D1 Licence Minibus Leasing Solutions

D1 entitlement on your licence means you can drive up to 16 passengers in a minibus that weight over 3.5 tonnes and be paid to do so. You may have inherited D1 entitlement on your car driving licence if it was issued before 1st January 1997, you can easily see if a person has D1 entitlement by looking at the back of their licence, or you can complete D1 driver training.

D1 Driver training involves and initial eyesight and medical check. Many organisations forget to check the eyesight of their drivers regularly and ask about changes to their health which might affect their fitness to drive, such as sleep apnoea. There is a theory test to complete and then a practical driving test. Anyone with a standard car licence can take D1 driver training, even if they already have inherited D1 entitlement.

If you are considering training your drivers, Rivervale provides D1 driver training so that all your drivers can be fully trained, drive any weight minibus, and can be paid to drive. There is some debate as to whether teachers driving on a standard car licence are doing so as volunteers and for social purposes – conditions of the Section 19 Permit. The advice surrounding whether teachers are ‘volunteers’ or are being paid to drive because they’re driving for their employee is ambiguous, so we recommend you seek specialist legal advice on this matter. Having drivers with D1 entitlement removes this issue completely.