Truck
driving licence,
explained.
A complete Danish reference work on the category C truck licence — from driving and rest times and weight rules to stopping distance and load securing. Read the articles. Use the calculators. Ask the assistant.
11
Calculators
30
Articles
108
Questions
Articulated lorry seen from the side with dimensioning of length and height, marked axles and a highlighted top-over lashing over the load.
§ 01 — What you can do here
Read, calculate, drive — or ask.
Seven tools from theory to the road — for students, drivers and hauliers.
Tools in the trade
§ 02 — About the trade
Lorries and road haulage
Road haulage is the commercial carriage of goods by lorry — from urban distribution to long-distance transport across borders. An HGV driver plans the route, loads and secures the goods, keeps to the driving and rest time rules and documents the journey. The trade is regulated end to end: licences, the Driver CPC, weight limits, cargo securing and the tachograph all follow common European rules.
Questions about the trade
What does an HGV driver do?
An HGV driver moves goods by lorry and is responsible for the whole journey — not just the driving. The day typically starts with a daily walk-around check of tyres, brakes, lights, fluids and cargo-securing equipment before the vehicle leaves the yard. The goods are then loaded and stowed, the cargo is secured on the bed, and the journey is recorded on the digital tachograph with the driver card. Paperwork is part of it: the CMR consignment note, reservations for damage, and any defects noted during the check. The work ranges from distribution with many stops to long-haul, crane, tanker and ADR work with dangerous goods.
What licence and training do you need to drive a lorry?
Category C is the licence for a large lorry over 3,500 kg, while C1 covers the small lorry up to 7,500 kg; if the trailer weighs more than 750 kg, E is required on top (C1/E or C/E). A car licence, category B, is a prerequisite, and in Denmark C and C/E normally require you to be 21 — or 18 if you take the vocational training at the same time. Commercial driving also requires the Driver CPC, shown as code 95: an initial qualification of about 280 teaching hours and 35 hours of periodic training every five years.
How do the driving and rest time rules work?
Driving and rest times are laid down in EU Regulation 561/2006 and apply to vehicles over 3,500 kg. After no more than 4½ hours of driving the driver must take a break of at least 45 minutes — either in one go or split into 15 minutes followed by 30 minutes. Daily driving time is at most 9 hours, extended to 10 hours twice a week, and weekly driving time at most 56 hours. Daily rest is at least 11 hours, which may be reduced to 9 hours, and the regular weekly rest is at least 45 hours. The rules are the same throughout the EU.
How is cargo secured correctly on the load bed?
Cargo securing is dimensioned to DS/EN 12195-1, which assumes the load must be held against 0.8 g forwards under full braking and 0.5 g sideways and rearwards. The goods are placed and blocked first so they cannot slide; top-over lashing or direct lashing is then added. The friction between the goods and the load bed decides how many straps are needed — timber against steel lies around µ 0.3, while an anti-slip mat can raise it to around 0.6. The strap's LC and STF are read off the label to EN 12195-2 and never guessed.
How heavy and how large may a lorry and trailer combination be?
Weights and dimensions are laid down in the Danish dimensions order, BEK 1447/2025. The width is at most 2.55 m and the height 4.00 m, a lorry at most 12.00 m, a lorry-and-trailer combination 18.75 m and an articulated combination 16.50 m; modular combinations of 25.25 m run under a separate scheme. On weight, a single axle may carry 10,000 kg and a twin-tyred drive axle with road-friendly suspension 11,500 kg. The limits depend on the number of axles and on the axle spacings, so the exact figure is looked up in the order in force for the specific vehicle.
Based on: EU 561/2006 · BEK 1447/2025 · DS/EN 12195-1 · DS/EN 12195-2 · BEK 412/2025 · Direktiv (EU) 2022/2561
§ 03 — Read now
Featured articles
Featured articles
All articles →§ 04 — Tools
Work it out.
The stopping distance is the reaction distance plus the braking distance: S = v·t_r + v²/(2·µ·g), with g = 9.81 m/s². Choose speed, reaction time and road conditions — then you see how far you travel before coming to a stop.
Open calculators→Example · Stopping distance
Truck · dry asphalt
§ 05 — Trade in Action
How it looks craftsmanship.
Three working tasks from the driver's day — drawn as blueprint: pallet loading, top-over lashing and daily inspection.
Work processes
Truck loaded with pallets
The driver operates the forklift with fully raised forks and stacks the pallet over the truck's open loading deck where two pallets already stand. The movement arrow shows the stacking and the securing eyes along the load edge await the cargo straps afterward.
Strapping of Load with Tensioning Straps
The driver tightens three top-over cargo straps over the load and secures them in eyes at both load edges. The scrap tension indicator on the middle strap is tightened and the tension indicator changes to tight — the actual number of cargo straps is calculated in the load securing calculator.
Daily inspection — brakes and tyres
Before departure the driver checks the twin rear wheels with a tire pressure gauge and inspects tread and pressure. The checklist verifies tires, brakes, lights, and fluids with checkmarks — a routine that catches faults before the vehicle rolls out.
§ 06 — Next step
One question
in Danish.
The AI assistant can count breaks, explain weight rules, calculate stopping distance and help with load securing. Write to it as you would to a colleague on site.
Safety
Come home in the same state
Du sidder med 40 tons under dig, og alt hvad du gør forkert bliver stort. Du er alene om beslutningerne på vejen, og de fleste af dine ulykker sker ikke bag rattet — de sker de minutter du står ude ved bilen: ved koblingen, på ladet, ved bagdøren og i nødsporet. Derfor handler chaufførens sikkerhed lige så meget om lasten, trinnet og pausen som om kørslen.
Safety course
33 modules · 289 min · 7 farer der kan dræbe
§ — Where can you read about Truck driving licence?
Find a school nær dig.
Godschauffør / lastbilchauffør (vejgodstransport) is offered at 24 places in the country. The list is informational — always check the latest and complete offering on the Education Guide's vocational education map.
Schools offering the programme
Hovedstaden
04- TEC – Technical Education Copenhagen — Frederiksberg
- U/NORD — Hillerød
- TEC — Hvidovre
- UCplus — BallerupAMU
Sjælland
05- CELF — Nykøbing Falster
- EUC Sjælland — Køge
- ZBC (Zealand Business College) — Næstved
- ZBC — Slagelse
- EUC Sjælland — Næstved
Syddanmark
08- HANSENBERG — Kolding
- EUC Lillebælt — Fredericia
- EUC Syd — Sønderborg
- Rybners — Esbjerg
- Syddansk Erhvervsskole (SDE) — Odense
- AMU SYD — KoldingAMU
- AMU Fyn — OdenseAMU
- EUC Syd — Aabenraa
Midtjylland
04- AARHUS TECH — Aarhus
- Learnmark Horsens — Horsens
- Tradium — Randers
- Uddannelsescenter Holstebro (UCH) — Holstebro
Nordjylland
03- AMU Nordjylland — AalborgAMU
- EUC Nordvest — Thisted
- EUC Nord — Hjørring