CPC - Big fat money spinner?

So, while I start up my own business I might need to fall back on my PCV licence to being a few quid in when I’m quiet. Now I had to do a few CPCs when I was working full time in the industry, they were provided in house and based on the industry, I found it of questionable use back then. I remember a day where we went out on the bus for a drive about and had quite a good day, enjoyed it and learnt a bit but aside from that each course was treated as a bit of a doss.

Fast forward to this week, my entitlement had expired so needed to do the full 35 hours. From a quick search there seemed to be very little in terms of differentiating between HGV & PCV courses so I booked onto some that sounded vaguely relatable. The modules were all done online and after doing the whole weeks worth I feel like it’s been a total waste of time. Most of the modules had huge sections that were aimed at HGVs and the rest of it was going over stuff that you should already know if you’re out on the road driving, let alone a professional driver.

We had one trainer who was just churning through the (poor) content on the sides, I raised a couple of points and was shot down as being wrong so after that point just blended into the background and went through the motions. The other trainers were decent but there’s only so much they could do with the content they had to give us.

I should point out, I’m not against learning and improving knowledge, in my regular job I have to do CPD every year, I enjoy learning and do far more than the minimum needed, but I feel like the CPC is costing huge amounts of money for very little in return of knowledge or improvements in driving on the road. I’ve been out the game for 4 years and even then I didn’t learn much. Yeah some bits of the Highway Code have been changed but I’d spent half hour checking what that meant for me ages ago.

Is it just me that feels like this? Am I being overly harsh or are others having the same experience?

It’s a massively wasted opportunity.
I mean, how can you do a full day of CPC first aid training, not practice CPR,and not come away with a certificate? Bonkers.
I also renewed mine recently, after almost deciding to let my licence fade into obscurity. It was 35 hours of trucker bullst stories, casual racism and misogyny, with various incorrect facts sprinkled in for good measure.

At least that has been rectified.

Glad it’s not just me then!, totally agree it’s an opportunity wasted.

I thought a bit more about this after I posted. There were elements that were ok but just poorly implemented. I think a full, proper first aid course should be the first module, get drivers doing that every 5 years would be fantastic. I was also surprised at how little tacho training you get when you go through the licence process, given how complicated it is. Perhaps a module to train drivers on that would be helpful. Given I’ve always been on domestic hours its never been an issue for me. After those, you could do a decent module on the Highway Code and road safety, but one 7 hour day is plenty of time to cover all of that. That leaves 2 modules for industry specific training.

I done a day on loading and safe loads etc, total waste of time for me and then another course we done customer service, which in a large part was a waste of time for everyone because the HGV drivers were saying they don’t deal with members of the public and it wasn’t the slightest bit relevant for PCVs.

Yeah, the ‘best’ out of the five I’ve just done was the one where we had a decent bunch and a instructor that encouraged a bit of banter.

I've got my Module 4 CPC practical to do yet, passed my CPC theory a few days ago. I'm not planning on going into the industry, maybe ad hoc at best (got Cat C).

What happens if I do no CPC training in the next 5 years and it expires, do I have to do the full initial test again ie go to the DVLA office and do theory and then practical like I've done/doing or can I sit 35 hours after expiry and get it back?

I've got my practical tests (Mod 4) next week