New Era for LGV Drivers

LGV driver licensing, re-introduced in 1970, was said to have heralded new standards of professionalism for lorry drivers, but the public image of today's trucker remains poor. Some are seen as scruffy, bullies on the road and overweight frequenters of greasy-spoon cafes. Many, of course, are not of this ilk, especially the well-trained and often smartly uniformed staff of leading road hauliers and own-account firms.

The current LGV driving and theory tests provide only the beginnings of a store of knowledge and skills needed by drivers to do their job legally, safely and with care for their own health. While additional skills may undoubtedly be acquired over a lifetime's experience, this is no help to newcomers starting a truck-driving career, or to haulage employers needing assurance of a new employee's competence to do the job properly, rather than merely conduct a vehicle around a driving test course.

To overcome these fundamental shortcomings, the EU has launched a Directive (Directive 2003/59/EC) which will demand new standards of professional competence, via tough training and re-training programmes, for both new and existing heavy vehicle drivers from 10th September 2009.

A comprehensive learning source for the detailed and wide-ranging knowledge specified in the EU's official syllabus, as well as that needed to pass the UK's LGV theory test, is to be found in the Professional LGV Driver's Handbook written by David Lowe, first published in 2004, the new and updated edition is published for 2008. This is a 'must' for the 21st century professional truck driver.