Driver CPC, Tachograph and Fleet Deadlines: A UK Transport Manager’s Compliance Calendar
A transport manager is answerable for two sets of dates that never line up: the ones attached to vehicles and the ones attached to drivers. Annual tests, safety inspections, tachograph inspections and LOLER examinations run on the fleet. Driver CPC, driver cards, licence renewals and D4 medicals run on the people. Miss one on either side and the consequence lands on the operator licence.
This calendar brings the UK goods vehicle dates together with the rule behind each one and a practical lead time. It is written for operators of vehicles over 3.5 tonnes, with notes on vans and grey fleet where the rules differ.
35 hours
periodic Driver CPC training every 5 years
15 working days
minimum lead time to renew a tachograph driver card
4-13 weeks
normal range for preventive maintenance inspections (DVSA)
Driver dates
Driver CPC: 35 hours every 5 years
Professional HGV drivers must complete 35 hours of periodic training every five years to keep their Driver CPC, and the fine for driving professionally without it is up to £1,000. Since 3 December 2024 there is also a National Driver CPC, valid for driving in the UK only. National courses can be delivered as e-learning in courses of at least 3.5 hours, but a driver with any National course on their record can only receive a National card. Since 1 February 2025, a driver whose card expired less than two years ago can return to driving in the UK after a 7-hour Return to Driving course, but must complete a further 28 hours within 12 months to stay qualified.
In practice, the risk is not one driver forgetting. It is a cohort of drivers whose cards all expire in the same quarter because they qualified together. Plotting every driver’s CPC expiry and booking training in batches a year ahead is far cheaper than paying agency cover for drivers who cannot work.
Digital tachograph driver card: 5 years
Driver cards are valid for five years. The driver should apply to renew at least 15 working days before expiry. DVLA sends a courtesy reminder, but relying on it alone leaves no margin for a lost letter or a change of address. A lost or stolen card must be reported and a replacement applied for within seven calendar days.
HGV licence renewal and D4 medicals
Group 2 (lorry and bus) entitlement is renewed at 45 with a D4 medical, then every five years until 65, and annually after that. A D4 report is valid for four months from the doctor’s signature, so the medical has to be timed close to the renewal application. That makes it a two-step deadline: book the medical, then submit within the window.
Licence checks
There is no statutory frequency for checking driving licences. Employers use the driver’s check code together with the last eight characters of the licence number; a check code is valid for 21 days and can be used once. Many operators check at least annually and more often for high-mileage drivers or those with points on their licence. Whatever risk-based cycle you choose, what matters is that it is written down and followed.
ADR driver training certificate
ADR qualifications for dangerous goods drivers last five years, and refresher training and exams are needed to renew. Plan the refresher well inside the final year.
Vehicle dates
Vehicle and operator deadlines (goods vehicles over 3.5 t)
| Item | Interval | Lead time worth setting |
|---|---|---|
| Annual test (HGV) | First test 12 months after first registration, then yearly | 8-10 weeks, to book a test slot |
| Preventive maintenance inspection (PMI) | Normally every 4-13 weeks; at least every 6 weeks for vehicles 12+ years old | Plan about 6 months ahead |
| Tachograph inspection | At least every 2 years | 4-6 weeks |
| Vehicle unit download | At least every 90 days | 2 weeks |
| Driver card download | At least every 28 days | 1 week |
| LOLER: tail lifts, lorry loaders | Every 6 or 12 months, depending on whether the lift carries people and your examination scheme | 4 weeks |
| Operator licence continuation fee | Every 5 years | 3 months |
A few points in that table regularly cause trouble. PMI intervals are set by the operator within the 4 to 13 week range the DVSA Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness describes, and inspection records must be kept for at least 15 months. A brake performance assessment is expected at every inspection, with at least four laden brake tests a year where you don’t use electronic brake performance monitoring, and drivers still carry out at least one walkaround check a day.
Tail lifts are often assumed to need six-monthly LOLER examinations. HSE’s default is 12 months for lifting equipment and six months for equipment that lifts people, so a tail lift the operator rides on usually falls in the six-month group. Your competent person’s examination scheme decides.
⚠️Vans and cars under 3.5 tonnes follow the MOT regime instead: first MOT by the third anniversary of registration, then yearly. An MOT can be done up to a month (minus a day) early and keep the renewal date.
Grey fleet
Employees driving their own cars for work are covered by health and safety law too. The employer should check business-use insurance, MOT and vehicle tax, and the driving licence on appointment and regularly afterwards. These are three more dated items per driver, which is why grey fleet is usually where spreadsheets break first.
Turning the calendar into a system
The calendar is the easy part. The hard part is making sure each date has an owner and is acted on in time, with a record that survives a traffic commissioner’s public inquiry or a DVSA visit. The pattern that works:
A transport manager’s working set-up
- ✓
One record per driver per qualification (CPC, card, licence, D4, ADR) and one per vehicle per inspection.
- ✓
Lead times set per item type, not one default for everything.
- ✓
Drivers reminded on their phones, because they rarely read company email.
- ✓
Copies of renewed cards and certificates collected from drivers, not chased in the yard.
- ✓
An escalation path when a date passes with nothing logged.
- ✓
An export that shows every date, document and reminder for one driver or one vehicle.
ExpiryEdge is built for that layer. Each driver and vehicle item is a dated record with an owner and reminders at 90, 60, 30 and 7 days, or whatever cadence you set, by email, SMS, WhatsApp, Slack or Teams. Drivers upload photos of a renewed card, a D4 or a CPC certificate through a link with no login, and you can reject a blurry upload and ask for just that item again. Our fleet compliance page shows the vehicle side, and driver licence checks covers the people side.
ℹ️ExpiryEdge is not a telematics or tachograph analysis system. It does not download or read tachograph files and does not query DVLA. It reminds you when a download, a check or a renewal is due, and keeps the evidence that it happened.
Frequently asked questions
Driver cards are valid for five years. Apply to renew at least 15 working days before the expiry date. A lost or stolen card must be reported and a replacement applied for within seven calendar days.
Tachographs must be inspected at least every two years. Separately, the vehicle unit must be downloaded at least every 90 days and each driver card at least every 28 days.
The DVSA Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness says intervals would normally range between 4 and 13 weeks, with a minimum of every 6 weeks for vehicles and trailers aged 12 years or more. Keep inspection records for at least 15 months.
Group 2 entitlement is renewed at 45 with a D4 medical, then every five years until 65 and annually after that. A D4 report is valid for four months from the date the doctor signs it.
There is no statutory frequency in the UK. Many employers check at least annually, and more often for high-mileage drivers or drivers with points on their licence. A DVLA check code is valid for 21 days and can be used once.
