The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has issued an alert to people who drive for their job. In their latest post on X, formerly Twitter, the experts have said those who drive for work could need need to take action.
Calling all “professional drivers” they say it will take minutes and if you make a cuppa, you will be “finished before your coffee is cold.” It adds: “Take a break, get yourself a cuppa and set up your Driver and vehicles account to see your CPC and tachograph details in one place.”
So how do you do this, and what is a CPC? The DVLA warns drivers must complete 35 hours of periodic training every 5 years to keep your Certificate of Professional Competence, or CPC, and this allows you to drive a lorry, bus or coach.
If you fail to do so, you can be fined up to £1,000 for driving professionally without Driver CPC. It is also illegal to drive professionally if your training is not complete by your deadline.
You have to do the training in the country where you work or normally live. You can find Driver CPC training courses here. The driving experts explain that tachographs record information about driving time, speed and distance. These are used to ensure drivers and employers follow the rules on drivers’ hours.
You can set it up through the official GOV.UK website here. It takes about five minutes to set up and you will need some information to hand before starting.
The motoring experts say to create an account you’ll need:
- an email address
- addresses where you’ve lived for the last 3 years
- your UK passport if you have one (either current or expired in the past 12 months), or the identity document used to sign in to your UKVI account
You might be asked for additional information, such as:
- your driving licence number
- your National Insurance number
- the vehicle log book (V5C registration certificate) reference number