Hi All,
I’ve had my Class 2/C license since 2008 and passed with my employer. However at the time when the company went kaboom I had done no DCPC modules.
I changed jobs and bided my time as a van driver up until now, but am looking at making a move, and i have finances available to do Class 1 as well at some point but I have a couple of questions…while I can find similar q&a’s on this site, I can’t find any that really match my circumstance:
I should be covered (from what I can see) under ‘acquired rights’ (FYI passed car test in 2003), however the Gov.uk website says:
You could have the Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) through ‘acquired rights’ if you’re already a professional lorry, bus or coach driver.
This means that because you’ve already been working as a lorry or bus driver, your experience is counted as the same as taking the Driver CPC initial qualification.
The next paragraph the mentions
lorry driver and got your vocational licence (C, C1, C+E and C1+E) before 10 September 2009
. Now I have a license, but do i need to have worked professionally as a HGV driver to obtain acquired rights, or does having the license cover it?
Also, with regards to the Class 1/C+E, do I need to complete any DCPC modules before I do the actual Class 1 training and test? In an ideal world I would be taking DCPC first and signing onto the agency, but I would rather take the Class 1 training & test in a block of days together and not one day each week (as I will need to do with DCPC). Also, should any calimities happen and I haven’t completed DCPC by September (I can’t see this happening but sods law!) do I lose the entitlement to drive HGV or does it simply get suspended until I do the 35 hours refresher?
Many thanks for reading & for your help, and I apologise for the amount of questions but I am quite anxious to get the ball rolling now and want to make sure I have everything clear in my head.
p.s Pleased I found this site as it is proving to be a great help.
