Come on guys,why are we letting this goverment sponge our hard earned money off us for another bright idea. Dont they have enough off us and our employers as it is? I’ve had my class 1 for 14years,been driving for a living 17 years,since the age of 18.I class myself as a top class professional in my game,yes i know your always learning in this industry and i know there is always a lot of change that we have to keep up with,but do they think we have gone into a coma or something since passing our test???this might be a big shock,Believe it or not,i know how to drive a truck economicley by now,common sense really isnt it?Theres a thing in front of me i stare at every day,i thinks they call it a revolution counter or some such thing,shock horror,keep it in the green and you aint using so much fuel,i was totally amazed when i found this fact out,and i tell you something else too,did you know when a truck engine is running it is actully using fuel?well i never,i thought it was magic…fair enough,if they want to change the way new licences are given thats change for you.but why should i have to pay an average of £100 every year to be able to keep the licence i’ve already passed an exam for and do the job i’ve done for 17 years,I know a lot of drivers are holding back in the hope something will give and we wont need to do it.I want to start a petition to try and get something started and push for some sort of grandfather rights. Lets get some unity in our industry that this goverment is doing its best to destroy.
you have granfather rights untill 2014 that is why the 2014 deadline was brought in it only on going training which will keep you up to speed on legeslation that will have been brought in as well as technical feature of new trucks and driving styles.
and judgeing be most of the posts on this and other forums regarding tacho regs wtd regs etc its about time it came in
I’ve been driving for long enough to know how to drive economically as well, but I recently knocked 0.4mpg off my wagon’s fuel figures week on week by turning it off a lot more. I knew it would make a difference but not that much. That’s a saving of well over £3000 a year at current prices. The relevance? We all still have things to learn. 
Lol.
alix776:
you have granfather rights untill 2014 that is why the 2014 deadline was brought in it only on going training which will keep you up to speed on legeslation that will have been brought in as well as technical feature of new trucks and driving styles.and judgeing be most of the posts on this and other forums regarding tacho regs wtd regs etc its about time it came in
Yeah but it don’t take 35hours to get upto date on the tacho rules ect the dcpc as it is just an extra tax we all could do without
We already have grandfather rights, that’s why anyone passing their test now has to to do their CPC straight away but we have until 2014 to do it.
To be honest I have little time for the “I’ve been doing this for years” brigade as to be honest it’s the ones who have been doing it since God was a boy that seem to have the worst grasp of the rules in my experience. A lot of the “old boys” I’ve spoken to over the years have had some very strange ideas about drivers hours rules, mainly due to not being properly educated about the new ones when they’ve come in and relying instead on MMTM.
Paul
splitpin, i am afraid you are a little late to the party, there has been protests, letters written to mps, news media, ministers. which have all been ignored. the powers that be are worried as the take up of this rip off tax on your right to work has not had enough response from drivers to take up this so called training, sadly there are fewdrivers seem to think this actually training. then there are a few who have to do it as there firm is paying. but from most accounts it is an insult to the average intelligence. if you training in how to get in or out of a cab and put no plate on, or couple up to or drop a trailer then it is time to hand your licence in. i hope enough drivers start looking for other work out of transport before 2014. all they need is a little more belief in their abilities to do another job. and for those who think they will be able to command a higher wage are living in cloud cuckoo land. so you may notice the poison dripping has started to influence some drivers. yet i can not understand how people can be so gullible. when you consider, there is no requirement to asess a drivers needs, choose your own so called training and do the samr thing 5 times. no exam and you cant fail. says it all really
mavrick:
splitpin, i am afraid you are a little late to the party, there has been protests, letters written to mps, news media, ministers. which have all been ignored. the powers that be are worried as the take up of this rip off tax on your right to work has not had enough response from drivers to take up this so called training, sadly there are fewdrivers seem to think this actually training. then there are a few who have to do it as there firm is paying. but from most accounts it is an insult to the average intelligence. if you training in how to get in or out of a cab and put no plate on, or couple up to or drop a trailer then it is time to hand your licence in. i hope enough drivers start looking for other work out of transport before 2014. all they need is a little more belief in their abilities to do another job. and for those who think they will be able to command a higher wage are living in cloud cuckoo land. so you may notice the poison dripping has started to influence some drivers. yet i can not understand how people can be so gullible. when you consider, there is no requirement to asess a drivers needs, choose your own so called training and do the samr thing 5 times. no exam and you cant fail. says it all really
+1^
Yeah repton, thanks a lot pal…so what has your comment got to do with drivers hours ■■..As it happens, i am quite clued up on the hours because…i read the posts on Trucknet 
I have taken my DCPC…and there was not one mention of drivers hours, and that is one reason why drivers are so incensed about this ridiculous qualification.
If you want to shout your mouth off, at least do it with some conviction, and not slag off older drivers who have done more miles backwards than you have forwards 
We should collectively, bombard our transport ministers, and their brussels counterparts ( and i do ) with the eurozone not sticking to the rules of the eurozone. I am sorry to have to mention Poland as one example of the driving test…where they can take a HGV test, and obtain their licence for a class 1 vehicle, for simply driving a farm tractor with a trailer on the back. Can we do this in the uk, or what other countries within the EU can get away with what i call a very dangerous practice…and then let these drivers loose on the highways of the Eurozone. As far as i am aware, there are no other countries that use and abuse this practice.
Just to round off my rant, i did in fact complete 48 yrs in this industry prior to reaching my retirement age, and am now working 3 days a week…still driving the bloody things, so i am more incensed than others at having to take a DCPC, after all, if i dont know the rules by now…i never will…but my beef is not about the qualification, but the quality of it, for it does not teach me anything i dont already know.
truckyboy:
Yeah repton, thanks a lot pal…so what has your comment got to do with drivers hours ■■..As it happens, i am quite clued up on the hours because…i read the posts on Trucknet
I have taken my DCPC…and there was not one mention of drivers hours, and that is one reason why drivers are so incensed about this ridiculous qualification.
If you want to shout your mouth off, at least do it with some conviction, and not slag off older drivers who have done more miles backwards than you have forwards
My point wasn’t supposed to be a dig at experienced drivers more making the point that in this industry there is always something to learn even if you have been driving for nigh on 50 years. Stuff is always changing , there is always something new to learn and so in my view periodic training is a Good Thing.
That said, the way it has been implemented is terrible and it will no doubt be the case that many of the people who could benefit most from it will simply do the 5 cheapest courses they can find and a lot of the value of the whole thing will be lost.
Paul
So Repton! You agree with Truckyboy and Bazman then?
I don’t know why everyone is still kicking up about it. You can claim it back on your tax return, if you’re employed you file one any way and you will get the money back. I got this from bussiness link, as the course is essential to you keeping your job the government pay it.
Away lads wake up 
, your comments are all based on believing the official line that the dcpc has all to do with driver professionalism, road safety etc, absoloute bollo, it,s a money making excercise, a hidden agenda, or stealth tax, call it what you like. The only criteria is that you turn up! you could sit listening to your mp3, do the Sun crossword, sit scratching your arse it doesn,t matter you have paid your money and created a new job for your instructor, in fact you could go to the next 3 sessions, or however long you need, of the same syllabus and listen to 3 repeats of the same cack, and guess what you are now a Professional competent LGV driver, another fine example of the cynical way this industry looks upon us, so really this topic is irrelavant.
robroy:
Away lads wake up
rob, i have said this all along. and the industry reps are doing ef all about it
infact, if i was mr tozer at tw i would record the first course on video showing everyone asleep and post it on youtube and get the media involved. then wait for the ■■■■ to hit the fan
greggy:
robroy:
Away lads wake uprob, i have said this all along. and the industry reps are doing ef all about it
Yeh and rest assured, true to form, they will carry on doing ef all about it so just pay up and smile and take all the BS they give us as we always have done, I just can not believe these guys have actually believed it.
caz:
I don’t know why everyone is still kicking up about it. You can claim it back on your tax return, if you’re employed you file one any way and you will get the money back. I got this from bussiness link, as the course is essential to you keeping your job the government pay it.
Either BusinessLink are telling lies or you misunderstood them. The training costs are tax deductible, that much is true, but that doesn’t mean you get the entire cost of them back it simply means you get to pay for them from your income before tax is taken off and therefore it costs you less in your pocket than it would have if you had to pay tax on the money first.
Paul
dessy:
So Repton! You agree with Truckyboy and Bazman then?
Yes and no.
I believe that some kind of periodic training for drivers is a good idea. Nearly every other industry has it and seeing some of the questions people ask on here about many aspects of the industry it is clear that more training of one kind or another is sorely needed.
However the way it has been done in this case is next to useless and we as an industry deserve better really.
Paul
repton:
dessy:
So Repton! You agree with Truckyboy and Bazman then?Yes and no.
I believe that some kind of periodic training for drivers is a good idea. Nearly every other industry has it and seeing some of the questions people ask on here about many aspects of the industry it is clear that more training of one kind or another is sorely needed.
However the way it has been done in this case is next to useless and we as an industry deserve better really.
Paul
Thats the whole point, there is no training involved. a golden opportunity is being missed.
mavrick:
repton:
Yes and no.I believe that some kind of periodic training for drivers is a good idea. Nearly every other industry has it and seeing some of the questions people ask on here about many aspects of the industry it is clear that more training of one kind or another is sorely needed.
However the way it has been done in this case is next to useless and we as an industry deserve better really.
Paul
Thats the whole point, there is no training involved. a golden opportunity is being missed.
It’s worse than that Mavrik! We drivers are not the best paid in the world on average! But are seen as easy pickings by Trainers/Vosa for self funding purposes now and any one in the future who fancies it!
I say use the system to benefit us and try to keep the rest from making any money out of us! 
No Alix776 you have not got grandfather rights untill 2014 because you will still have to have done 35 hours training by then, at a cost of about £500 to keep working…right…For 1… i do not like the way the old boys have been targeted here…Have a bit of respect and dont be so rude,these boys are the true knights of the road and can normally run rings around someone half the age plus its mentioned loads of drivers dont know tacho rules or w.t.d…now whos fault is that really?? transport managers…to run a uk haulage company a transport manager has to be professionley competetent,there should not be single driver on the road who does not know correct drivers hours,if they dont ,the c.p.c holder of that company is not running it according to law.why cant they be made to do the training and then that information be relayed to all employees.iv got nothing against transport managers,a good one who nows what they are doing is worth a lot.but a bad one is soon going to wipe your 0.4of a mpg out with dead miles and empty running.I have done 1 days so called training and was quite enthusiastic about it before hand .But now,well all i can say is “money for old rope”
i started this thread as tester really to see how drivers would stick together,its like i thought really ,desk jockeys or ex desk jockeys who love being in a classroom.and there is a few who will stick together…