Your HGV Driver Training Questions, Answered

A career as a HGV driver can be hugely rewarding, exciting and generally different from many other career options out there. That’s why we see a lot of different people coming into the field from all walks of life, all looking for one thing – the freedom of the open road and being your own boss. But if you’re new to the industry, it can be a difficult thing to understand, and you probably have a lot of questions. So today we’ve gathered some of our most commonly asked questions together, and tried to answer them for you as best we can.

How Old Do You Have To Be To Drive An HGV?

Let’s start with an easy one – 18. Once you turn 18, providing you have a valid UK drivers license, you can start your HGV training right away.

Where Will I Do My Training?

The location of your training will largely depend on where you are, and where your driver school is. Some elements of your training, like the theory sections, can be done remotely from home through our online portal, so location isn’t really a factor. The practical driving needs to be done in person, on local roads, with manoeuvres and reversing being taught at an appropriate location. But since our courses are only 4 days long, we often get drivers from further afield, staying in a local hotel for their training time to access the best training options for them.

What’s Involved In The Training?

Training for your HGV licence might seem like a long and complicated process, but we promise it’s not as bad as it seems. In reality, there are around 5 steps to your training, once you get signed up with us. Your training will look something like this:

• Register for your course and receive your starter pack in the post. This pack includes all of your information about the course, as well as your license application and medical forms, and access to the online theory revision portal.

• You need to attend a basic medical exam, and send off the filled in form for your provisional licence.

• Once you have your provisional licence and you’ve been signed off by a medical professional, we can get you started on theory teaching. We tend to book in the tests for this quite soon after starting.

• Now you’ve passed your theory, you move on to the practical driving aspect. This is usually done in a 4-day intensive course with one of our experienced HGV instructors.

• Once you’re trained up, we guide you through your practical tests, and get you ready to hit the road!

How Much Does It Cost?

It very much depends on the school you choose. Each driving school will charge different amounts, so it’s important you get this straight before you commit to your school. At The LGV Training Centre, we offer a wide range of courses to suit all budgets, so get in touch with one of our team to find a course that suits you.

Which License Do I Need?

For the most part, the exact licenses you need will depend on what kind of HGV you want to drive, and what kind of job you want to have. But there is one basic licence you will need, and that’s a Driver CPC. This is the basic certificate of professional competence, and showcases that you are fully trained and qualified. You can’t get a job as a professional HGV driver without one. You can then add on your specific HGV licenses to this one. So this is the place you need to start.

If you would like to know more about our training programmes, or you have some questions that we haven’t answered here, just get in touch with the team today for more information.