chicane:
So 27% completed so say 33% by now? How many drivers is that and how many does the industry need.
How many will have left the industry by Sept 14?
Bearing in mind the number of new drivers has dropped from 40,000 to 9,000 per annum the end of the year could get interesting.
But is that 27% out of the total number of license holders or drivers, my father in law has a license but has been retired for 10 years how many others are like that.
Thats why I asked how many the industry needs but even if only half the number of licence holders are ‘active’ its still leaves a hell of potential shortfall, look at the number of wagons on the road at any one time and then at least double that for the number of drivers required…
I don’t know the figures but say
400,000 hgv ticket holders
say 50% ‘active’ = 200,000
say 70% = completed their DCPC by 14Sept = 140,000 to drive however many wagons are needed on the road
Not so sure about that because the overall LGV licence holder figure includes all those people who hold a pre 1997 C1 who have never and probably will never use it for commercial purposes
Not so sure about that because the overall LGV licence holder figure includes all those people who hold a pre 1997 C1 who have never and probably will never use it for commercial purposes
I was just wildly guestimating as there are a lot who just run their own wagons for running their own livestock/produce etc around, so do you reckon its higher or lower than 50% active?
The OP sounds like a guy at my work. We had to take a pay cut in an allowance, meaning a loss of £90 a month. The guy in question at work sold his house to his brother and is now living in a bedsit because he thought the £90 loss a month he wouldnt be able to afford it, funnily enough hes in the pub every night of the week till kicking out time. Some people need to get their priorities right, you can afford one day off a month or whenever to undertake it
dantruckman:
Come this September my clean licence and 16 years of class 1 experience and knowledge will become useless overnight.
The reason im unable to complete this BULL [zb] course is money. As im an agency driver like most of us are and can not afford to pay for the DCPC and lose a weeks wage, im sure there will be many more thousands of drivers in the same postion.
The DSA and Transport minster need to think about this situation as the impact to business could be massive, as most firms use agency drivers to make up about 70% of there work force ie Tesco Asda DHL Wincanton ect. So when we cant go to work on the 10th of September big impact on them and there operation.
Also hows it going to look when 1000’s of us drivers are having to claim doll at a time when the Goverment is trying to get the country working.
They must think this trough and remember its only a directive and not EU LAW!!!
I know what most of you will say… there just flood the market with EU drivers in which case the rates would become even lower than they are.
How the hell have we let this happen to this once great job and industry of ours?
HGV Driving rip 10/09/2014
Sorry just going to say something. You knew this was coming. You knew you had five years to sort it out. You could have done 1 per year and you would have been fine. Now because you didn’t do that you have to fit it all in within a week.
Sorry your fault no one else’s. Yes the DCPC is a waste of time. I had to pay £300 to be able to drive for a living. after two weeks I got a card with no hours on it. So far I have 21 hours and have to 2017 to finish it.
chicane:
Fair enough but does anyone have firmish figures?
There was a article in Commercial Motor start of this year.
it reckon approx 750,000 Truck and Bus drivers need a DCPC.
as of December 2013
274,369 had completed the 35 hours, but that must include all PCV drivers who already need it.
129,504 had done up to 28 hours
88,012 had done up to 21 hours
76,811 had done up to 14 hours
90,584 had done up to 7 hours.
They reckoned that made 694,638
But I reckon that makes 659,280
which leave about 90,000 yet to take or start training, or 50,000 if you make it 694,638.
even if you take out of that people like my boss who hold an HGV license but don’t use it, those who use it for private use and those that will bite the bullet and take a week off to do it I think they’ll still be quite a sizable exodus of drivers from the haulage industry.
chicane:
Fair enough but does anyone have firmish figures?
There was a article in Commercial Motor start of this year.
it reckon approx 750,000 Truck and Bus drivers need a DCPC.
as of December 2013
274,369 had completed the 35 hours, but that must include all PCV drivers who already need it.
129,504 had done up to 28 hours
88,012 had done up to 21 hours
76,811 had done up to 14 hours
90,584 had done up to 7 hours.
They reckoned that made 694,638
But I reckon that makes 659,280
which leave about 90,000 yet to take or start training, or 50,000 if you make it 694,638.
even if you take out of that people like my boss who hold an HGV license but don’t use it, those who use it for private use and those that will bite the bullet and take a week off to do it I think they’ll still be quite a sizable exodus of drivers from the haulage industry.
September could be interesting.
Lots of jobs will be going and hopefully I will have got a class 1 by then and be able to walk in to one
georgy:
The OP sounds like a guy at my work. We had to take a pay cut in an allowance, meaning a loss of £90 a month. The guy in question at work sold his house to his brother and is now living in a bedsit because he thought the £90 loss a month he wouldnt be able to afford it, funnily enough hes in the pub every night of the week till kicking out time. Some people need to get their priorities right, you can afford one day off a month or whenever to undertake it
More to the point, who the hell does he work for■■? to be able to pay his way and be in the pub every night of the week must be on good money
Latest figures I can find for C, C+E, C1, C1+E tests passed is 2012/13, total tests passed was 24,498 but that doesn’t detail how many candidates sat 2nd or 3rd categories, so the 9,000 new driver figure might not be far out.
Figures show there was a dramatic (@30%) fall in the number of both sits and passes from 2009/10 onwards compared to previous years
chicane:
Latest figures I can find for C, C+E, C1, C1+E tests passed is 2012/13, total tests passed was 24,498 but that doesn’t detail how many candidates sat 2nd or 3rd categories, so the 9,000 new driver figure might not be far out.
Figures show there was a dramatic (@30%) fall in the number of both sits and passes from 2009/10 onwards compared to previous years
i made my mind up when this cpc card was introduced that come sept 14 i am finally quitting this game for good or unless wages go up to make me want to come back again : ) which i am hoping will happen, but then by me making a stand and refusing to get a card means i am also going to help the spineless hgv drivers who have already rushed out to get there’s as they have no metal to stand up to the powers that be.
they say there worried that drivers will come from elsewhere to take there well paid 8.50 p/hour jobs : ) so they dare not risk it. and its because of this sort of mentality that hgv industry is in such a poor state. get some back bone would be my message to all drivers who have rushed out to get there new shiny card.
25 years i have been an hgv driver and i earned more over 10 years ago when i could get hourly rate and overtime after 8 hours than i could ever make today and yet the cost of living has gone up so it all works out i am on much less
on top of this i now would have to pay out for this new card and they will enforce it if i dont have it and its this that i am not going to do not unless the job starts paying higher wages
so for those of you who have your card and are saying good get out of the job it means more money for yourselves. it just shows me what a spineless bunch of whimps you people are and if by my actions and many others who are also refusing to get a card we manage to get more money for hgvs then i hope you guys would hold your hands up and admit you didnt do anything to improve things but just went along with it all like sheep
sorry but it makes my blood boil
25 years i have been in the game, i can drive anything, any gear box you care to mention. i dont need a sat nav to get around. been there done that and got the tshirt. so replace us drivers with the new sat nav automatic drivers who have a nice card to match and who dont mind having spy cams in there cabs along with the spy cards ( tachos ) and all manner of high tech trackers. and pay them 8.50 an hour and of course if they get anything wrong then throw the book at them. make sure car insurance increases for these types of drivers as they must be loonys and give cheaper car insurances to the boss who doesnt drive artics
there really isnt much good to say about the industry and the standards its expects from hgv drivers and yet this card is going to make us all much safer ■■ is it hell its a rip off and all the drivers agree on it but not many have the real guts to stand up and be counted
Once again, can I just remind you that you only have to do the 35hrs classroom work… think of those who has had to do the inital test infront of an examiner AND 35hrs classroom work… you have it easy. You can pick them up for around £50 7 hrs.
^^^^^^^ Spineless HGV drivers? Withdraw your labour when they brought medicals in at 45 did you? Withdraw your labour when they brought digi cards out did you? No, I thought not.
You don’t agree with the DCPC, well I’ve got news for you, many more don’t either, but they aren’t cutting their noses off to spite their faces, no they need to work to put food on the table and whilst they may not like it they live in the real world. By all means be my guest and make your stand if it makes you feel better, but don’t dare call anyone who has done their DCPC a spineless coward just because your teddies are out of the pram.
I was going to throw the towel in because of this CPC bowlocks,unfortunately something has cropped up and said towel will not be getting thrown anywhere,anytime soon.
I’ll just have to bite the bullet and like many,pay for it myself.Wasn’t the plan,but needs must and all that.
From a personal point of view I will not be sitting the DCPC
before the deadline.
I will be in Thailand when the axe falls but if it turns out that
there is a gold pig to be earned then I have put some money to
one side so I can get it if needed.
If it turns out to be business as usual then hopefully I will already
be well on the road to earning my living doing something else.
I realize that Im in a different position to a lot of drivers
(no bin lids or bread knife) and would never have a go at anyone
who needs a weekly pay packet to survive.
My main hope is that by abstaining I can help to shake up the industry
for the better of us all.
must be on good money 
