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Professional drivers

Periodic training and compliance

The truck and bus training you need to maintain your Driver CPC.

If you’re a professional truck or bus driver in Ireland you must undergo periodic training with an approved CPC training organisation to maintain your Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (Driver CPC).



The CPC training you need

To maintain your driver CPC qualification, every five years you must:

  • attend one unique driver CPC training module per year with an RSA-approved CPC training organisation (35 hours over five years)
  • attend a total of 42 hours of driver CPC training modules if you hold bus and truck driver CPC and wish to maintain both. This consists of six training modules which must be completed over a five year cycle. 

In each case, training must last for one day (a minimum of seven hours per day) and is compulsory. When booking your training module, make sure your trainer and training centre are approved. Unapproved training will not count towards your driver CPC.

If you do not complete the required training every year you will not receive a new Driver CPC card after five years. You can check how many hours of training you have done in the current 5-year cycle in your MyCPC portal account.


Penalties for driving professionally without Driver CPC

You must carry your Driver CPC card while driving a truck or bus professionally. If you are stopped by an RSA transport officer or An Garda Síochána and you do not have your Driver CPC card with you, penalties will apply


Where to find CPC training

Only RSA-approved Driver CPC courses count towards periodic training and different courses cover different parts of the Driver CPC syllabus.

Browse our directory of approved CPC training organisations.


Certificate of attendance

You should get a certificate of attendance at the end of each course. 


Your Driver CPC training record

As you complete your Driver CPC modules your CPC training centre will upload your training to your Driver CPC training record on the MyCPC portal.

To register on the MyCPC portal you will need your:

  • driver number or Personal Public Service Number (PPSN)
  • email address
  • date of birth.

If your training record is not updated within 21 days of completing the course you should contact your training organisation.


Complaints about a Driver CPC training organisation

You can contact the RSA by completing this form if:

  • you believe the training provided did not meet the standard, for example, the course did not last as long as it should have
  • the training centre has stopped trading and they did not update your training record.

Driver CPC periodic training  

There are six modules in Driver CPC periodic training and up to three sessions to cover within each module:

ModuleDescriptionTraining documents
Module 1Control of the vehicle and eco-driving techniques: This module deals with characteristics of the transmission system, effective use of safety controls on buses and trucks and optimisation of fuel consumption.  

Session 1

Session 2


Module 2

Minimising risks and managing emergencies in the transport industry: This module covers the risks on the road for drivers of trucks and buses and the ability to assess emergency situations.

Session 1

Session 2

Module 3

Health and safety for the professional driver: This module deals with awareness of the importance of physical and mental ability and the prevention of physical risks.

Session 1

Session 2

Module 4

Role of the professional driver in the transport industry: This module addresses the  social environment of road transport and the rules governing it.

Session 1

Module 5

The professional truck driver: This module covers the areas of loading, preventing criminality, enhancing the image of the industry, carriage regulations and knowing the economic environment of road haulage.

Session 1

Session 2

Module 6

The professional bus driver: This module deals with the topics of forces affecting vehicles in motion, vehicle overhang, gearbox ratios, defensive driving, dealing with vulnerable road users and vehicle stability.

Session 1

Session 2

 


Maintaining your Driver CPC

  • to maintain your truck CPC, you must complete modules 1-5
  • to maintain your bus CPC, you must complete modules 1-4 and module 6
  • to maintain your bus and truck CPC you must complete modules 1-6.

Professional drivers are required to complete one day of CPC periodic training every year in order to maintain their CPC qualification on an ongoing basis.  This is classroom based-training covering a minimum of seven hours every year. 


Course structure

The training is structured to ensure that all drivers can comfortably participate in the class and involves class discussion on a broad range of road safety issues affecting professional drivers. There are also road safety videos to support your learning and quizzes to test your knowledge. 

All participants receive a CPC training manual at the start of the course. 


Assistance with periodic training

Audio disc

We recently published the CPC training syllabus on audio disc for drivers who may experience difficulty in following the CPC training manual. The discs are available on request from our driver education manager by completing this form.

Irish sign language

We also facilitate payment for an Irish Sign Language (ISL) interpreter at annual CPC training courses. Once the particular training course is scheduled and approved our access officer liaises with the various deaf advocacy groups to advise their members of the training.