New driver here and quite puzzled and offended. I’m seeing more and more jobs advertised that require a driver to take both a practical and theory test prior to an employment offer. Now,I completely understand that these trucks and loads are of high value, bit after spending thousands of pounds and many hours revision to achieve the licence and CPC, I find it offensive that they then expect you to jump through more hoops! Surely a load certificate and DCQ show that you are up to the job or you wouldn’t have gained then in the first instance?
That is the norm, around 99% of jobs now you have to do an assessment and a quick test on rules and regs, probably only a few agencies that don’t do this.
Didn’t have a driving assessment but did have to do a test on hours etc before agency took me on and farmed me out to current employer…
Being a new pass, I would expect that a prospective employer asks to have a quick run out in their vehicle to assess tour driving, but the theory part seems a little too far. Just another thing that makes the CPC a waste of time and money I guess? 
Chilly77:
New driver here and quite puzzled and offended. I’m seeing more and more jobs advertised that require a driver to take both a practical and theory test prior to an employment offer. Now,I completely understand that these trucks and loads are of high value, bit after spending thousands of pounds and many hours revision to achieve the licence and CPC, I find it offensive that they then expect you to jump through more hoops! Surely a load certificate and DCQ show that you are up to the job or you wouldn’t have gained then in the first instance?
Hi Chilly.
I understand your frustration, but look at it from a potential employers perspective. He, or indeed she, will have received numerous applicants for the position and will want to make sure they get the best candidate. Your qualifications alone, despite your efforts and investment only prove that you meet the minimum standard required by law to do the job, every single applicant will have that or they wouldn’t be there. A potential employer will want to see if you meet their own standard which might be much higher than the legal baseline. Don’t be offended, see it as an opportunity to go there, prove yourself, and give them a reason to pick you instead of someone else with matching qualifications. It’s also a good opportunity for you to decide if they are the company you want to work for, after all I’d rather work for a company who have high standards, and are selective, rather than one that just takes the first licence holder through the door.
Good luck mate, stick with it, it might well be worth it in the end
All good points Alright now and I agree with them all, it’s the fact that the CPC seems pretty much useless in this case? IMO, wouldn’t it be better to only have the need for a CPC for new passes and not the 35hr every 5 years if employers want in depth assessments of their own? For a legal requirement, it seems frowned upon and looked as useless anyway. And I can’t imagine drivers who have been working hard for many years take kindly to all of a sudden not being qualified without one, and don’t blame them. I now fully understand how frustrated the veterans are over the whole thing.
Chilly
An assessment is not only them looking at you, the most important thing is that you can see how the place looks before you commit to working there.
If it looks ok then go for it but if looks a flea pit you can say no ta before signing anything
Jeff.
Chilly77:
All good points Alright now and I agree with them all, it’s the fact that the CPC seems pretty much useless in this case? IMO, wouldn’t it be better to only have the need for a CPC for new passes and not the 35hr every 5 years if employers want in depth assessments of their own? For a legal requirement, it seems frowned upon and looked as useless anyway. And I can’t imagine drivers who have been working hard for many years take kindly to all of a sudden not being qualified without one, and don’t blame them. I now fully understand how frustrated the veterans are over the whole thing.
Chilly, I understand your point about CPC, but I don’t necessarily agree with you. I think that as a concept CPC is a really good idea, but in reality it hasn’t worked because many of the courses that are acreditted are really poor quality, or don’t teach us anything that we feel that we benefit from. I think that the problem with it being for new licence holders only would be that some employers would default to providing no training for their drivers, therefore we would have drivers in our industry who have not received a single day’s training since passing their test. Despite this things change; legislation changes, technology changes, driving techniques change, and there would be no robust mechanism to ensure that drivers keep their knowledge current. No doubt experience keeps the skill current, but I have met lots of drivers who don’t really understand driver’s hours regs, WTD, Highway code,ABS/EBS to name just a few. I am not being disrespectful to our colleagues, but the driver CPC was a fantastic opportunity to force operators to provide good quality, relevant training, and in doing so make our industry a safer and more professional place to work…I just think that in SOME CASES it missed the target by a mile and has subsequently become the subject of ridicule. I must stress that this is my opinion only and I understand that not everyone will agree with me!!
I truely wish you all the best, and hope you find a decent employer, we need more good men in our industry.
Thanks Mate. Gimme a half decent truck, TM and pay and I’m happy. I’m hoping to jack in the current job (3.5T courier work) and get going very early in the new year. I’ve been to see a local firm who seem keen to give me a go but I’m still waiting for the DVLA to pull their finger out and return my licence (4 weeks and counting and still showing unclaimed online?!). Anything to avoid those pesky agencies.