The vast majority of drivers will have completed their 35 hours’ Driver CPC training by the 10 September deadline, according to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).
It said that current figures show that nearly 800,000 drivers are engaged in Driver CPC and just over 564,000 have completed their 35 hours’ training. And in July 2014 alone, over 1.1 million hours of training were logged.
DVSA’s chief executive Alastair Peoples said: “We’re encouraged by the number of drivers participating in periodic training, but we urge all professional drivers and their employers to be aware of the deadline and make sure they’re able to comply.
“DVSA enforcement officers already routinely check the Driver CPC status of professional drivers. After the deadline they’ll be able to check whether ‘acquired rights’ lorry drivers have completed their training or are driving illegally. Not being aware of Driver CPC is not an excuse for drivers or operators and there will be no amnesty period.”
Since the introduction of the Driver CPC, 245 drivers have received a fixed penalty for failing to produce evidence at the roadside, of which 124 were HGV drivers and 121 PSV drivers. 22 of these were foreign drivers who should have had Driver CPC. The DVSA has also reported 143 cases to the court for prosecution
