I passed my C+E recently and originally only did the test so that I had the option of being able to drive an RV and tow a small car to get over the confusion around the towing limits i.e. 750KG max weight. Once i brought said RV which i didnt do as went down another path but may return to this later.
I have been thinking that may be i will work a few weekends when I am not working in my full time job (self employed I.T contractor) as i have every other Friday off as well as the weekends. Now for this i know i need my CPC but i am a little confused as to exactly what i need to achieve as i have been given conflicting information.
My understanding from reading this forum is that i can either do the Mod 2 + Mod 4 the first time to get my first CPC card then the 5 days training every 5 years OR i can just skip the Mod 2+4 and go straight for the 5 Day CPC training course. Is this correct?
I acquired my car license before 1997 as i believe this makes a difference.
As i am in no hurry and if my 1st question is correct is it better to do the 5 day course if i wanted to learn more or does the 2 mods above (2+4) contain everything the 5 day course does?
The price between doing the mods and doing the 5 day course seem to be around the same so it is only really time that is a factor and i am not in a hurry so to speak as i am not relying on it for my main income.
If you had c1 rights (pre 1997 so yes) when passing your car test then you can do 5 modules. This is the route I obtained my card, given this involves 35 hours of classroom you could well obtain more from it, but equally you could sit one course 5 times and it not benefit you very much. You might be able to get some modules done with something like hiab or flt if that was of interest.
Dont forget second job on eu regs severely limits you if you work 5 days on main job.
You can do it either way, 2+4 or 35 hours (5 days). One thing to keep in mind is that 2+4 are pass or fail where as the 35 hours (5 days) is turn up and you get credited for it.
As to if you will learn anything doing the 35 hours (5days) is open to debate and depends on the standard of the CPC instructor.
Don’t forget whichever way you decide to do it you would not be able to drive comercially until you have complete 2+4, both parts or the whole 35 hours (5days).
njl:
If you had c1 rights (pre 1997 so yes) when passing your car test then you can do 5 modules. This is the route I obtained my card, given this involves 35 hours of classroom you could well obtain more from it, but equally you could sit one course 5 times and it not benefit you very much. You might be able to get some modules done with something like hiab or flt if that was of interest.
Dont forget second job on eu regs severely limits you if you work 5 days on main job.
Thanks for the reply.
If i were to sit the course i would do each subject and not repeat one to ensure i am aware of it, dont see the point of sitting the same subject a few times as i think that would be cause to be a very very long day
Could you expand on the eu regs on 2nd job? i currently work 1 week just normal Mon - Fri then giving me Sat/Sun off, then the following week i work Mon - Thur giving me Fri/Sat/Sun off, this then alternates so every other week i dont work Fri/Sat/Sun
El Deano:
You can do it either way, 2+4 or 35 hours (5 days). One thing to keep in mind is that 2+4 are pass or fail where as the 35 hours (5 days) is turn up and you get credited for it.
As to if you will learn anything doing the 35 hours (5days) is open to debate and depends on the standard of the CPC instructor.
Don’t forget whichever way you decide to do it you would not be able to drive comercially until you have complete 2+4, both parts or the whole 35 hours (5days).
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Thanks, this is what i thought but good to have it confirmed.
jonnyboat:
Why waste 35 hours of your life. If you’re moderately intelligent then passing the mod 2+4 should not be a problem.
You can have both done and dusted in 3-4 hours
It is not the time that it takes but more from what i can learn from it, if i was in a hurry then i would definitly just do the 2 Mods as this would be the quickest route to then working but i am fortunate enough that I wont be relying on this for my main income. Thanks for the advice.
bigzee:
Could you expand on the eu regs on 2nd job? i currently work 1 week just normal Mon - Fri then giving me Sat/Sun off, then the following week i work Mon - Thur giving me Fri/Sat/Sun off, this then alternates so every other week i dont work Fri/Sat/Sun
The relevant regs that you could come unstuck would be :
an unbroken rest period of 45 hours every week - you can reduce this to 24 hours every other week
your weekly rest after 6 consecutive 24-hour periods of working, starting from the end of the last weekly rest period taken
Working Time regulations average 48 hour working week. I’m rubbish on WTR myself but AFAIK if you only work less than 11 days in a 18 week period this doesn’t apply.
Mainly because people can fail to consider there main job working hours when considering part time / casual work, but other jobs should be taken into account, irrespective if it involves driving under GB or EU or neither.
Given that you work a 4 day week every other week, I would suggest that you could expect to drive one day a week regularly if you take a 45hr break every other weekend, leaving a 24hr one every other. Might still pinch on hours for WTR.
If your normal job is not driving then do not worry about the WTD
You need to take off 2 days together one week and one day off the next week to comply with the rest rules and you cannot do more then 6 days in a row
The regs do not use the term DAYS as they are all done by hours but I have used that term to make it simple as you work days in normal job so are likely to drive days on you days off
bigzee:
Could you expand on the eu regs on 2nd job? i currently work 1 week just normal Mon - Fri then giving me Sat/Sun off, then the following week i work Mon - Thur giving me Fri/Sat/Sun off, this then alternates so every other week i dont work Fri/Sat/Sun
The relevant regs that you could come unstuck would be :
an unbroken rest period of 45 hours every week - you can reduce this to 24 hours every other week
your weekly rest after 6 consecutive 24-hour periods of working, starting from the end of the last weekly rest period taken
Working Time regulations average 48 hour working week. I’m rubbish on WTR myself but AFAIK if you only work less than 11 days in a 18 week period this doesn’t apply.
Mainly because people can fail to consider there main job working hours when considering part time / casual work, but other jobs should be taken into account, irrespective if it involves driving under GB or EU or neither.
Given that you work a 4 day week every other week, I would suggest that you could expect to drive one day a week regularly if you take a 45hr break every other weekend, leaving a 24hr one every other. Might still pinch on hours for WTR.
Thanks for clarifying.
ROG:
If your normal job is not driving then do not worry about the WTD
You need to take off 2 days together one week and one day off the next week to comply with the rest rules and you cannot do more then 6 days in a row
The regs do not use the term DAYS as they are all done by hours but I have used that term to make it simple as you work days in normal job so are likely to drive days on you days off
Yes my normal job has nothing to do with driving so by the looks of it on my short week i can work 2 days to keep everything in line…
Miketyres:
To be honest I would just do mod 2+4, both can be completed in less than a few hours in total. The periodic takes 35 hours plus travelling time .
I am not worried about the time it takes but what i am going to learn being new, if i will learn more from the 5 days then i will book this but if it is essentially the same as the mod 2 + 4 then it would be pointless. I get the feeling that the 5 days does cover a lot more so unless i hear different i will probably go this route as i dont have any urgency to get this completed as i am not reliant on it as my main source of income.
If you get a good training company you will certainly learn something, especially if you have mot been in the industry for a few years…or ever!
With regards to the MOD2 & 4, these are pass and fail and people do fail them. Also finding a company that does the mod 4 is quite difficult and can in some cases be quite a wait, the company near me is on a three month wait list.
