First off, an apology if I’m asking questions that have been asked before, but the more I search the more confused I’m getting.
A very brief bit of background. I passed my Cat C in 2003, however, I took this as I needed to have C1 to allow me to work as a paramedic. Fast forward 13 years and I am rapidly reaching breaking point with this as a career and feel I need to move on, and driving would appear a sensible/reasonable way to earn a crust while I consider my options and try to regain (some) sanity.
I don’t have any drivers cpc, and although driving is part of my daily work I haven’t driven anything bigger than a van in 13 years.
How do I go about starting from scratch? Is this something I can do off my own back, or would I be better speaking to a training company, having a refresher drive and being guided through the cpc that way?
You will obviously need cpc before you start driving . There are 2 routes to this. First is to complete 35 hours periodic training. I would recommend this as it will give you a vast amount of information that will be useful to you in your new career. You need to contact a JAUPT approved trainer for this. jaupt.org.uk/centre-search
If it’s in your mind to upgrade to CE, then you may well be able to gain cpc credits from that provided that the trainer is approved to deliver the course in that manner. Ask the trainer.
The alternative is to go down the initial cpc route. This is Mod 2 (case studies theory test at the local theory test centre) then Mod 4 (practical demonstration test taken at a driving test centre - vehicle required). It’s not straightforward to book this route as the tech systems at DVLA struggle to deal with this.
Whichever way you choose, I would suggest that an hour or 2 refresher would be valuable.
I suspected that was the case but was getting confused with having read about mod 2 and mod 4. Looking around there are various options for subjects for periodic training that would be very useful for a newbie finding his feet, and other things such as hiab that could open doors (not literally) for employment.
IMO Drivers’ hours and tachos is a must. First Aid is also a good one. We have a course titled “Driver Development” which goes down very well with new and experienced drivers. Covers many different topics and is found to be very enlightening.
But it also makes a great deal of sense to do something like Lorry Mounted Crane and get 2 qualifications in one go. But make sure that the course and the trainer are approved. Don’t take it for granted that you’ll get cpc hours from every trainer.
I gained 14 hours CPC via a two day lorry mounted crane (HIAB) course with Tockwith Training - It was an excellent course that I could highly recommend and the ALLMI qualification gained is the more universally recognised in the industry.
I also gained a further 28 hours CPC doing the ADR & Tanks course.
35 hours will give you 5 years CPC, if you then complete another 35 hours it will give you a further 5 years CPC - doing them back to back gives you the maximum 10 years CPC.
Thanks for your input both, having looked at Tockwiths web site that looks a lot more involved and comprehensive (ie better!) than what I’d been seeing more locally. Certainly food for thought, especially if can be 40% of the cpc I need prior to seeking employment.
I just need to be a little savvy about what I spend, given that a few hours refresher driving would probably be sensible and I will be facing an initial pay drop.
Afternoon all.
Me again. Sorry I haven’t been the most active of members. I’ve slowly pulled my finger out and made progress though. I did my cpc a month back on a week of rest days and this week I am only on 2 weekend night shifts so have taken the plunge, spoken to the agency I’ve registered with and have a day out tomorrow.
Looking at the company online looks like it’ll be an 18T curtain sider.
I’m not sure if I’m nervous or whether last nights curry was a bit dodgy, either way, wish me luck?
GreenMan99:
Afternoon all.
Me again. Sorry I haven’t been the most active of members. I’ve slowly pulled my finger out and made progress though. I did my cpc a month back on a week of rest days and this week I am only on 2 weekend night shifts so have taken the plunge, spoken to the agency I’ve registered with and have a day out tomorrow.
Looking at the company online looks like it’ll be an 18T curtain sider.
I’m not sure if I’m nervous or whether last nights curry was a bit dodgy, either way, wish me luck?
Best of luck, and as I’m sure you know. Take your time, stay calm and if at all unsure, don’t do it!
First day went well, sent out on 7.5t for drops around hull and scunny, which actually suited me well to break things in gently. I’d been home all off 10 mins when the phone rang, it was so soon I assumed I’d dropped a clanger and was about to get a telling off, but no, the agency were asking me to go back again the next day.
Multi drop on an 18t this time, was a bit of a nightmare to be honest, but 90% of the difficulties were down to trying to find addresses from incomplete information or no information as to where the service yard for the retail unit was etc, so no different to normal I suspect.
I thought I was having a bit of a div moment as I couldn’t get one of the curtains to open, I just couldn’t get the tension to release, but doing exactly the same on the other side worked, then I remembered seeing somewhere that sometimes you have to release the tension from the other end, except there wasn’t a tensioner at the back at all so that shot that idea. Had another driver look at it at the yard and he couldn’t do it either so reported as a defect.
That’s the problem with being new, you just assume that everything that goes wrong is your fault.
All part of the learning curve. Still thing the day job is less stressful.
GreenMan99:
I thought I was having a bit of a div moment as I couldn’t get one of the curtains to open, I just couldn’t get the tension to release, but doing exactly the same on the other side worked, then I remembered seeing somewhere that sometimes you have to release the tension from the other end, except there wasn’t a tensioner at the back at all so that shot that idea.
Hi GreenMan99
Here are some ramblings about curtainsiders etc:
You can get a hand or face injury from curtainsiders, so it pays to keep your head out of the fling-arc of the curtain poles and strap buckles especially on a windy day.
You’ll be OK though, because most places should have a first-aider, but in cases of doubt, it’s usually best to get an injury checked out by a paramedic.
Addresses in the multidrop world are one of the biggest problems, although usually I find the invoice has more than the run sheet.
Curtains can be a hassle especially if someone has over tightened them and am surprised there’s no release at the other end, usually they open either end. Sometimes if you undo all the catches it’ll release, else hit the release thingy with a hammer sometimes works depending on the mechanism…not when the boss is watching!
Oh and take the safety notices seriously, they really do hurt when they hit you!!
Yeah, tell me about it, after spending 30 mins or more looking for an address driving up and down a road, and any googling the company leading to an address in a city miles away which possibly was the parent company but I couldn’t be sure, anyway eventually found it after a couple of phone calls, completely different name on the unit, on an industrial estate off the road name I’d got. After I got the paperwork signed I noticed that the invoice had a completely different address to the run sheet that would have let me find it straight away.
Curtains I think it’ll be a case of practice makes perfect. (Or causes concussion. One of the two!)
You’ll be OK though, because most places should have a first-aider, but in cases of doubt, it’s usually best to get an injury checked out by a paramedic. 