Rigid Driver Walkaround check
A Rigid Driver Walkaround Check is essential to ensure the vehicle is safe and roadworthy before every journey. The inspection includes checking in-cab controls, such as driving controls, tachograph, warning lights, and wipers. External checks cover fluid leaks, exhaust emissions, suspension, and proper load security. Windows, mirrors, lights, and indicators must be clean, undamaged, and fully functional. Tyres should be correctly inflated, undamaged, and securely fitted. Ensuring safe vehicle access with secure steps and handholds is also crucial for driver safety.
How to Nail the CPC Walk-Around Check
The walk-around check is where many CPC candidates lose easy marks — not because they can’t do it, but because they miss items under pressure or fail to explain what they’re checking and why. This guide takes you around the truck step by step, in the same logical order the examiners expect.
A strong walk-around follows a fixed routine: start at the cab, work around the vehicle in one direction and narrate as you go — lights and reflectors, tyres and wheel nuts, air lines and couplings, mirrors and glass, leaks under the vehicle, load security, and the tail lift or curtains where fitted. Saying what you’re looking for out loud shows the examiner you understand the purpose of each check, not just the routine.
Practise until the sequence is automatic. Our photo guide to safe equipment shows exactly what good looks like, and any of our truck driving lessons can include walk-around practice on request.