Hello all, firstly advice on this forum is great!
Doing my medical next week for £55 and have ordered the revision books for theory tests. Looking to do my class 2 then Class 1 as soon as possible. I have a few questions:
1-Do you complete the cpc assessments after class 2 or would I have to re-do after class 1.?
2-I currently work in the water industry on a 4 day shift rotor so my plan is to do 1-2 days a week on class 1 to gain experience (I went and saw some local firms who said they could do this hopefully) Would this count as 2 years experience most jobs require or would they only accept full weeks?
3-Spoke to a few local firms and I’m going to go with Teeside lgv training, Can’t find much about them on this forum, does anybody have any experience with them?
Few things I have found out already! Dear god it’s not cheap!, I’m terrified of getting stuck in a city blocking a road haha, also it’s sad to see a lot of people not enjoying the job, I know it’s the same in a lot of industries these days!
I already have so much more respect for hgv drivers(giving them a lot more room on the roads etc)
Thanks!!
Hi, and welcome to the forum.
Your route to driver cpc depends on whether you have a C1 on your licence or not. (If you passed your car test before 1997 you will have C1). If you have C1, then you need to complete 35 hours of periodic training. This is often classroom based but some trainers have practical C and CE training approved for driver cpc, thus saving you time in the classroom. Technically you have the option of doing the initial driver cpc. But this is a new development and the DVLA haven’t got their heads round it at all. So best ignored.
If you don’t hold C1 you have no choice but to go down the Initial driver cpc route. This is another theory test and another practical demonstration test. Total cost of these are IRO £300 typically.
I would expect “part time” weeks to count as experience. Very often it’s just down to length of time that the licence has been held. Barmy, but true.
Before you make a final decision on your trainer, book at least 2 assessments. They are often free and will give you the opportunity to compare. As the training industry is totally unregulated, the majority of instructors are untrained and unqualified. In the same way that there is a DVSA LGV Accredited Training school register which you can find here dft.gov.uk/fyn/lgv.php
Not all training is the same so don’t get stuffed up with poor vehicles and training. Shop around. I’m not in any way referring to Teeside as I don’t know them so don’t take that the wrong way please.
And no, it’s not cheap. But how many more careers can you get into after 3 months training and around £3k?
The job is getting better all the time and, of course, there will always be those who are negative.
Good luck with it all, Pete 
Very helpful thank you, I will book a few assessments to get a good idea! True about the money, a lot better than 2-3 years training sometimes even more!