Small firms still being tardy over Driver CPC
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By Derren Hayes
AS THE INDUSTRY enters a deining period for completing the Driver CPC, experts are warning that smaller hauliers are still dragging their feet over meeting the deadline.
At the halfway mark for LGV drivers granted grandfather rights under the 2009 Driver CPC legislation, oficial Driving Standards Agency (DSA) data shows that 543,298 drivers have undertaken at least seven of the 35 hours of training needed to achieve the qualiication. This includes holders of LGV and PCV licences.
However, the DSA estimates that about 590,000 LGV drivers and 166,000 PCV licence holders will need to have completed the Driver CPC by the 10 September 2014 deadline, clearly demonstrating that some have yet to start their training.
With PCV drivers required to complete their Driver CPC by 2013, the next 12 months will reveal whether the road transport sector is on course to hit the deadline as the DSA has claimed, or is facing an impending skills crisis.
Vicki Ball, programme manager at Skills for Logistics, said that while there was a pleasing amount of activity around Driver CPC, “our concern would be with the smaller operators, who have been slower to engage”.
Geoff Dunning, RHA chief executive, agreed. “I’ve yet to come across a decent-sized company that is not doing Driver CPC training,” he said. “I think there’s a big chunk of the own-account sector that is only just becoming aware of it, but the small haulage companies are the ones I’m most concerned about.” Freight Transport Association head of enforcement policy James Firth said: “The message to operators is that if they have not yet started to get their drivers trained, they can still do so in time – but they need to start now. “The worst outcome would be a rush for training in the spring and summer of 2014. Spaces on training courses will be at a premium, with some providers already saying they have every weekend until the deadline fully booked.” However, Sean Pargeter, director of hgvlgvtraining.co.uk, warned that the latest DSA igures reveal a recent drop in the numbers attending Driver CPC courses, from 55,000 in May to 42,000 in July.
“We should be hitting 50,000 each month to be meeting the perceived target,” he said.