I know what alot of you think about it but here it is!
A significant number of HGV drivers who have taken their test since September 2009 are breaking the law, as they do not have the necessary initial Driver CPC qualification, and it would also appear VOSA is turning a blind eye to enforcement, according to Sean Pargeter, owner of training website hgvlgvtraining.co.uk
Using figures obtained from the Driver Standards Agency (DSA) under the Freedom of Information Act, Pargeter warns that thousands of drivers are driving illegally as they have not obtained their Initial Driver CPC qualification.
Yet in the 12 months to September 2010, VOSA only issued three fixed penalty notices to drivers for failing to hold an initial Driver CPC qualification card.
From 10 September 2009, EU Directive 2003/59 requires all new entrants drivers obtaining an HGV licence cat C1 and C, who wish to drive professionally, must have obtained the Driver CPC initial qualification.
However, the number of Initial Driver CPC qualifications attained by new drivers in the year to September 2010 was just 3,075, and Pargeter points out there would have been roughly 50,000 people taking HGV tests in that 12-month period.
“Around 10,000-15,000 would be C+E tests and the initial Driver CPC is not relevant or required,” he says. “This still leaves 35,000-40,000 tests, so less than one 10th of new entrants between September 2009 and September 2010 took the initial driver CPC.”
“Even allowing for the fact that some drivers will be exempt from Initial Driver CPC [because they already have C1 or are exempt under Driver CPC rules] that still leaves a large number who need it but don’t have it. Going by these figures I would estimate that there must be 5,000 to 10,000 new HGV drivers who are working illegally”.
“A VOSA spokesman said that the agency’s approach was to focus on educating drivers and ensuring that the rules are understood.”As you would expect, very few encounters are with new entrants at this stage. The vast majority are with existing licence holders.”
It always was going to be a joke, its a Welsh tax, just to send a few quid to Swansea to pay for a few more public sector jobs.
So DVLA aren’t cross checking exisitng driver categories and any confirmation someone has passed the MOD 4■■ Are we seriously saying that in 2012 DVLA have nothing to check one against the other! I’m not sure whether I’m more surprised that someone thinks that they wouldn’t check or that it really is that bad.
Something tells me there will be more than a few on this site that will feel aggrieved if they wasted their time and trouble to complete MOD 4 if it isn’t a true mandatory requirement to get your license!
Why would they cross check, not everyone needs dcpc
But surely that’s the point. Some do so there surely (not Shirley) needs to be checks to ensure those that do have got the MOD 4 done. I’m not for a minute suggesting that completing MOD 4 from a common sense perspective makes a bit of difference to your ability to do the job but on principle I think a check is necessary.
If there isnt a check for MOD 4 at what point in the whole process do all the other hurdles become optional? Perhaps someone needs to try missing a bit more out and seeing if they get their shiny new licensce in the post?
You still get a licence as mod 4 is only a requirement for commercial use.
Good point well made! Forgot about that so my point becomes totally useless 
your point is a valid one as there can’t be many that want the licence for non commercial means , maybe those that say the don’t require dcpc should sign a declaration , with big fines for false declarations .
I’ve singed up with a couple of agencies and neither have asked for my cpc. Not sure if they even know what it is! Still I’m going to wait till I have mod 2 & 4 as I dont fancy a £1000 fine, and knowing my luck, I will be 1 of the 3 they catch this year!
The issue is that the authorities don’t know who needs the actual licence for commercial use and who doesn’t - therefore obtaining the initial DCPC has been left for the driver to decide if he needs it or not. if he decides wrongly and gets caught - its a fine. If an employer takes him on without this simple check - he deserves the fine.
I have met a driver who was involved in a standard roadside check with VOSA. They notice he passed his test September 2009 and his car test only a couple of years before. therefore he needed the Initial DCPC and didn’t have it. They simply made him ring his boss to come and get him as he couldn’t drive the commercial load he was carrying. No fine - just education. I believe they also had a quick word with the boss on the phone when the driver called him.
needless to say he got his initial DCPC done ASAP.
Basically - it’s left with the employers. they should catch this at interview time. Check the licence acquisition dates.
But yes - its another example of the disorganisation of the DCPC which stems from operators and drivers alike not knowing the rules.
However - I am sure i read somewhere that the 4th most popular graduated Fixed Penalty VOSA have issued is for no DCPC ? Anyone else heard anything like this?
Regardless of what many of us think of the DCPC clearly VOSA should be enforcing DCPC regulations if only for fairness to those who do the required modules, but you have to ask yourself which part of this article is not pure speculation, I’m not suggesting that there are no drivers driving without the proper credentials but there’s nothing in that article to prove or even show what the figures are.
A significant number of HGV drivers who have taken their test since September 2009 are breaking the law, as they do not have the necessary initial Driver CPC qualification, and it would also appear VOSA is turning a blind eye to enforcement, according to Sean Pargeter, owner of training website hgvlgvtraining.co.uk
Using figures obtained from the Driver Standards Agency (DSA) under the Freedom of Information Act, Pargeter warns that thousands of drivers are driving illegally as they have not obtained their Initial Driver CPC qualification.
Yet in the 12 months to September 2010, VOSA only issued three fixed penalty notices to drivers for failing to hold an initial Driver CPC qualification card.
From 10 September 2009, EU Directive 2003/59 requires all new entrants drivers obtaining an HGV licence cat C1 and C, who wish to drive professionally, must have obtained the Driver CPC initial qualification.
However, the number of Initial Driver CPC qualifications attained by new drivers in the year to September 2010 was just 3,075, and Pargeter points out there would have been roughly 50,000 people taking HGV tests in that 12-month period.
“Around 10,000-15,000 would be C+E tests and the initial Driver CPC is not relevant or required,” he says. “This still leaves 35,000-40,000 tests, so less than one 10th of new entrants between September 2009 and September 2010 took the initial driver CPC.”
“Even allowing for the fact that some drivers will be exempt from Initial Driver CPC [because they already have C1 or are exempt under Driver CPC rules] that still leaves a large number who need it but don’t have it. Going by these figures I would estimate that there must be 5,000 to 10,000 new HGV drivers who are working illegally”.
“A VOSA spokesman said that the agency’s approach was to focus on educating drivers and ensuring that the rules are understood.”As you would expect, very few encounters are with new entrants at this stage. The vast majority are with existing licence holders.”