Petition For Mandatory British HGV Test To Drive Here

It"s time for action…
I"m a female driver, have been for 20 years next year, I"m out all week every week Tramping on a curtain side Artic. Everywhere I collect and deliver, and every truck stop I stay at, I hear the same conversation over and over…British drivers, shunters and warehouse staff always complaining about the foreign drivers that can"t drive!! They can!t drive because they have never had training nor sat a test…They brag about buying their fake HGV licences for peanuts in their home countries, then come over here and they are allowed to drive for British Companies on these fake licences. We all know its happening and it"s about time we got together to stop this happening.

DVSA have stated that over the next 5 years 44,000 British Class C+E Drivers will be retiring…Who is going to replace them?? I, personally, have several friends and family members who want to be Truckers, but, the cost of getting the Class C+E licence is so expensive now it"s not an option for them, and they all say it"s not worth all the expense with the risk of not getting work because of all the foreign drivers taking the jobs…

It"s time we did something to help our own…

I want to start a petition to make it mandatory for all nationalities to take a British HGV Test and obtain a British HGV Licence to be able to drive and work for a British Company…

I"m not professing to know how to go about starting a petition nor whom to present it to…Hence writing this thread asking for help!!
Please, if any of you know how to go about making a petition, or you know someone who knows, Please let me know so I can get the ball rolling…Thanks…

N.B. I am not insinuating in any way that ALL Foreign Drivers working in this country are doing so on fake Licences, and those that have legitimately trained and gained their HGV Licences in their home countries should have no reservations about repeating the test here!!!

Problem is theres plenty of home grown drivers that need re-testing first.

It will go against EU law or some nonsense like that.

There are two seperate issues there.One is all about driving standards and dodgy licences the other is about importing cheap east european labour.You won’t fix the latter by just sorting out the former.While even UKIP has caved in to the cheap labour agenda now so don’t expect anything to change soon in that regard.

wenders66:
It"s time for action…

I totally agree with the sentiment and wish you luck with your campaign. There are however many issues which you will need to consider.

As an international trading nation we export the vast majority of our overseas trade into Europe. I drive on a regular basis to: France, Holland, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Croatia, Poland… no-where is off limits.

Whilst I fully recognise, agree and know you are absolutely right about the standard of driving, it would be impossible to achieve without smashing our own exports trade.

There are also some other issues, not least of these is the driving standards vary in Europe… and quite frankly you are deluding yourself if you think the UK is better than the rest. The Dutch for example have much better training and testing arrangements in place.

There’s also the driving style, our driving style is out of kilter with the rest of Europe and to be honest - the way they do it is often much better.

I personally would like to see the ‘bar raised’ much higher and the police actually dealing with bad driving. Unfortunately UK cops know very little about truck driving and therefore are not really equipped to deal with the issues professionally.

Notwithstanding your point though, there are a lot of dodgy foreign trucks operating in the UK and a large number of UK companies willing to employ foreign drivers… who must have got their licenses from car boot sales in Lalaland.

I’m a little puzzled as to why you opened your post with “I’m a female driver”. Does it make a difference, or add weight to your argument?

I’m a male driver, like you a tramper with many years behind me, and I’ve never heard these “conversations” of which you speak. If there are people that buy their licences online for peanuts, it must be a tiny minority, and I can’t believe they would go into truckstops and boast about it. I’ve encountered countless foreign drivers working over here, and most have driving skills comparable to ours. The ones that don’t may just be newly qualified, dropped into a right hand drive vehicle on the wrong side of the road.

However, if you want to do it try

epetitions.direct.gov.uk/

I"m a female driver, have been for 20 years next year,

This line makes me smile this morning, you planning to change ■■■?

Right i like you post, but for the wrong reasons, would this mean that every British driver needs to pass the local test if they driver for a foreign company?
Many British drivers work in Holland, France, Spain, you name it and there are British drivers who have happily exchanged their British license for a foreign one.
This is without any test, i have changed my Dutch for a British one, cost me half an hour and a few quid, no problem.

What you are saying would mean that we turn the clock 50 year back, we have fought to have free travel between countries and the possibility for EEG people to work in every country in the community.
A lot of British people grabbed that chance and worked for donkey years abroad, either in pubs, engineering, or maybe as a driver.
This is an agreement between countries and governements you and i have voted for.

The standard of driving in some of the countries is different than we could wish for.
One of them is Britain, do you know how many people drive here a truck, who have only past a car test?
How many people past their driving test in the UK and Motorway was a part of the test?

I was surprised when i came to the UK how British truck drivers struggle with blind side reversing, you wouldn’t past a test in Holland if you where not able to do so.
The Dutch “chauffeurs” diploma is famous, and gives a high standard, what about putting that as European standard and send all British and other countries drivers back to school for 6 month, and pass an excam before you can drive anything above 3.5 ton?

The idea that British drivers are the best, is at his best Island ignorance, we are the best because we haven’t seen anything else.
This is promoted by Governements in the past, quotes like “we have the least moterway accidents in Europe”
Yes you do, you have the least motorways in Europe!
If you see accidents figures from abroad realise that cities like Rotterdam do more traffic than all British dock together.
Ever drove in Poland, roads are in some place more than a little chalenging.

I side swiped cars in the UK more than i did on the continent, both with LHD and RHD, for the reason that people here seem to like to hang in your blind corner, they do it when you are inj your car, they do it when you drive a truck.
I think people are afraid to dri ve on their own, i notice when i park my car in Brittain in an empty car park, as far away as possible from the entry, some idiot will park beside me.
Never in a life time had that on the continent.

And if you think M25 and around London is busy, try Milan or Paris around rush hour.

Cheap labour will always move around, the British builders in the 70-80’s, to Germany, the Polish and other now to the UK.
You will never change that, not will one political party ever change that.

And dont get me wrong, i am all for improvement of driving standards, but for everybody.
Medical every 5 year for HGV drivers regardless age
Driving test every 5 years after 45
Driving test every year after 65
Driving test after an accident
Proper HGV cpc with a driving standard and knowledge exam to pass

If you go for that for Europe, i will get you a lot of votes!

there are several flaws in your proposal.

  1. If this was to come into force in this country what would happen to drivers from this country wishing to drive in another country?

  2. No foreign driver can come to this country and drive for a u.k. based company without a valid cpc card. Now this has to be issued by there country of residency, now if they had a fake licence this would be picked up at that time. Also if the driver becomes resident in this country he would have to swap his licence for a u.k. one to be able to complete any cpc training here, and again this will pick up fakes as well.

  3. Most problems are caused by foreign registered vehicles operating/driving on our roads from what I have seen, and u.k. drivers not being observant enough. You find that when you drive in Europe, car drivers seem more observant to what a truck could possibly do than their uk counterparts. But that is my personal view from driver all over Europe.

  4. This would be against all of the “free movement workers in Europe” rules. and as someone else has said this would effect our position as an exporter. That could effect employment of people in this country, as more companies look to move production to other eu countries.

I do appreciate your sentiments on this, but personally I think you are barking up the wrong tree, and are completely wasting your time on something that will never happen.

Don’t think foriegn drivers are half as bad as people like to make out,there “accidents” always seem to be highlighted to give some people things to moan about.
We have a few polish lads on our place and they are all good drivers or certainly no worse than the rest of us!
Wonder how many of those that moan about foriegn drivers would have the balls to do what they do,going to a country where no one else speaks your language,the general public in said country already have the preconception that you are gonna kill them whilst you watching TV in your cab and cooking a roast dinner whilst driving down the motorway ect ect!
If you look into the statistics as a ratio there are far more English drivers involved/causing accidents that our foriegn friends!
These guys spends week away from their families just to scrape a living driving in a foreign country…must be a very lonely existence at times!
Let’s leave the “non HGV drivers” lot to spend all there time moaning about foreign drivers and maybe us as HGV drivers ourselves should give them a bit of a break?!

abi.org.uk

I have asked British insurance assn. for data on claims involving non-British reg HGVs

wenders66:
It"s time for action…
I"m a female driver, have been for 20 years next year, I"m out all week every week Tramping on a curtain side Artic. Everywhere I collect and deliver, and every truck stop I stay at, I hear the same conversation over and over…British drivers, shunters and warehouse staff always complaining about the foreign drivers that can"t drive!! They can!t drive because they have never had training nor sat a test…They brag about buying their fake HGV licences for peanuts in their home countries, then come over here and they are allow :unamused: ed to drive for British Companies on these fake licences. We all know its happening and it"s about time we got together to stop this happening.

DVSA have stated that over the next 5 years 44,000 British Class C+E Drivers will be retiring…Who is going to replace them?? I, personally, have several friends and family members who want to be Truckers, but, the cost of getting the Class C+E licence is so expensive now it"s not an option for them, and they all say it"s not worth all the expense with the risk of not getting work because of all the foreign drivers taking the jobs…

It"s time we did something to help our own…

I want to start a petition to make it mandatory for all nationalities to take a British HGV Test and obtain a British HGV Licence to be able to drive and work for a British Company…

I"m not professing to know how to go about starting a petition nor whom to present it to…Hence writing this thread asking for help!!
Please, if any of you know how to go about making a petition, or you know someone who knows, Please let me know so I can get the ball rolling…Thanks…

N.B. I am not insinuating in any way that ALL Foreign Drivers working in this country are doing so on fake Licences, and those that have legitimately trained and gained their HGV Licences in their home countries should have no reservations about repeating the test here!!!

To the o/p…
To save myself a lot of typing just read what Caledoniandream put as I agree with everything he said.

If you are naive enough to believe driver crap, hearsay and general ■■■■■■■■ that is your lookout.
If you are starting a petition then OK, I am going to start a petition to review how some of the Brit retards that think they are truck drivers got ‘British licences’, and what makes you think that if a foreigner has seen some of these muppets that he would even want a British DL.
I have found over the years that the gob- ■■■■■ s that slag off foreign drivers have never been south of Dover and would crap their pants if they found themselves in some of the countries that these ‘Johnny Foreigners’ (’ as they call them :unamused: )that they slag off came from, as the only ‘trucking’’ that they have done is deliver to Tescos and Travis bloody Perkins.

To the o/p…
To save myself a lot of typing just read what Caledoniandream put as I agree with everything he said.

If you are naive enough to believe driver crap, hearsay and general ■■■■■■■■ that is your lookout.

I’ll second that

billybigrig:

To the o/p…
To save myself a lot of typing just read what Caledoniandream put as I agree with everything he said.

If you are naive enough to believe driver crap, hearsay and general ■■■■■■■■ that is your lookout.

I’ll second that

+1 :smiley:

When did trucknet become a campaign site :question:

Sorry but I have met seen a lot of good foreign drivers ok seen some not so good as well same as English drivers really also had a lot of help from foreign drivers ok have helped a couple out in recent times

The cheap labour has always happened the same as english going overseas to work really look at the tv programme that was made "Alf wedisen Pet "

As someone said does it make a difference being female :question: we are all drivers women 2nd simple as that

animal:
The cheap labour has always happened the same as english going overseas to work really look at the tv programme that was made "Alf wedisen Pet

I knew Alf Wedisen, he was on Murfitts in the 80s :laughing:

Sorry mate :blush: :wink:

robroy:

animal:
The cheap labour has always happened the same as english going overseas to work really look at the tv programme that was made "Alf wedisen Pet

I knew Alf Wedisen, he was on Murfitts in the 80s :laughing:

Sorry mate :blush: :wink:

:laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: yep he was with a few others on here :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

How about we re-educate the non LGV drivers?

Like already mentioned their LGV awareness in general seems to be very poor in this country.

Would it really cost that much (compared to the value of a life saved) to put adverts on the Radio and the Telly, highlighting danger points of blind spotting, tailgating, getting ahead of, pulling out in front of, pulling into safety zones of LGV’s, how much room that LGV may need to turn left or right or to negotiate a roundabout and not forgetting left ■■■■■■ awareness (I mean we know a left ■■■■■■ just by a quick glance either at the licence plate or the offside mirror, does your average joe mondeo?)

And why isn’t this taught during the CBT for Bike riders and in the theory test for cars?

Periodic driver education is deemed necessary now for professional drivers (the DCPC I’m talking about) Imagine if that ongoing training/awareness was applied to ALL road users?!

Start a petition about this and you’ll get my vote, and I dare say a few others on here too.

And what about people like myself. I passed my Cat B in the uk. I moved to France some years later where I exchanged my licence for a French licence, then subsequently passed my Cat C and CE here in France. Would you demand that I retake any of those tests should I ever move back to the UK. Personally, I find the French system of learning and examination far more demanding than when I passed my test in the UK.

you guys certainly know how to treat a lady . :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: