GasGas:
If you drive a 3.5 tonne vehicle then you are exempt…it’s not an LGV
I don’t, as posted above can be up to an artic. Not sure where this 3.5t thing came from. I would be exempt due to only transporting equipment to events to do my job (video engineer). But it is so flimsily worded I rekcon I will get DCPC anyway. Getting delayed on the way to film something to argue the toss on exemptions would be a right pain.
One thing I can’t get my head around - will other European countries enforcement agencies care about your DQC and will the UK exemptions apply abroad? I think this is why my boss wants to just “be normal and blend in”
ND888 BIGJ:
Dont see why you dont treble your rates shep everybody has been aware they need to get qualified for around 5 years.
I know what you are saying but it isn’t quite as simple as that. I started driving 16 months ago - had entirely desk job before that. I have had 16 months to do it. Now ok - that is plenty of time, and I didn’t get organised, my bad. But also consider that driving is only an occasional part of my job, not my entire working week, and hence fitting it in will be fun. It is actually questionable whether I need CPC as I believe I am exempt (I only drive AV equipment to events and then operate it and drive back) but my TM is adamant everyone needs it to keep things simple and Mr Plod / Vosa will not want to discuss exemptions on the roadside.
But if bloke from a different job sector and a pre-97 license starts driving commercially today, he now has 5 months to do 35 hours. I still think that the “grandad rights” on this are a curse not a blessing and should be ditched after September. The intent was surely that established drivers could do a course every month or two and slowly build up the hours, not put brand new drivers through 5 years worth of training in 5 months (which decreases every day that passes)
Ok, rant over!
If you spend less than half your working hours, a year, behind the wheel of a 3.5t vehicle. Then I think you are almost certainly exempt. VOSAs continued failure to officially accept exemptions, and with one embarassing back pedal under their belt already, will just end up creating a great sense of unfairness and ill-feeling that was completely unnecessary if the implementation had been better handled.
If you drive a 3.5 tonne vehicle then you are exempt…it’s not an LGV
Sorry, that should obviously read 3.5t+
You aren’t exempt where the rules for exemptions, as I would interpret it, are concerned which is what, I think, I was discussing.
Obviously a made up example but, if you worked two jobs 50% of your time driving to site and erecting scaffolding and 50% driving a transit for a local courier firm. In this scenario I do not think you would be exempt because although when driving a scaffolding lorry an exemption would seemingly apply you would not be exempt because you would not comply with driving not being your principal activity. This is because where the exemption is concerned it just states driving and doesn’t specify driving of vehicles over 3.5t so I think the transit van driving would have to be considered to be included.
Own Account Driver:
Obviously a made up example but, if you worked two jobs 50% of your time driving to site and erecting scaffolding and 50% driving a transit for a local courier firm. In this scenario I do not think you would be exempt because although when driving a scaffolding lorry an exemption would seemingly apply you would not be exempt because you would not comply with driving not being your principal activity. This is because where the exemption is concerned it just states driving and doesn’t specify driving of vehicles over 3.5t so I think the transit van driving would have to be considered to be included.
Ok, I get what you are saying, cheers. To be clear I spent 70% of time behind a desk! My only driving ever is taking a large vehicle full of equipment to a site and I then setup and use the equipment. I occasionally take trucks for 8 week checks if no one else can do it. I think I could argue the case for exemption but as the website says it is for the courts to decide, and until there are some test cases it is risky ground. So I reckon I will just do the CPC. I’m more worried about Europe than the UK though.
GasGas:
If you drive a 3.5 tonne vehicle then you are exempt…it’s not an LGV
I don’t, as posted above can be up to an artic. Not sure where this 3.5t thing came from. I would be exempt due to only transporting equipment to events to do my job (video engineer). But it is so flimsily worded I rekcon I will get DCPC anyway. Getting delayed on the way to film something to argue the toss on exemptions would be a right pain.
One thing I can’t get my head around - will other European countries enforcement agencies care about your DQC and will the UK exemptions apply abroad? I think this is why my boss wants to just “be normal and blend in”
The exemptions are there for a reason. You wouldn’t buy a TV licence if you don’t have a TV. They could have said they applied to all commercial driving of vehicles over 3.5t if they’d wanted to - and probably should have done as it would have removed a lot of confusion.
I do think that the getting it to reduce potential hassle argument has a bit of merit if you’re doing euro work. It does look like it’s going to be hard to police. The exemptions are enshrined as standard in the original 2003 EU directive. However, I think it has some weasel bit about liasing with individual member state enforcement authorities beforehand if you’re planning to rely on an exemption to ensure it applies there.
Reading all of the above it strikes me that if you have any doubt at all regarding exemptions and/or communication with official bodies at the road side in the uk/Europe, it would be much easier just to do it. … and hey ho, you never know, you might just learn something.
For anyone who’s left it a bit late, there’s been in ad running in Truckstop News the past few months offering 5 days inc. accommodation @ £149. (me thinks there might be some catch to that)
I intended doing 2 days last year (2 done previously) so that I would only have 1 day left to do this year, but due to being busy with other commitments only got one in last year.
I’m a bit more clued up than many, but I attend with an open mind and have learned some interesting stuff I didn’t know I didn’t know on all 3 days I’ve attended. I am lucky in that I found an extremely knowledgeable trainer who presents well.
I bet those who decide to wait after this alleged rush is over are able to get their DCPC at rock bottom prices though, so there maybe quite a few who hold off until after the deadline, What i was saying earlier BTW was if someone who decides to hold off, who maybe doing a job that doesn’t require the DCPC they could or should be able to spread that 35hrs over the following 5 years, although they wouldn’t be able to drive a hgv commercially without running the risk of a fine untill they have acumilated the 35hrs, if they did it that way then would their 5 yrs start from the date that the 35hrs was completed in, or would it start from sept 2019 ?
Own Account Driver:
Obviously a made up example but, if you worked two jobs 50% of your time driving to site and erecting scaffolding and 50% driving a transit for a local courier firm. In this scenario I do not think you would be exempt because although when driving a scaffolding lorry an exemption would seemingly apply you would not be exempt because you would not comply with driving not being your principal activity. This is because where the exemption is concerned it just states driving and doesn’t specify driving of vehicles over 3.5t so I think the transit van driving would have to be considered to be included.
Ok, I get what you are saying, cheers. To be clear I spent 70% of time behind a desk! My only driving ever is taking a large vehicle full of equipment to a site and I then setup and use the equipment. I occasionally take trucks for 8 week checks if no one else can do it. I think I could argue the case for exemption but as the website says it is for the courts to decide, and until there are some test cases it is risky ground. So I reckon I will just do the CPC. I’m more worried about Europe than the UK though.
Your job sounds pretty ace if you don’t mind me saying so
it was my understanding that any days accrued prior to the sept deadline would be lost if the entire 35 hours is not completed by then
Not correct but to be fair that was in the original draft which got changed
Hours can count until they get to 5 years old
anyone who hasn’t already started might as well book after the 10th and be covered until 2019. Even in the, extremely unlikely, event of getting pulled in the tiny intervening period the saving in time and money is much more than the cost of a fixed penalty.
For not doing the training the fine is up to £1000
The FPN of £50 is for not carrying the DQC having already done the training
If a driver doesn’t complete the 35 hours by the 09/09/2014 deadline - lets say h does no training then clearly he can’t drive commercially.
Lets say he then does 35 hours week commencing 15/12/2014 finishing Friday 19/12/14 he will the get a DQC valid for 5 years from date of issue.
If e had done SME training prior to 09/09/14 - as long as the remainder of the 35 hours is completed within 5 years of the earliest of that training - he will get a DQC valid for 5 years from date of issue.
Someone commented that after the 09/09/14 deadline prices might be rock bottom. I know mine won’t be as they are already as low as I can go. No point in going lower. I’m better off not earning than running at a loss.
tommy t:
I bet those who decide to wait after this alleged rush is over are able to get their DCPC at rock bottom prices though, so there maybe quite a few who hold off until after the deadline, What i was saying earlier BTW was if someone who decides to hold off, who maybe doing a job that doesn’t require the DCPC they could or should be able to spread that 35hrs over the following 5 years, although they wouldn’t be able to drive a hgv commercially without running the risk of a fine untill they have acumilated the 35hrs, if they did it that way then would their 5 yrs start from the date that the 35hrs was completed in, or would it start from sept 2019 ?
Trainers I know said they were very busy post-September 10 last year sweeping up bus drivers who had missed doing their training in time for various reasons, and that this lasted until well into November.
Given that there are far more truck drivers than bus drivers, and the truck industry’s attitude to the DCPC has been far less pro-active than the bus industry’s (where the majority of drivers were trained in-house by their employers), I wouldn’t bank on cheap training (or indeed any training at all) being available post-September. As we all know, demand for truck drivers tends to peak in the period Sept - Dec, and I suspect that many of those who said they wouldn’t be doing the training will be trying to get it all done then.
I’d advise anyone who hasn’t done their training and wants to drive commercially in the fourth quarter of this year to book now. If you don’t want to drive for the rest of the year, or the first months of the next one, then you could probably obtain cheaper training come January/Feb 2015…do 35 hours and you can drive commercially again for the next five years.
But for the future the best approach is the Irish one…do 7 hours a year. One company I know has now got one seven-hour course in drivers hours and tacho operation booked for every January going forward. The operator knows things are quiet then, and in the event of hours offences being uncovered can point out that his drivers have trained in the subject every year.
GasGas:
But for the future the best approach is the Irish one…do 7 hours a year. One company I know has now got one seven-hour course in drivers hours and tacho operation booked for every January going forward. The operator knows things are quiet then, and in the event of hours offences being uncovered can point out that his drivers have trained in the subject every year.
Agreed!!
If folks just want a ‘tick-box’ course, then the one-day-a-year method is probably the least disruptive way to go about staying legal.
In the case you’ve mentioned, the company can clearly show that they take drivers’ hours quite seriously.
For other folks, FLT, ADR, First-Aid and HIAB are just some of the ways of getting a useable and portable qualification, which ALSO ticks the boxes. Admittedly, this method will be somewhat more expensive, but then let’s not forget that there are the additional opportunities that the extra qualifications can bring. Whilst some companies don’t give any extra pay for some qualifications, having said qualifications could make the difference between having a job and NOT having a job.
He who pays the piper calls the tune, so you pay your money, you take your choice.
Whilst some companies don’t give any extra pay for some qualifications, having said qualifications could make the difference between having a job and NOT having a job.