Just done my cpc last week.
Bottom line is if the vehicle you are driving weighs over 3 1/2 ton and you make money out of it (either directly or indirectly) you have to have a cpc card and a electronic tachograph card.
Beware lads, VOSA the bastids or DVSA as they like to be known as nowdays are self funded, they are on a mission to shaft as many drivers as possible. Well that's if your British anyway 
As all oofers who drive for a living will know, our friends from the continent tend to get away with murder 
Acting dumb / ignorance is no longer accepted no matter how much you flutter your eye lashes 
DVSA's attitude is once you have the cpc card there is no excuse whatsoever and aim to rape your bank balance as much as possible
Read this from page 18 onwards and weep 
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/344447/enforcement-sanctions-policy.pdf
Whilst that is their attitude the reality falls down on some key points:-
1 There is no national syllabus so training centres can all have variations on their approved courses, and
2 There is nothing to stop a driver, especially a freelance/agency driver, doing the same course 5 times. He's done the hours so gets the card. Ask me how I know.
Personally I think CPC has been a missed opportunity to improve knowledge. Hopefully the system will evolve before 2019 when I next have to worry about it.
Lost count of the number of drivers I've sat on courses with who moan that it's just another tax then in the next breath wondering aloud why they regularly collect infringement letters.
One saving grace, I've yet to meet a driver who has actually been 'done' by vosa/dvsa and though I have seen wagons prohibited at the various inspection sites most of them look easy targets.
Fwiw I had to fund my own 'training', 5 days at c£70 a pop. Plus of course a day off work or give up a rest day. Permanently employed drivers (at least the ones I know) get it gratis and most see it as a cushy shift, but I've yet to find a permanent employer whose idea of holiday entitlement meets with mine.
Thanks to Tigers for the link to the sanctions policy. I've never been able to find it. One saving grace, I've yet to meet a driver who has actually been 'done' by vosa/dvsa and though I have seen wagons prohibited at the various inspection sites most of them look easy targets.
Steve
