Cargo vehicle driver to dangerous goods driver
A cargo vehicle driver already meets 58% of what the dangerous goods driver role asks for. The move turns on 8 required skills not yet in the profile.
43.5/ 100
1 How much of what a dangerous goods driver is expected to do is already part of a cargo vehicle driver’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the dangerous goods driver role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A dangerous goods driver role treats 12 of its required skills as things a cargo vehicle driver already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- anticipate foreseeable problems on the road
- control the performance of the vehicle
- interpret traffic signals
- manoeuvre heavy trucks
- mechanical components of vehicles
- operate GPS systems
What stands in the way is 8 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 12 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A dangerous goods driver role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a cargo vehicle driver background worth leading with.
- already held parallel park vehicles working with machinery and specialised equipment
- already held anticipate foreseeable problems on the road working with machinery and specialised equipment
- already held practice emergency stops working with machinery and specialised equipment
- already held vehicle cargo capacity services
- already held transport topography services
- already held manoeuvre heavy trucks working with machinery and specialised equipment
All 12 carried skills, including the 12 the dangerous goods driver role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 10 missing skills fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn maintain logbooks required
- still to learn check dangerous goods transport unit required
- optional, not held maintain gas mileage records optional
- still to learn hazards associated with loading dangerous goods required
- still to learn health and safety measures in transportation required
- optional, not held international carriage of dangerous goods by road optional
- still to learn operate emergency equipment required
- still to learn transport dangerous goods required
- still to learn revise certifications for dangerous good transportation required
- still to learn perform defensive driving required
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a dangerous goods driver role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 maintain logbooks practise this
- 02 perform defensive driving practise this
- 03 revise certifications for dangerous good transportation practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 12 skills that carry over
- already held anticipate foreseeable problems on the road skill
- already held control the performance of the vehicle skill
- already held interpret traffic signals skill
- already held manoeuvre heavy trucks skill
- already held mechanical components of vehicles knowledge
- already held operate GPS systems skill
- already held parallel park vehicles skill
- already held practice emergency stops skill
- already held stay alert skill
- already held transport topography knowledge
- already held use different communication channels skill
- already held vehicle cargo capacity knowledge
2 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held maintain gas mileage records optional
- optional, not held international carriage of dangerous goods by road optional
7 held skills the dangerous goods driver role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role read maps skill
- not needed by the target role road traffic laws knowledge
- not needed by the target role road transport legislation knowledge
- not needed by the target role supervise loading of cargo skill
- not needed by the target role supervise unloading of cargo skill
- not needed by the target role types of cargo knowledge
- not needed by the target role use communication devices skill
3 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn hazards associated with loading dangerous goods required
- still to learn health and safety measures in transportation required
- optional, not held international carriage of dangerous goods by road optional
Other moves recorded from cargo vehicle driver
Common questions about this move
Can a cargo vehicle driver become a dangerous goods driver?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. A cargo vehicle driver already covers 58% of what a dangerous goods driver is expected to do: 12 skills carry over, 12 of which the dangerous goods driver role treats as required.
What skills does a cargo vehicle driver need to become a dangerous goods driver?
8 required skills are missing, plus 2 optional ones. They fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by information skills. The single most important is maintain logbooks.
How hard is the move from cargo vehicle driver to dangerous goods driver?
Its learning distance is 43.5 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.