The Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is reminding operators that the deadline for many professional drivers to complete their Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) training is 9 September 2024.
To make sure drivers can find training in time, the DVSA is asking operators to encourage drivers whose Driver CPC runs out this September to check that they have completed 35 hours well before the 9 September deadline.
2024 is the 15-year anniversary of Driver CPC for lorry drivers. When it was first introduced all lorry drivers had to get their driver qualification card by September 9, 2014. This means that many current cards will run out at the same time. So, every 5 years there are a high number of drivers trying to complete their 35 hours of training at the same time.
Data shows that many drivers leave their training until the last 6 months. In 2019, there were, on average, 5 times more training hours done a month compared to the same time in the previous year.
A driver missing the deadline cannot drive professionally until they finish their training, and could be fined up to £1,000 for driving professionally without having a Driver CPC.
All the details for drivers about what to do if they miss their training deadline is available on GOV.UK.
Drivers can check the numbers of hours they have done towards their Driver CPC and see what the deadline is to complete it by. Drivers can share this information with operators, but the DVSA is not able to give operators direct access as the information is owned by the driver.
