Business and organisations with employees who need to drive a goods vehicle – but not as part of their main job – need to be reminded that changes to Driver CPC requirements come into effect later this month.
Subject to certain conditions, from January 25th, a goods vehicle can be driven in a radius of up to 100km without the driver requiring a Driver CPC qualification. The vehicle must be unladen apart from any tools required for the job in hand. The driver must be someone who drives from ‘time to time’ – a valet or mechanic for instance. The previous limit was 50km and the ruling brings the UK into line with the EU.
The amended regulations also allow a driver to use a truck with an automatic gearbox when taking a practical Driver CPC test. Vehicles used for Driver CPC practical tests no longer have to have a minimum of eight forward gears.
Commenting on the changes, Richard Armitage, Head of Training at Driver Hire said: “As one of the UK’s leading providers of Driver CPC training, it’s important that we keep our many clients up to date with the latest changes in legislation. As well as bringing us into line with the EU, these are commonsense changes, as under the old regime they affected farmers and other similar workers who only had to drive an HGV occasionally as part of their job.”