Does anyone know what kind of licence is required for a Polish national to drive class 1 in the U.K. 
A Polish C+E.
If they are a resident in this country then they can use their Polish C+E until aged 45 or for 5 years after becoming resident whichever is the longer period. It must then be exchanged for a UK C+E.
If they are aged over 45 (but under 65) it is valid until their 66th birthday or for 5 years after becoming resident whichever is the shorter period.
If they are aged 65 or over it is valid for 12 months after becoming resident.
It must then be exchanged for a UK C+E.
This applies to all holders of C+E licences from EU member states, however holders of EU licences with vocational entitlement who live in Britain must register their details with DVLA.
Hope that helps.
Coffeeholic:
A Polish C+E.If they are a resident in this country then they can use their Polish C+E until aged 45 or for 5 years after becoming resident whichever is the longer period. It must then be exchanged for a UK C+E.
If they are aged over 45 (but under 65) it is valid until their 66th birthday or for 5 years after becoming resident whichever is the shorter period.
If they are aged 65 or over it is valid for 12 months after becoming resident.
It must then be exchanged for a UK C+E.
This applies to all holders of C+E licences from EU member states, however holders of EU licences with vocational entitlement who live in Britain must register their details with DVLA.
Hope that helps.
If a UK C+E licence holder becomes resident in another EU country, would the same rules apply or does it vary depending on the particular country?
No idea, sorry.
mrpj:
If a UK C+E licence holder becomes resident in another EU country, would the same rules apply or does it vary depending on the particular country?
I think it varies by differing degrees but I’m not 100% positive. I’m sure that in France for example, to drive a French truck you have to pass that course which is only available in the French language. Probably why I have personally never come across a single eastern European behind the wheel of a French owned and registered truck despite France’s neighbours of Britain, Belgium, Germany and Spain have E.Europeans by the tens of thousands. I’m sure there are some easterners on French trucks, but I have never come across one, yet, unless you take the British registered fleet of Norbert Dentressangle into account which is largely Polish manned after a lot or all of the British guys were axed several months ago.
FFS
I polish the interior of my cab and now your telling me i now have to polish driver’s !!!
I,m seeing my union rep about this it takes the urinal now … i don’t get paid for that !!
conflicting coments on this 1. my licence is italian and dvla stated that the address on my breif must be a address where i can be contacted at within 24 hours and if i retain a address in italy i can work in the uk as long as. but if i become permenantly resident in the uk i must exchage it within 6 weeks. so i would sumise that the jam roles have a temp address in the uk and retain a permanent address in poland.
The DVLA gave you bum information then Brian. This is from their website:
EEA Countries
All EC Countries
Iceland
Liechtenstein
Norway
Visitors
If you hold a valid Community licence and you are visiting Great Britain, you can drive any vehicle for as long as your licence remains valid. The appropriate full entitlement for the vehicle you wish to drive must be shown on your licence.Residents
If you have a valid Community licence, this will authorise you to drive in this country for the periods set out below. Alternatively, you can apply to exchange your licence for a British one at any time.Provided your licence remains valid you may drive in GB -
Ordinary licence holders
Until aged 70 or for 3 years after becoming resident whichever is the longer period.Vocational licence holders
Until aged 45 or for 5 years after becoming resident whichever is the longer period.If you are aged over 45 (but under 65) until your 66th birthday or for 5 years after becoming resident whichever is the shorter period.
If you are aged 65 or over for 12 months after becoming resident.
In order to continue driving after these periods, a British driving licence must be obtained.
You can confirm this, and more information, here.
Are you sure they didn’t mean you just had to register your vocational entitlement within six weeks? When you do this you reveive a UK Counterpart to go with your foreign licence. Again from DVLA site.
Register of Community Licence Holders
Holders of Community licences with vocational entitlement who live in GB must register their details with DVLA. For further information please contact DVLA’s Customer Enquiries Unit, telephone number 0870 - 240 - 0009 .
Drivers of small vehicles may register also, if they wish. To register, drivers should notify DVLA of their name, address and driving entitlement. Drivers who register will receive their licence back together with a UK counterpart document. This would enable them to take advantage of the fixed penalty system for road traffic offences instead of having to go to court.
mrpj:
If a UK C+E licence holder becomes resident in another EU country, would the same rules apply or does it vary depending on the particular country?
Thanks for that Fred, pretty much the same system in Austria then.
Coffeeholic:
Thanks for that Fred, pretty much the same system in Austria then.
But as RobinHood said, not in France. Here you must change your licence to a French one immediately to drive HGVs although different departments enforce the rule differently.
Salut, David.
Thanks for your response guys. My firm, like lots of others has taken on a lot of Poles to drive trucks within the UK. Although I believe they are being paid the same wages it is when we come to ask for an increase that problems can arise. I do not blame the drivers themselves because if we could at least triple our wages in another country a lot of us would give it a go. What does bother me is that some have very little english and could get into serious problems with some signage like “weak bridge” or “school crossing”. Companies say they have to employ them because of a shortage of drivers. There is NO shortage of drivers, just of people with a licence to work for the low pay and bad conditions that we put up with. I don`t believe that Sainsburys have any trouble hiring drivers.
Vermeer:
Thanks for your response guys. My firm, like lots of others has taken on a lot of Poles to drive trucks within the UK. Although I believe they are being paid the same wages it is when we come to ask for an increase that problems can arise. I do not blame the drivers themselves because if we could at least triple our wages in another country a lot of us would give it a go. What does bother me is that some have very little english and could get into serious problems with some signage like “weak bridge” or “school crossing”. Companies say they have to employ them because of a shortage of drivers. There is NO shortage of drivers, just of people with a licence to work for the low pay and bad conditions that we put up with. I don`t believe that Sainsburys have any trouble hiring drivers.
There is a shortage of companies who will employ young drivers like myself who have paid thousands of pounds of their own money to gain their licences. If this rampant age discrimination would end, any driver shortage, which I personally think is at best very over-rated and at worst, non-existant, would all but dry up. I now know several people just in my local area who are aged 21-24 and have their Class 2 and 1 and even more who would like it, but those with it have an incredibly hard time getting a job and those without it see this and just don’t risk the sort of cash it takes to get the licence because they know full well that gaining employment will be more of an ordeal than actually getting the licence.
Now…if you look at the resident application…it doesnt mean ,that they just live here …they have to apply to the home office in order to be given resident status.
they are merely migrants…therefore…they can only drive british registered trucks for the same amount of time as a visitor…which is 12 months.
as stated they can however apply to exchange their licences for a british one, but may not necessarily be given one…
so at the end of the day…if they drive brit registered trucks…they have to notify DVLA…in order to get their details registered…
maybe they would have to tell the dvla that they obtained their licence fraudently by sticking a 20 sloty note inside the application form for the car licence renewal…and thereby obtaining a hgv licence.
I dont care what people think…or what they call me…i dont want them here…taking our jobs…and putting our industry in jeopardy…
i am already compiling a list of companies who employ the poles…and i have written to the dvla telling them about the fraudulent way of obtaining their licences.
i am also in the process of writing to insurance companies telling them to be aware of companies employing poles…as there could very well be a large claim due to the fact they are wrecking vehicles left right and centre…i would suggest that the companies concerned (like turners) are bearing the brunt of their damages in order not to scare the insurance companies.
i will also write to the H&E asking for their opinion…May i suggest a few more do it as well…
I don’t personally mind Poles being here, I just mind the numbers or how it actually takes place, such as Norbert Dentressangle actually making his British drivers re-dundant and replacing them with Poles. What we should never have is a situation where by there are so many coming in, and not just Poles either, that there are then no employment opperunities for new starter British drivers or people who wish to change jobs etc.
At the moment we have it quite good here. My dad was talking to a German driver in Clackheaton last week who works for a company with seven trucks. Just recently this company made all seven German drivers redundant, with proper redundancy pay and the lot and then got in seven Polish drivers. During that time there were four serious accident and two trucks were right-offs and this companies insurance company told them that if they want to employ a Polish driver over a German driver, fine, but the insurance premium will sky-rocket. As a result all seven Poles were inturn shafted themselves and they got the German drivers back again, who incedentally kept all their redundancy pay and then got a pay rise. This is quite a common story from Germany too, Poles replacing Germans and a few months down the line, the Germans being brought back in. Nikolaus Hammerer is a good example of this, though he is now technically an Austrian company. He threatend his drivers to replace them all with Poles, he got about eight in and after a few months he was in the process of sending them all back and reverted to employing Germans and Austrians again. I also heared that the Dutch firm Harry Vos was doing the same following numerous complaints from customers regarding Polish drivers and their arrogant manners, late arrivals and damaged or missing loads. Yes its true that in days gone by, the Polish were good truck drivers and indeed good sailors as I well know but since that time, Poland has become a labour exporting economy and the same cannot be said now for a lot of these guys who are churned out with little or no training and being passed off as good old professional Polish guys from the communist days. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what I say on here, what speaks volumes is the actions of the continental European companies who brought in thousands of them at the direct expensive of their own countrymen, and in a lot of cases are now desperately trying to send them back and get their original drivers back.
truckyboy:
Now…if you look at the resident application…it doesnt mean ,that they just live here …they have to apply to the home office in order to be given resident status.
they are merelymigrants…therefore…they can only drive british registered trucks for the same amount of time as a visitor…which is 12 months.
No set time limit for a visitor Bob.
Visitors
If you hold a valid Community licence and you are visiting Great Britain, you can drive any vehicle for as long as your licence remains valid. The appropriate full entitlement for the vehicle you wish to drive must be shown on your licence.
truckyboy:
Now…if you look at the resident application…it doesnt mean ,that they just live here …they have to apply to the home office in order to be given resident status.
they are merelymigrants…therefore…they can only drive british registered trucks for the same amount of time as a visitor…which is 12 months.
as stated they can however apply to exchange their licences for a british one, but may not necessarily be given one…
so at the end of the day…if they drive brit registered trucks…they have to notify DVLA…in order to get their details registered…maybe they would have to tell the dvla that they obtained their licence fraudently by sticking a 20 sloty note inside the application form for the car licence renewal…and thereby obtaining a hgv licence.
I dont care what people think…or what they call me…i dont want them here…taking our jobs…and putting our industry in jeopardy…
i am already compiling a list of companies who employ the poles…and i have written to the dvla telling them about the fraudulent way of obtaining their licences.
i am also in the process of writing to insurance companies telling them to be aware of companies employing poles…as there could very well be a large claim due to the fact they are wrecking vehicles left right and centre…i would suggest that the companies concerned (like turners) are bearing the brunt of their damages in order not to scare the insurance companies.
i will also write to the H&E asking for their opinion…May i suggest a few more do it as well…
That’s an interesting piece Bob. Perhaps that would account for why I narrowly avoided a head on collision with one of their’s on the tight bend just over the railway bridge near Truckworld at Thurrock this morning if they’re Polish behind the wheel? I was just about to come round the corner to the left and go over the bridge and the Turner’s XF (complete with huge dent in driver’s door and side panel) came steaming round the corner doing a good 30mph and on my side of the road 
. I was [zb] fuming 
.
A couple of hours later I nearly had a collision with another of their’s on the A1 near in Lincs area. I was doing 50mph and an XF in Turner’s colours came flying past me (X447EEF iirc?) and pulled back into lane 1 with only half the trailer past me . I had to swerve into the pebbles to keep my mirror and o/s intact and then nearly lost control myself in pebbles as the wheel was nearly ripped out of my hands. The trailer had “Hi” in big letters on the back if that makes any difference, but it was in Turner’s colours; strange 
.
A couple more in Turner’s colours with “Hi” on the back came past me later and the trailer’s were covered in damage .
If it’s true that the Poles are driving for them then I guess that pretty much explains the damage as from my own sightings, they really should NOT be driving anything bigger than a Smart car. Tar and brush perhaps? Maybe, but I’m going on what I’ve seen myself, not hearsay.
Coffee,surely that’s a contradiction in terms. How can you be a visitor and have no time limit. Can you be a resident visitor?
Do you stop being a visitor once you pay UK taxes etc?
Interesting.
Spardo:
Coffeeholic:
Thanks for that Fred, pretty much the same system in Austria then.But as RobinHood said, not in France. Here you must change your licence to a French one immediately to drive HGVs although different departments enforce the rule differently.
Salut, David.
you are “WRONG”!
In France as in all EU-Counrty of western Europe,exept UK and IRL must Eastern European EU-member wait till 1th Januar 2007 till they can work there,exept they get a Workingpermit from Gov of that Country,in that Case France,which is possible
Vermeer:
Thanks for your response guys. My firm, like lots of others has taken on a lot of Poles to drive trucks within the UK. Although I believe they are being paid the same wages it is when we come to ask for an increase that problems can arise. I do not blame the drivers themselves because if we could at least triple our wages in another country a lot of us would give it a go. What does bother me is that some have very little english and could get into serious problems with some signage like “weak bridge” or “school crossing”. Companies say they have to employ them because of a shortage of drivers. There is NO shortage of drivers, just of people with a licence to work for the low pay and bad conditions that we put up with. I don`t believe that Sainsburys have any trouble hiring drivers.
You are right i will say 
i drove 1990 for about 8 monthy a irish MAN and be in UK now since Aug 2002,but have still trouble with English Language.
I bought just drivingschool books as British Law is totaly unusaly if you know Law of other EU States
when i see the Books through gets me frighening,and,as you could get a job by a Buscompany with being trained and Leicened for that,but without study Books wouldn’t it work
the other problem is that you not get always help from other Drivers as many frightening when you ask too much
But,the biggest problem is Driving a english Lorry on a British Road.