If you wish to transport goods or passengers by road for professional purposes, you must provide evidence of a so-called basic qualification for professional drivers in addition to your driver's license.
This applies to drivers of vehicles with a permissible total weight of more than 3.5 tons in road haulage and own-account transport or of vehicles with more than eight passenger seats in passenger transport, insofar as a C- or D-class driving license is required to drive the vehicle/vehicle combination.
A distinction is made between the basic qualification and the accelerated basic qualification.
You acquire the accelerated basic qualification by participating in a training course at a recognized training facility and successfully passing a theoretical examination at the IHK. Participation in the training is mandatory here. The theoretical examination is also easier for holders of certificates of professional competence in accordance with the occupational access regulations.
If you have already acquired your driving license before 10.9.2008 (bus) or 10.9.2009 (truck), you do not have to prove that you have the basic qualification ("grandfather status").
You do not need to have a driver's license for the accelerated initial qualification.
The type of test differs depending on the prerequisites:
- Regular examination "accelerated basic qualification"
You must take the regular examination if you can neither present proof of a specialist examination in road haulage or passenger transport ("transport manager examination") for the type of transport in question, nor have you successfully taken an examination (accelerated) basic qualification for the other type of transport.
- Accelerated basic qualification" changeover test
You can take the "changeover" test if you have already successfully passed the regular test for the type of transport that is not the subject of the changeover test. Thus, the accelerated basic qualification "Umsteiger" only deals with the special features of the type of transport. For example, the future bus driver is taught how to behave with regard to passengers, since this was not part of his first initial qualification for freight transport.
This also applies to drivers who acquired the driver's license for the other type of transport before the respective cut-off date (grandfathering).
- Cross-entry exam "Accelerated basic qualification"
You can take the "Cross-entry exam" if you have valid proof of a specialist knowledge exam for the type of transport for which the exam is to be taken.
Since not all the knowledge that a driver must have is tested in the specialist knowledge examination, you must also acquire the basic qualification as the holder of a specialist knowledge certificate.
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