Hi All,
I am looking into starting up as an owner driver Class1/C E and wanted to know about TM CPC i have completed my driver cpc and have my card would this count towards any of my tm cpc? and do you have to have it before you start up or do you get time to do it like the driver cpc or could you employ someone who has a tm cpc.
Any advice would be welcomed.
In my limited knowledge.
No the DCPC does not count towards OCPC. They are very different.
Yes you can employ an OCPC holder and name them in your O license application.
And IIRC you must have at least an interim licence before running commercially.
Thanks
I’m sure those who have an O license will be able to fill in any gaps that I’ve missed.
Your driver CPC gives you no credit towards the operator CPC exams.
There’s no grace period for appointing a qualified Transport Manager if you want a Standard National or Standard International O licence - you must have a qualified TM in place for the licence (or an interim) to be issued. Hiring in the services of a Transport Manager is possible, though the Traffic Commissioners are getting tougher about the number of licences each CPC holder can be appointed on, to avoid TMs that were nominal rather than having effective control over transport operations.
The only O licence you can have without a qualified Transport Manager is a Restricted one, but that doesn’t allow you to run ‘for hire or reward’, so will be no use to you as an owner driver.
Your best bet is likely to be a home learning or college course, depending on which format you think would be easier for you. The format of the CPC exams has just changed (see this factsheet for more details), so don’t buy any materials aimed at the old exams!
It is no longer possible to have a national only CPC. The new CPC exams are a ‘closed book’ multiple choice exam with a 70% pass mark, and a ‘case study’ exam with a 50% pass mark. You’re allowed to take books and notes into the new ‘case study’ exam, which is based on a unseen case study (unlike the old exam where the case study was released in advance). As before, there’s separate CPC exams for road haulage and passenger transport - obviously you want the road haulage one.