they’ll be having breaks at the depot
make sure you have yours’
You can guess what I’m gonna say …
Get booked onto a DCPC course and get it all explained to you in an appropriate environment. Ask all your questions and walk away confident in your knowledge.
shep532:
You can guess what I’m gonna say …Get booked onto a DCPC course and get it all explained to you in an appropriate environment. Ask all your questions and walk away confident in your knowledge.
You can guess what I’m going to say to …
Half the people asking these questions have been on DCPC tachograph courses and fed a lot of misinformation.
tachograph:
shep532:
You can guess what I’m gonna say …Get booked onto a DCPC course and get it all explained to you in an appropriate environment. Ask all your questions and walk away confident in your knowledge.
You can guess what I’m going to say to …
Half the people asking these questions have been on DCPC tachograph courses and fed a lot of misinformation.
■■■■■■■■ - you are just guessing at the statistics. Some may have been given a few bits of bad info but no more so than they have been given by their employers who have no idea themselves and no more than they have probably read on these very pages and many more forums like this. I KNOW you always give the correct answers along with a few others on here who I know are always correct and helpful experts but there are usually more incorrect posts than correct.
Out of the two threads asking the most basic questions I have seen this evening both appear to be new drivers who haven’t attended any DCPC yet - I may be wrong but that’s how I see it. And if they aren’t getting these basics right it would be interesting to see what their overall record keeping is like in a roadside check.
The point I was trying to make is that in a classroom there is far more chance of explaining something in the right way using words/diagrams/white boards/powerpoint/books/videos/case studies etc etc. It is much harder to post replies on here and get the message across.
The main issue I can see with the dcpc is that three guys on three different courses covering the same subject but asking the same question will get three different answers from the “instructor”.
It was supposed to be the saviour of the industry but I cant see it. Not when different cpc companies tell you different things
To be fair the whole thing is a farce.
The cpc for a new driver is included across the elements of the driving tests. multiple choice tests, theory, practical etc.
The offical dsa books offer no guidance or help whatsoever with regards to tachos,in the multiple choice tests you might be asked no more than ten questions relating to breaks,rests,poa,hours etc
So yes its hardly surprising that some people might ask what seems the most obvious that they should know. Ive had to learn my tacho on an online simulator to help me understand it properly & this is since passing my test
with the confusion with the breaks,modes,hours etc & drivers hours / w.t.d this should be a mandatory test in itself as i gained my license without knowing anything so there are obviously others also.
shep532:
It is much harder to post replies on here and get the message across.
Yes it is but as this is an open forum there is much less chance of an uncorrected wrong answer being left without others correcting it
the gimp:
To be fair the whole thing is a farce.
Yes it is especially when mod 2 could easily be made into a proper test on the regs so the candidate would have to study and understand them before passing such a test
The-Snowman:
The main issue I can see with the dcpc is that three guys on three different courses covering the same subject but asking the same question will get three different answers from the “instructor”.
It was supposed to be the saviour of the industry but I cant see it. Not when different cpc companies tell you different things
You moan about the inadequacy of the dcpc and yet you tell this guy that he can work 15hr shifts every day!
The-Snowman:
You can work for 15 hours total per day,from shift start till shift ends eg 6am till 9pm
maybe you should have paid attention on yours 
shep532:
tachograph:
shep532:
You can guess what I’m gonna say …Get booked onto a DCPC course and get it all explained to you in an appropriate environment. Ask all your questions and walk away confident in your knowledge.
You can guess what I’m going to say to …
Half the people asking these questions have been on DCPC tachograph courses and fed a lot of misinformation.
■■■■■■■■ - you are just guessing at the statistics.
Well no I wasn’t actually guessing at the statistics any more than I actually meant half as in 50% or 50 out of a hundred but I’m guessing you knew that 
Anyway it doesn’t alter the fact that many of the questions on this board are from people who was given misinformation on DCPC courses, and admittedly some from people who have probably misunderstood what they was told, either way it shows that the DCPC is close to being worthless in it’s current form.
As far as wrong answers given on this board are concerned I think you’ll find that they are nearly always, if not always, corrected by someone, and that’s one of the big problems with the DCPC, there is no-one to check or correct information that’s given.
I’m appalled that the initial DCPC doesn’t cover drivers hours and WTD, basically the training course is falling way behind whats needed in the modern world of haulage. Things have changed a bit since I did my test, that was basic, but then drivers hours could be bluffed a bit and they had to take you to court to fine you so they most likely gave you a warning unless it was serious and the chances of the ministry checking your load would be very unusual unless it was actually falling off when they stopped you.
These days you can get an on the spot fine for minor infringements or not having the required amount of straps.
The job requires a proper structured course including many hours in the classroom, I think other European countries do this, but the UK industry is afraid of this, as it would mean training becoming almost unaffordable for those self funding unless they got a well paid job at the end of it and of course the haulage industry doesn’t really want to pay for training or improve pay and condition to attract people into the industry.
So we’re left with a system that has doesn’t prepare for an industry driven by rules and regs.
Click on this link and download yourself a copy of GV 262… It’ll make good bedtime reading
muckles:
The job requires a proper structured course including many hours in the classroom
I don’t agree with that, in fact it’s the worst thing about the current DCPC in my opinion.
Why raise learning costs when a trainee could learn in his/her own time and just sit the test, you can learn to drive HGVs without any compulsory professional training, I’m not saying I’d advise it but you can, so why does everyone believe the only way to learn the regulations is to sit in a classroom.
You can do the TM CPC without compulsory training if you feel confident to study in your own time so why is the DCPC so different.
I don’t get this obsession with compulsory classroom training, classroom training may suit some people and that’s fine but I see no reason to make it compulsory.
tachograph:
muckles:
The job requires a proper structured course including many hours in the classroomI don’t agree with that, in fact it’s the worst thing about the current DCPC in my opinion.
Why raise learning costs when a trainee could learn in his/her own time and just sit the test, you can learn to drive HGVs without any compulsory professional training, I’m not saying I’d advise it but you can, so why does everyone believe the only way to learn the regulations is to sit in a classroom.
You can do the TM CPC without compulsory training if you feel confident to study in your own time so why is the DCPC so different.
I don’t get this obsession with compulsory classroom training, classroom training may suit some people and that’s fine but I see no reason to make it compulsory.
Ok fair point many hours of study and proper exams to prove they have understood the subject. It seems quite obvious that the present system isn’t preparing new drivers for the raft of rules and regulations they will be working under and get fined for falling foul of.
Isn’t it more a case of the new drivers failing to prepare themselves for the employment they are seeking? And of course some existing drivers failing to ever brush up on their knowledge at all.
I look forward to the day the DCPC is ‘earned’ by passing an exam/test in the same way the Operator CPC is - that will be the day it will actually be a professional qualification as opposed to a card to prove simple attendance.
I have an operator/manager CPC and other ‘professional’ qualifications because I worked/studied hard and passed the exams - I then continued to attend refresher courses, seminars, read reports and documents etc on the subjects because that is what a professional does and it ensures I have the best knowledge and understanding I can have. I still get asked things I can’t answer from memory but usually know where to find the answer.
Tachograph is quite right about the current DCPC - nobody is there to check the information given is correct, but they are there to check understanding and the best way we could do that is via a test/exam. So lets campaign to up the game a little and bring in a proper exam/test/assessment.
What was it a trainer once said to me - “I can give you the information but I can’t understand it for you” or something like that.
I know many are not a fan of the DCPC and never will be and I understand why, but I also meet many more who appreciate what they got from it and are happy to have attended and learnt something to keep them on the right side of this heavily regulated industry.
Reef:
The-Snowman:
The main issue I can see with the dcpc is that three guys on three different courses covering the same subject but asking the same question will get three different answers from the “instructor”.
It was supposed to be the saviour of the industry but I cant see it. Not when different cpc companies tell you different thingsYou moan about the inadequacy of the dcpc and yet you tell this guy that he can work 15hr shifts every day!
The-Snowman:
You can work for 15 hours total per day,from shift start till shift ends eg 6am till 9pmmaybe you should have paid attention on yours
I did. No one said ANYTHING to me about only being able to do 15hr shifts no more than 3 times a week.
Do you not think,possibly,that that completely confirms my point? A few hours ago was the first ive ever heard about a 13hr day.
At least tachograph was a bit diplomatic about it
I am truly astounded at the number of “drivers” on here almost shouting driving hours laws at someone when they blatantly have no idea what the current regulations are. There is no point trying to blame an inadequate DCPC course, it is YOUR profession, YOU should make yourself fully aware of these rules and regulations.
The problem with the DCPC as it stands is it has no value whatsoever as a learning tool. Or at least, what value it may have is largely down to luck. As long as there’s no set syllabus and no requirement to demonstrate an understanding of what you’ve learnt, that’ll continue to be the case. I wouldn’t argue that there’s no need for it at all - one of the things which has always irked me is the way we’re somehow supposed to just know about new rules and regulations - but it should really be made into a proper qualification, with a module on drivers’ hours which everyone has to do and an exam to pass. As it stands at the moment, my own DCPC was no use whatsoever and taught me nothing I didn’t already know, largely becasue it was taught by some old bloke who showed us some videos and flannelled on about his driving career for two days. (The rest of the time I sat at the back of an ADR course and clocked up the rest of the training hours that way, even though I already held a current ADR ticket.) The whole thing is a big missed opportunity at the moment.
shep532:
Isn’t it more a case of the new drivers failing to prepare themselves for the employment they are seeking? And of course some existing drivers failing to ever brush up on their knowledge at all.
It’s to easy to blame the drivers, but as we’ve seen with this thread and other threads, some drivers ask questions because they’re unsure, other who believe they know give them completely the wrong answer. And over the years I’ve heard so many different interpretations of the regulations, mostly wrong.
If such a large proportion of the industry (it’s not just drivers) don’t understand something there must be something fundamentally wrong with the way the information is delivered or the industry needs to attract the type of person who is motivated enough to self study and that won’t happen with training and pay and conditions as they are at present.
shep532:
I look forward to the day the DCPC is ‘earned’ by passing an exam/test in the same way the Operator CPC is - that will be the day it will actually be a professional qualification as opposed to a card to prove simple attendance.I have an operator/manager CPC and other ‘professional’ qualifications because I worked/studied hard and passed the exams - I then continued to attend refresher courses, seminars, read reports and documents etc on the subjects because that is what a professional does and it ensures I have the best knowledge and understanding I can have. I still get asked things I can’t answer from memory but usually know where to find the answer.
So did I and it’s because I wanted, and had the opportunity, to move away from just driving to planing and managing.
shep532:
Tachograph is quite right about the current DCPC - nobody is there to check the information given is correct, but they are there to check understanding and the best way we could do that is via a test/exam. So lets campaign to up the game a little and bring in a proper exam/test/assessment.What was it a trainer once said to me - “I can give you the information but I can’t understand it for you” or something like that.
I know many are not a fan of the DCPC and never will be and I understand why, but I also meet many more who appreciate what they got from it and are happy to have attended and learnt something to keep them on the right side of this heavily regulated industry.
I’m not a fan of the DCPC in it’s present form, waste of time. If we are going to keep it make it worth doing, test based, proper syllabus and practical training, so for example if you’re going to do load security, instead of being in as classroom trying to stay awake, actually secure a load to a trailer.
But does the industry really want it to be more difficult to train drivers, or are they afraid that they’ll have to improve pay and conditions to attract enough people into the industry.
Part of the problem with the drivers’ hours regs is that they’re just so bloody complex. Look at any thread on here which starts with a relatively simple question about, say, how many hours a driver can work in a day and it doesn’t take long before there are three or four knowledgeable people arguing about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. Try explaining drivers’ hours to someone outside the industry and you soon start tying yourself in knots … “well, I can drive for four and a half hours, then I need a 45 minute break, which can be taken as a 15 and a 30 (but not the other way around). Then I can do another four and a half hours, except for twice a week when I can do five and a half hours, as long as I have another 45 minute break. And I have to fit that into a working day of thirteen hours, except for three times a week when I can extend that to fifteen hours. As long, that is, as I’m not averaging over 48 hours a week for the WTD rules …” and so on. In practice, it’s easy enough once you get your head around it, but it’s no wonder new drivers sometimes struggle with it a bit. Especially now enforcement is so rigorous and the punishments for inadvertently taking fourteen minutes on a break instead of fifteen are so draconian.