Professional driver

If you like to be on the road a lot and want to sit behind the wheel of a heavy truck, then the job of a professional driver is just right for you. You can transport valuable goods and move weights of up to 40 tonnes. Turn your passion into a career now!

As a professional driver, you are always on the road: Either in freight transport by truck or in passenger transport by bus. The tasks of a professional driver vary depending on the focus you choose. In freight transport, you transport goods from A to B for a forwarding agency or transport company. You must be aware that you have practically no regular working hours. You are on the road with your truck for days on end and spend the night behind the driver's seat of your truck. You often spend your breaks in lay-bys or rest stops on motorways. Most of the time you are alone and only at home at weekends. In this job, the truck is entirely in your hands, because you have to keep everything in order. When loading the freight, you ensure the safety of the goods and check the papers. At the end of your tour, the freight is unloaded and the delivery papers are handed over to the recipient. Then the journey continues again. In passenger transport you are on the road with the bus and transport children to school, professionals to their workplace or travel to distant countries. You have good chances on the job market in both freight and passenger transport.

Within the professional driver jobs, you can specialise in different areas after your training. You can decide for yourself in which industry you would like to work and what kind of vehicles you would like to drive. A few examples are delivery driver, bus driver or tractor driver for large vehicles. You also have the opportunity to transport lorries in the waste disposal industry. You also have the chance to travel by car, e.g. as a taxi driver or messenger driver. In short, after training as a professional driver you will work for municipal transport companies, haulage companies, bus and travel companies, postal and courier services or logistics companies. You will be spoilt for choice.

After the training, you have the option of specialisation or further training for your career. You can also switch to the commercial area as a truck dispatcher. You can expand your knowledge of dangerous goods by taking an ADR basic course and then an advanced course in tank or class 1. After this, you will be allowed to transport dangerous goods in general and bulk cargo transport or tank vehicles of all dangerous goods classes. Another option within professional driver jobs is to specialise in transporting vehicles such as vintage cars, new cars or construction vehicles. In addition, there are various opportunities for further training, which are discussed in more detail in the following section.

After training as a professional driver, you can become a certified transport specialist. You will take on commercial, organisational or management tasks in the company. You can complete the further training either full-time within 3-6 months or part-time by distance learning between 15-24 months. The prerequisite for this is one year of work experience in the same field. You can also take further training to become a state-certified technician. In this case, however, you must also have one year of work experience after completing your training. This continuing education can also be completed full-time or by distance learning. In this way, you can also choose the path to traffic management after your job as a professional driver. As a motor vehicle technician, you will be responsible, for example, for the maintenance, distribution and servicing of components and vehicles. This gives you the opportunity to take on management tasks and work in vehicle production or development. In addition, you can carry out control and planning tasks as a technician in the transport sector. This can happen in the road construction administration or in companies in local public transport with disposition and regulation tasks. You can also become a master craftsman in road transport. You are responsible for the vehicle fleet and the acquisition of new vehicles. You draw up timetables, supervise drivers' driving times and rest periods and monitor the profitability of the fleet. For this you have to complete a preparatory course of at least 6 months full-time or 1.5-2 years part-time. Here, too, you need one year of professional experience to be admitted to the master craftsman's examination after training.

At DriveX - your driving school, you benefit from the core competence both in theory and during the driving lessons. You always have a competent partner with a lot of know-how and specialists at your side. With the number 1 driving school you will reach your professional goal safely. You will be accompanied in all stages of your training and have every opportunity to fully develop yourself. Your wishes and goals are our top priority!

You can also do the professional driver training as a career changer. To do so, you should have at least a secondary school leaving certificate and be in good health. As a professional driver, you need to be able to orientate yourself well and be attentive. You should have excellent reactions and be able to work under pressure. As a career changer, your eyesight is also an important criterion and requires an examination and a certificate from an ophthalmologist. In addition, as a career changer in professional driver training, your personal requirements are decisive: you should enjoy driving, have a high sense of responsibility, be reliable, show a lot of flexibility and have no problem sitting for long periods of time. As a career changer, it is not wrong to have a great desire to travel, as you will be on the road for a long time and cannot always be at home.

Of course, you also have other options for further training as a professional driver: You can broaden your horizons and pursue new career paths. For example, you can become a merchant in a wide variety of fields, such as freight forwarding and logistics services, road and rail transport or in the transport sector. You can also become a warehouse logistics specialist, a motor vehicle mechatronics technician or a railway worker. To become a taxi driver, you must have a Class B driving licence as a basic qualification, 2 years' driving experience and be 21 years old. You must be at least 21 years old. A passenger transport licence is also required. In addition, your physical and mental abilities must be proven by a medical certificate and you must prove by a police driving certificate that you have no more than 3 points in Flensburg. In addition, you must pass a local knowledge test by the TÜV or DEKRA and have knowledge of the traffic routes as well as knowledge of local places of interest and known authorities. As an alternative, you can also become a lorry driver, but for this you need a class C/CE driving licence and proof of the basic qualification. Another alternative is to become a service driver, which you can do in about 20 months after completing a full-time course. As a service driver, you need a class Bo or C1E driving licence with a basic qualification.As an alternative to further training as a professional driver, you can also become a bus driver, i.e. a professional driver specialising in passenger transport. This requires a class D or D1 driving licence and proof of an initial qualification. Qualification as a bus driver is possible on a part-time basis.

In principle, you have to bear the costs yourself. In Germany, employers are not obliged to pay the costs for the qualification. However, it is more common for employers to bear the costs for professional driver training. You must clarify this with your employer in each individual case. In some cases, the Federal Office for Goods Transport can also provide funding. The costs vary from region to region. The number of modules depends on the costs, but you can expect to pay 50-70 euros per module. On average, the costs for professional driver training should amount to 350-500 euros.

Every driver who transports goods or passengers within the European Union must complete further training in accordance with the Qualification Act. No distinction is made between self-employed and employed drivers. In addition, professional drivers must first complete an initial qualification. It should be noted that only vehicles over 3.5 tonnes or with more than eight passenger seats are affected. Further training for professional drivers is compulsory, as the legal requirements for the workplace, road safety and correct load securing must be met.

The job of a professional driver is very varied and exciting. In addition to driving a motor vehicle on their own responsibility, the professional driver is also responsible for planning the route, securing and storing the load and invoicing for the service provided. Moreover, this is a training occupation with a future. Professional drivers are constantly needed because they ensure that everyone is supplied with a wide variety of products and articles. This makes the professional driver a very important part of the economy and society. So if you like to work independently, are enthusiastic about technology and are good at dealing with conflict or problem situations, you should think about training as a professional driver!