Free Transport Compliance Guides and Fleet Training Services

Submatter Ltd is a specialist transport training provider based in Wigan. Alongside our scheduled courses we publish a short set of free reference guides for drivers and for the people who manage them, and we build bespoke training programmes for operators who need more than an open course place.

Everything on this page is free. The guides sit behind an add to basket step because of how the site is built, but there is no charge and no payment stage.

Our free guides

Roadmap to HGV

A step by step walk through of the route from a full car licence to a Category C or C+E entitlement. It covers the provisional application, the D4 medical, the order the tests are taken in, and where Driver CPC fits alongside the licence itself. If you are weighing up a career change and want to know what the process actually involves before you commit to it, start here. The same ground is covered in more detail on our HGV licence training page.

Simplified Guidance on Drivers' Hours and Working Time

Drivers' hours and the Working Time Regulations are two separate sets of rules that apply at the same time, and the overlap between them is where most operators come unstuck. This guide sets out the daily and weekly limits, the rest requirements, and the records you are expected to keep, in ordinary language rather than regulatory language. It is written for drivers and for the planners who build their shifts. Drivers' hours is also a core subject area on the Transport Manager CPC course.

Driving Licence Codes

Every UK driving licence carries a set of numeric codes on the back, listed against each category. Most drivers have never been told what they mean. This index lists each code and explains what it restricts or permits, which is useful when you are checking a new starter's entitlement or working out what your own licence already allows you to do.

Bespoke and in house training

Open course places suit individual drivers. Fleets usually need something built around a rota. We deliver in house programmes at your premises or at our Wigan training centre for groups of four or more, scheduled to keep vehicles moving while drivers qualify.

That covers Driver CPC periodic training, where several seven hour modules can be scheduled back to back to clear a team's 35 hour requirement in one block, and ADR dangerous goods training for fleets moving hazardous loads. If you hold an operator licence and need cover for a nominated Transport Manager, the Transport Manager CPC and OLAT routes are both available as classroom or online delivery. For drivers who are not yet licensed, HGV licence training runs from Category C1 through to C+E at the same centre.

Classroom hire

Our Wigan classroom is available to hire for meetings, training and events when it is not in use by a course. Contact us for availability and pricing.

Not sure which one applies to you?

If you are unsure which course you need, which modules your drivers still have outstanding, or whether one of the guides above answers your question, call us before you book anything. We would rather point you at the right thing than sell you the wrong one.

Get in touch: operations@submatter.co.uk or 07513 683932.