If your truck driving licence has expired, you must have it extended. Unlike the classic driving licence for cars, driving licences for trucks are only valid for a period of five years. After that, an extension is required. The renewal requires a medical test of vision and reaction time. Trucks have a high weight and are more difficult to drive than a classic passenger car. The requirements serve to increase road safety in traffic.

To drive a truck, you need a class C licence. You can only obtain this licence if you already have a class B driving licence. If you want to work as a truck driver and obtain a driving licence, you first need a classic car driving licence. You must be at least 21 years old and you must be in good health to drive a truck. You can prove this with a health certificate.
To drive heavy trucks with trailers weighing more than 750 kg, you need additional licences. You can only acquire these if you already have the C licence. You have the option of taking these licences in parallel. You must present the class B driving licence when applying for the class B driving licence.

Until 2013, HGV driving licences were valid for life, as were car driving licences. Due to the higher risk of accidents, the law was changed. This means that you have to renew your EU driving licence every five years. An exception is made for truck driving licences that were issued in the FRG or in the GDR before 1 January 1999. In this case, renewal is not required until you reach the age of 50. If you belong to this group and are not yet 50 years old, your driving licence is valid for longer than five years.

There is no legal entitlement to have the costs for the truck driver's license covered by the employment office. Nevertheless, you can get an advance or a loan for financing. This is usually the case if you can no longer practice your previous profession due to illness or after an accident. If you have learned a profession that is not in demand on the job market, you can retrain to become a truck driver. This option is open to you if there are many jobs available and if you can end your unemployment in this way. This means that the costs can be covered in exceptional cases. However, it is always a case-by-case decision.

After passing the driving test, the truck driving license is limited to a period of five years. This means that you must actively seek an extension. Otherwise, the driver's license will expire. For you, this means that you are no longer allowed to drive a truck despite having passed the driving test. The police will consider the expired driver's license as if you did not have one. For this reason, it is important that you take care of the renewal in time. Note that there is no transition period. The date that is written on the driver's license is valid. One day later, the driver's license is considered expired.

The driver's license for trucks is more or less an extension of the passenger car driver's license. It is therefore not necessary to take the entire theory test a second time. You extend the theory lessons by six additional hours if you are aiming for the driving license classes C1, C1E and C. In the class CE there are four additional hours. Class CE requires a further four hours of theory, so that you have to complete ten hours. It is important for you to know that it does not matter how long ago you acquired your driver's license. Even if you passed your theory a long time ago, it is still valid.

You have the option of taking the driving licence for trucks in an intensive course. This is designed for a period of one week to ten days. Here it depends on how many driving hours you need. Eight to ten hours are prescribed, including night and cross-country driving. If you are confident after that and do not need any more hours, the acquisition of the truck driver's license in a period of ten days is realistic.

The cost of obtaining a truck driver's license consists of several items. These include the fees for the theoretical driving test and the issuing of the documents. You will also have to pay for the health check and for the driving lessons with the completion of the practical test. The fee rate for the driving lessons differs between the different driving schools. Overall, you must expect costs in the range of 2,500 to 3,000 EUR.

If you want to pass the driving test for trucks, you must be 21 years old. You can start with the theory before. However, the driver's license can only be issued when you are 21 years old.
There is one exception: If you complete an apprenticeship as a professional driver after school, you are allowed to obtain the truck driver's license already at the age of 18. Note that this is only possible in conjunction with the training.

If you want to extend the driving license for the truck, you have to bear the following costs:

* Ophthalmological certificate to determine your eyesight: approx. 100 EUR
* General medical certificate to determine your general fitness: approx. 50 EUR
* Costs for the extension of the driving license in the driving license office: approx. 40 EUR

Thus you have to calculate with average costs in the amount of 250 EUR.

Before you apply for the renewal of your driver's license, you are required to obtain two medical certificates. The first is an ophthalmological certificate. This is to exclude serious visual defects. Your ability to see at night must also be checked. If you have to wear glasses, that is no problem. However, it must be ensured that the glasses are perfectly adapted to your vision.

You will get another opinion from the general practitioner. He will check whether you are physically and mentally able to drive a truck. This is important because they are very large vehicles and driving them requires a certain level of skill. This is true on the highway as well as in the city. The mental component is especially important when you are driving long-distance. Often you drive alone for a period of hours and you don't get home for several days or weeks. It is important to check whether you are fit for this. However, since you already have experience when you renew your driver's license, this fitness test is usually not a problem.
In addition to the fitness test, the general practitioner will rule out any illnesses that could impair your ability to drive a truck.

The weight class of the vehicle plays a role here. If you want to drive a truck weighing more than 3.5 tons, you must have a truck driver's license. Smaller trucks with less weight can be driven with a category B license. If you want to work as a professional driver, a category C license is required.

The truck driver's license expires if you have failed to renew it within five years. The same applies if you have an older driver's license that has not yet been affected by the renewal. From your 50th birthday, you must also take care of a renewal.

There are four driving license classes for driving a truck:

Class C1 & C1E: With this license you are allowed to drive trucks with a weight of more than 3.5 tons. Note that you are also allowed to do this if you have the old class 3 license. This allows you to drive a truck with a weight of up to 7.5 tons. In addition, you can move a trailer with a weight of up to 750 kg together with the truck.

Class C &CE: This is the driving license class for trucks with a weight of up to 40t. Here, too, the"E" means that you are allowed to carry a trailer. This may exceed the weight of 750 kg. If you would like to apply as a professional driver and have no restrictions imposed on driving a truck, you need a class CE driver's license.