, think I will see if I can get an assessment with a training school, see what they think and go from there.
You won’t need to do mods 2 or 4 unless you want to.
You can choose between doing mods 2 and 4 or 35 hours of periodic training, personally I’d go for the 35 hours of periodic training which can be done online.
In the world of trucking, 47 makes you a youngster!
According to the RHA the average driver age is about mid fifties.
Get a driving job and looking around will make you feel younger straight away. The job itself might change that newly found youthful feeling, but in spite of us moaning about it, lots of us do stay on.
Penguin Mafia:
Plus I like the idea of doing it for a challenge and live close to a massive Waitrose depot - can see myself behind the wheel of one of those green lovelies!
Waitrose do a driving academy for new drivers. Very very unlikely you will get in as hundreds apply for few jobs . But worth trying your luck if they advertise again .free training with a job at the end . If you pass on your own you will need to have your licence for at least 12 months before applying for a job . Agency is a good way in to the company. Staff line will take you after 9 months. And when a vacancy comes up you will be in a very strong position to get taken on .
If you live in Milton Keynes then that site is run by gxo so may be diffrent.
I’ve decided that I would like to get my HGV licence, not necessarily because I immediately want to change careers, but as I get older and closer to 50, I think it’s more likely. Plus I like the idea of doing it for a challenge and live close to a massive Waitrose depot - can see myself behind the wheel of one of those green lovelies!
So at 47 I am an old git, I have class 3 C1 on my driving licence already due to passing my driving test in 1993. I have got my medical booked already in just over a week’s time, then the D4 and D2 forms will go off to DVLA. I have two sessions of online CPC already booked, with my intention to get the 35 hours all done and have my CPC card ready.
Tachograph card ordered ‘just in case’, so when I have my provisional C and CE, I will try and get my theory test and hazard perception booked in late this year/early next. Hopefully by then I will have my CPC card and be 35 hours completed.
Am I right in my situation, that as I will have CPC already, that I won’t need to do module 2, the case studies? What about module 4 the practical CPC?
Not sure if I want to go class 2 and then to class 1 later, or whether to try straight to class 1, think I will see if I can get an assessment with a training school, see what they think and go from there.
Thanks
I’ve been in the same boat mate, albeit i’m the other side of 50.
Id defo go the 35 hours route, you’ll learn far more, the Mod 2 and 4 was a waste of good money imo.
Now working at weekend in Class 1 and love it
Thanks both, done 15 hours of the 35 hours CPC now. Medical next week, get provisional application sent off after that and then start getting some training quotes after that!
An often-overlooked aspect is the eventual aim and whether there are any decent outfits in a close radius to where drivers live, so it is good that you have that aim.
An advantage you have is potentially being able to drive a 7.5 tonne commercially before going for your practical training. The lead up to Christmas is a good time for getting weekend work.
When I converted from 7.5 tonne, I just self-studied for the multiple choice and hazard perception and booked directly with the DVSA. If you book your practical training with a school, you are essentially saying that you will have the passes by the time you turn up for your first day of training.
Well, gutted. Had the medical today and sadly my blood pressure is too high. Otherwise I was all OK, the Doctor has advised I see my GP, get a blood pressure monitor and see if I can get it down through exercise/medication. I don’t smoke, I hardly drink (just special occasions) so I was really surprised that my blood pressure was so high.
Penguin Mafia:
Well, gutted. Had the medical today and sadly my blood pressure is too high. Otherwise I was all OK, the Doctor has advised I see my GP, get a blood pressure monitor and see if I can get it down through exercise/medication. I don’t smoke, I hardly drink (just special occasions) so I was really surprised that my blood pressure was so high.
I had high BP at one point, but because it wasn’t a genetic issue, making lifestyle changes brought it down to an acceptable level. A sound diet and a cardio-fitness routine can work wonders.
I don’t know what your starting point is, but aim to work your way up 20 to 30 minutes a day of decent cardio at least five times a week. By which I mean exercising hard enough that you won’t be able to chat with anyone who might be around.
Exercise makes the body produce nitric oxide, which dilates your blood vessels and therefore lowers your blood pressure.
EDIT: list of approved home-use BP monitors on British and Irish Hypertensive Society website. I bought the same one my GP uses, Omron M3, about £40 on Amazon bihsoc.org/bp-monitors/for-home-use/
Thank you all for the further replies. I had to pop to the supermarket on the way home, went to my local Tesco pharmacy and picked up a self testing blood pressure monitor for £35 (made by Kinetik and endorsed by St John’s Ambulance).
Gave it a go 20 minutes ago and reading was 156/100. I expect a bit more exercise will do the job! The D4 Drivers doctor said to call them up and book a retest, for ~4 weeks time, to give me enough time to get it under control / see my GP if necessary.
Penguin Mafia:
Plus I like the idea of doing it for a challenge and live close to a massive Waitrose depot - can see myself behind the wheel of one of those green lovelies!
Waitrose do a driving academy for new drivers. Very very unlikely you will get in as hundreds apply for few jobs . But worth trying your luck if they advertise again .free training with a job at the end . If you pass on your own you will need to have your licence for at least 12 months before applying for a job . Agency is a good way in to the company. Staff line will take you after 9 months. And when a vacancy comes up you will be in a very strong position to get taken on .
If you live in Milton Keynes then that site is run by gxo so may be diffrent.
i dont getthis if they are training thier own drivers either in house or funding it are they then waiting a year before the candidate starts driving for them… paying them a wage etc etc obviously not. Yet joe bloggs rolls up with something he has funded out of his own pocket but cant drive for them with out the requisite experience
Penguin Mafia:
Plus I like the idea of doing it for a challenge and live close to a massive Waitrose depot - can see myself behind the wheel of one of those green lovelies!
Waitrose do a driving academy for new drivers. Very very unlikely you will get in as hundreds apply for few jobs . But worth trying your luck if they advertise again .free training with a job at the end . If you pass on your own you will need to have your licence for at least 12 months before applying for a job . Agency is a good way in to the company. Staff line will take you after 9 months. And when a vacancy comes up you will be in a very strong position to get taken on .
If you live in Milton Keynes then that site is run by gxo so may be diffrent.
i dont getthis if they are training thier own drivers either in house or funding it are they then waiting a year before the candidate starts driving for them… paying them a wage etc etc obviously not. Yet joe bloggs rolls up with something he has funded out of his own pocket but cant drive for them with out the requisite experience
Point is that they have been trained to the in-house standard. That’s the only sense I can make of it.
Penguin Mafia:
Plus I like the idea of doing it for a challenge and live close to a massive Waitrose depot - can see myself behind the wheel of one of those green lovelies!
Waitrose do a driving academy for new drivers. Very very unlikely you will get in as hundreds apply for few jobs . But worth trying your luck if they advertise again .free training with a job at the end . If you pass on your own you will need to have your licence for at least 12 months before applying for a job . Agency is a good way in to the company. Staff line will take you after 9 months. And when a vacancy comes up you will be in a very strong position to get taken on .
If you live in Milton Keynes then that site is run by gxo so may be diffrent.
i dont getthis if they are training thier own drivers either in house or funding it are they then waiting a year before the candidate starts driving for them… paying them a wage etc etc obviously not. Yet joe bloggs rolls up with something he has funded out of his own pocket but cant drive for them with out the requisite experience
Point is that they have been trained to the in-house standard. That’s the only sense I can make of it.
makes more sense than the usuall our insureance wont let us crap. I would of thought any assesments you had to do would be upto in house standereds although i guess you cant cover as much in an assesment as you can on a practical test
Penguin Mafia:
Thank you all for the further replies. I had to pop to the supermarket on the way home, went to my local Tesco pharmacy and picked up a self testing blood pressure monitor for £35 (made by Kinetik and endorsed by St John’s Ambulance).
Gave it a go 20 minutes ago and reading was 156/100. I expect a bit more exercise will do the job! The D4 Drivers doctor said to call them up and book a retest, for ~4 weeks time, to give me enough time to get it under control / see my GP if necessary.
PM
156/100 isn’t too bad. One doctor told me that it’s best if the small number isn’t over 90, but the last doctor who did my HGV medical told me it’s ok if the small number isn’t over 100. So there seems to be different opinions in the medical profession about what is an acceptable blood pressure.
Did you send the medical away to DVLA and get refused, or just accept that you wouldn’t get the HGV provisional licence issued on the basis of your 156/100 blood pressure?
Your blood pressure can go up sitting in a GP surgery, and if you measured your blood pressure while relaxed at home you might find that your blood pressure is a bit lower.
carlston49:
156/100 isn’t too bad. One doctor told me that it’s best if the small number isn’t over 90, but the last doctor who did my HGV medical told me it’s ok if the small number isn’t over 100. So there seems to be different opinions in the medical profession about what is an acceptable blood pressure.
Did you send the medical away to DVLA and get refused, or just accept that you wouldn’t get the HGV provisional licence issued on the basis of your 156/100 blood pressure?
Your blood pressure can go up sitting in a GP surgery, and if you measured your blood pressure while relaxed at home you might find that your blood pressure is a bit lower.
Some of the time it is over 100 diastolic (I have been measuring it at home) and the doctor said really it needs to be consistently 100 or under. High blood pressure runs in the family, my dad went on the meds at 51 and my mum, who is so slim and petite that there’s virtually nothing to her - went on them at my age. I know I could do with losing more weight and doing more exercise, but I suspect my GP is going to advise medication given the family history.
To answer your question - the doctor at the medical basically said it was too high and that it needed to be consistently under 100; therefore said he couldn’t sign off the form and asked me to come back for a free second medical in a month or two, after I had seen my GP.
This being almost December and pantomime season, I have to say “Oh yes it is!”
gov.uk/government/publicati … fessionals
Regular GPs (ie those not familiar with D4 medicals) need to consult that government document before advising vocational drivers
See page 62
Group 2 bus and lorry Must not drive and must notify DVLA if resting BP is consistently: 180mm Hg or higher systolic and/or 100mm Hg or more diastolic
Penguin Mafia - bear in mind that many factors can affect your BP: taking a reading too soon after eating, moving (including turning your head) while it is reading, talking (especially bad one), even sitting with your ankles crossed.
Zac_A:
Penguin Mafia - bear in mind that many factors can affect your BP: taking a reading too soon after eating, moving (including turning your head) while it is reading, talking (especially bad one), even sitting with your ankles crossed.
Thanks Zac - sadly in my case it wasn’t any of those and is being overweight / needing to exercise more / genetics. Appointment booked with GP for later this week, so see what they have to say.
