What Should Be Included in an HGV Driver Induction?

Why driver inductions matter

The goods vehicle operator licensing guide (opens in a new tab) expects drivers to be adequately trained and competent to operate the vehicles and equipment they use. A traffic commissioner looks at whether that system exists, not at whether the pack has a particular cover. An induction is the practical way to do the training before the first shift. A signature on a blank page is not the training.

The same guide expects you to contribute to training and disciplinary processes. That is a management duty. It is not a list of classroom hours, and it is not a filing period for the handbook.

Driving licence and identity

The driver must have the appropriate licence for the vehicle they will drive. That is a legal requirement in the licensing guide. Check the categories, the expiry, any restriction, and that the person in front of you is the holder. A photocopy filed at interview does not update itself.

Regular checks are usually every 3 months. That interval is official guidance, not a statute that makes an annual check a criminal offence by itself. How consent, share codes and DVLA checks work is in DVLA driver licence checks for employers. Drivers from the EU must register their driving licence with DVLA within 12 months of becoming resident. That sentence is on the licensing guide. It is not a substitute for checking the entitlement before they drive.

Driver CPC and qualifications

Vocational drivers need a valid Driver CPC card. The licensing guide states that as something you must be able to show. Getting qualified (opens in a new tab) says a driver needs the full Driver CPC if driving an HGV is the main part of the job, and 35 hours of periodic training every 5 years to stay qualified. The vocational licence is renewed every 5 years, and every year from age 65. Those are qualification cycles, not filing periods for the induction pack.

Some driving does not need the full CPC, including where driving is not the main part of the job, or the use is one of the exemptions on that page. Do not treat every person who moves a lorry in the yard as automatically in or out of scope. Read the exemption against the work they will actually do.

Tachograph card

Where the assimilated rules apply, the driver uses a tachograph. The tachograph rules (opens in a new tab) cover the card, including what to do if it is lost, stolen or faulty. The driver carries the card. The guides do not set a separate retention period for a photocopy of it. Download timing, at least every 28 days for the card and every 90 days for the vehicle unit, is an operator duty. It is not something the driver invents on the first morning.

What a missing card or a bad entry looks like in the analysis is in tachograph infringements explained.

Drivers’ hours

The driver has to follow the hours rules that apply to the work. For most HGV driving that is the assimilated rules: 9 hours, extendable to 10 twice in a fixed week, a 45-minute break after no more than 4.5 hours, and the daily and weekly rest rules. GB domestic rules are a different regime and do not contain that 4.5-hour break. HGV drivers’ hours rules keeps the regimes apart. The induction should say which regime this operation uses, and what the driver does if they cannot legally drive.

Working time

Working time is not a second copy of the driving limits. Drivers in scope of the assimilated rules are normally under the 2005 Regulations: an average of 48 hours, up to 60 in a single week if the average holds, and no individual opt-out. Drivers on GB domestic rules are under the 1998 Regulations, where an individual may opt out of the 48-hour average, and adequate rest cannot be opted out of. Tell the driver which set applies, and that other work for another employer has to be declared where the 2005 rules require it. The hours guide sets the clocks out. This page does not repeat them.

Walkaround checks

The walkaround check (opens in a new tab) page says the driver is responsible for making sure the vehicle is safe to drive, and carries out a walkaround before the journey. Defects are reported in writing to the person who sorts them out. A nil defect is still recorded. The check is what can be seen in the yard. It is not the safety inspection and it is not the MOT.

How to run that check, including photos and a signature, is in HGV daily walkaround checks. Show the driver the actual form or app before the first shift, not a description of one.

Defect reporting

The licensing guide requires drivers to complete and return defect reports, and to record defects correctly. Reported defects are kept in writing or in a format that can be opened, repaired promptly, and a vehicle or trailer that is not roadworthy is taken out of service. The walkaround page adds that defects found during the journey are reported from a safe place, and a dangerous defect is fixed before the journey continues.

The report names the vehicle, the date, the defect or the symptoms, how serious it is, the driver’s name, and who it was reported to. Teaching that list is part of the induction. Deciding the repair, and keeping the sheet, is the operator’s system. How long those sheets are kept is in what records a transport manager should keep.

Vehicle familiarisation

Competence is for the vehicles and equipment this driver will use, not for lorries in general. A driver who has passed a category C test still needs to know this cab, this tail-lift, and this trailer type before they take it out. A familiarisation drive, a note of the vehicle, and the name of the person who watched it are an operator procedure. The legal duty underneath is the licensing guide’s requirement that the driver is adequately trained for the equipment.

Coupling and uncoupling

Where the driver will tow, coupling is part of that equipment. The daily walkaround includes coupling security, the lines, and the trailer parking brake when a trailer is on. A practical coupling drill, done before the first towed shift, is how you meet the competence duty. The guides used here do not name a separate coupling certificate. Do not invent one.

Load security

The load security guide (opens in a new tab) says that if drivers secure loads, the operator must give them training, equipment and instructions. You must support a driver who raises a concern, and you must not pressure them to take a vehicle they think is unsafe. The driver should not proceed if they doubt the security of the load.

The walkaround includes a check that the load does not move and is not likely to, and that the securing system suits the load. If the driver is not happy, they ask the person in charge of vehicle safety to have a competent person assess it, and to reload or resecure it if needed. The induction should name that person. The detailed methods for each commodity are in the load-security guide. This page does not copy them.

Site safety

Yard speed, reversing, pedestrians, where to park, and who controls the gate are operator procedures. The pages cited here do not set a yard speed or a reversing rule. They do expect the driver to be competent for the equipment and not to be sent out with a load or a defect they have said is unsafe. Write the yard rules in the handbook. Do not present them as a DVSA form.

Accident and incident reporting

A company accident procedure, who to call, and what to photograph are operator procedures. The guides used on this page do not set a clock for that company form. A defect or an unsafe vehicle found after a collision still follows the defect duty: report it, and do not continue if it is dangerous.

Tell the driver the name and number they use, and that a workshop message is not the report unless your system says it is. Keep the instruction with the other policies. It does not get its own statutory filing period from these guides.

Fuel cards and company procedures

Fuel cards, keys, phones, uniforms, delivery paperwork and customer sites are company procedures. Include them when the driver needs them to do the job. They are not legal requirements in the licensing guide, and missing a fuel card is not a drivers’ hours infringement. Put them in the same pack so the first shift is not a scavenger hunt, and label them as company rules.

Driver handbook and policies

A handbook is a sensible place for the rules above: which hours regime applies, how to report a defect, who releases a vehicle, and what the yard expects. The licensing guide does not prescribe the booklet. The records guide says company policies are not given their own month count. Keep the version the driver was shown, and the date, so a later argument is about that version.

Training records

Write down what was covered, who delivered it, the date, and the driver’s signature or the equivalent in the system you use. That note is evidence of the training the licensing guide expects. It is not, by itself, a statutory filing period. How this sits beside licence checks, hours records and defect sheets is in the records guide.

Agency drivers

An agency driver, or any other driver you put in the vehicle, needs the same licence, the same CPC where it applies, and the same hours record for the days they drive. The licensing guide does not create a lighter standard because the driver is not on your payroll. The check has to be done before they drive, not after the week is over.

DVSA earned recognition standards go further. The HGV audit standards (opens in a new tab) expect assessment and induction before the agency driver is engaged, and licence, CPC and hours checks before they start driving. That is a scheme standard for operators in the scheme. It is not a second statute for everyone else. DVSA Earned Recognition explains the scheme.

Driver induction checklist

Use this before the first shift. Tick the evidence, not the heading. The status column is the status of the duty, not a score.

Digital driver records with FleetPro

The induction pack is still yours to write. Signing a template does not by itself prove the driver was shown the vehicle.

DVLA licence checks and tachograph analysis are separate modules. They are included on Complete, and available with Core and Compliance. A check that was never switched on is not a record. What each package includes is on pricing.

Questions operators ask

Is there a statutory HGV induction form?

No. The licensing guide requires the right licence, a valid CPC where it applies, and adequate training and competence. It does not publish the form. Your pack is an operator procedure sitting on top of those duties.

Does every new driver need a Driver CPC card?

Vocational drivers do, where driving an HGV is the main part of the job. Some uses are exempt. Check the exemption against the work, and do not assume the yard shunter and the trunk driver are the same case.

Are agency drivers inducted to a lower standard?

No. They need the same licence, CPC where it applies, and hours record for the days they drive. Earned recognition operators also follow that scheme’s induction standard. Other operators are not given a lighter legal duty because the driver is supplied by an agency.

How long is the induction pack kept?

These guides do not give the handbook or the training note its own month count. Defect reports follow the maintenance file. Drivers’ hours records follow the 12-month file. Working-time records are kept for two years. The records guide sets those clocks side by side.

You can open a trial and see the walkaround, and the document tools where the package includes them. No card is taken at the start. When the trial ends, features lock until you speak with us. Start at organisation setup. Package differences are on pricing.

Official sources

The duties on this page are taken from these GOV.UK guides. A company rule is labelled as one.

Goods vehicle operator licensing guide (opens in a new tab). Become a qualified HGV or bus driver (opens in a new tab). HGV daily walkaround checks (opens in a new tab). Responsibility for load security (opens in a new tab). Tachograph rules (opens in a new tab).